Linux creator Linus Torvalds courtesy: linux.org

In August 1991 Finnish programmer Linus Torvalds announced, plans to begin development of a free operating system (OS) kernel.  The kernel is the very heart of a computer’s software that works directly with the computer’s processor to complete commands.  Richard Stallman and the Free Software Foundation had developed the GNU project, which consisted of most all of the auxiliary programs required for a basic OS, but it lacked a free kernel.

“My goal was to run a similar environment on my computer that I had grown used to at the university computers,” said Torvalds of his early objectives in the film Revolution OS.

One month after Torvalds initial announcement, he released Linux version 0.01 independently of Stallman’s GNU project and the Free Software Foundation.  

Linux was the first free and open source kernel.  Its release marked the beginning of a new era of free computing.  Users no longer needed to purchase software to run a complete Unix-like operating system.  Soon the GNU name was dropped from the vernacular as big business and marketing glommed onto the catchy “Linux” name.

Despite both men’s considerable contribution to free software and open source, Torvalds and Stallman do not work closely.  Stallman remains staunchly committed to keeping software out of corporate hands.  Additionally he is working to preserve the GNU name, believing that a more correct name for the operating system is GNU/Linux.  Torvalds called this request “ridiculous,” explaining that GNU is a set of programs that runs on his Linux platform.  Despite the rift between the two, Torvalds has yielded credit to Stallman’s work by releasing the Linux kernel under the GPL.

Today Torvalds’ Linux is behind a multimillion-dollar business.  The model of Linux firms has been to provide innovation and support to business technology. Anyone can download Linux and GNU for free.  Companies like IBM use Linux distributions as part of a total corporate solution for which they provide support and integration services for a fee.

Linus Torvalds was born December 28, 1969 in Helsinki, Finland.  He attended the University of Helsinki.  Torvalds created the first Linux kernel on a PC running and Intel 386 CPU chip.

Today Torvalds works for Open Source Development Labs (OSDL), a project devoted to promoting Linux development.