Linus Torvalds, a Finnish Swede who changed data processing forever
A LIST of the world’s best-known Finns would be incomplete without Linus Torvalds, the software developer who created Linux, the world’s largest open source operating system.
Linux is now used in a wide variety of computer and mobile systems. To list just a few things based on Torvalds brain types, NASA computers, Instagram, Hadron Collider, the vast majority of supercomputers, and the U.S. Department of Defense are all powered by Linux. Even if you have never booted the Linux kernel on your laptop, you have benefited from this open source software.
Few people know that although Torvalds was born and raised in Helsinki, he is in fact part of Finland’s Swedish-speaking minority, the Finno-Swedes. Like 30th On the anniversary of the release of Linux rapid approaches, we thought to continue Finnish-Swedish cultural series looking at the life and achievements of one of all time famous members from this community.
Although Torvalds lives in the heart of Silicon Valley and has a net worth of about $ 150 million, his background is somewhat more humble, though by no means working class. He was born on December 28, 1969 to Finnish-Swedish parents, one of whom is journalist and MP Nils Torvalds. His grandfathers were Leo Törnqvist, another famous Finnish Swede who was Finland’s first statistician, and Ole Torvalds, a famous poet and journalist. His mother’s grandfather Törnqvist was the first to arouse Torvalds ’interest in computers when he had asked him to help program a new Commodore VIC-20 computer in 1981.
Linux came together for the first time during his bachelor’s studies in computer science at the University of Helsinki. Torvalds has his own personal Microsoft computer whose operating system was not compatible with the university’s UNIX system. To fix this, he began developing a system like UNIX that would be compatible with personal computers. He first published open source on a computing platform in 1991, and it proved to be such a big hit among the programming community that Linux as we know it was born soon after.
The completely free and open source nature of Linux meant that it spread rapidly around the world. One industry that was particularly interested in software was the defense industry because security agencies were much more comfortable using code that they could see in its entirety (as opposed to hidden code used by paid providers such as Apple). Linux is also very popular in non-Western countries because its open source makes it easy to customize and adapt to local language requirements.
In 1997, Torvalds left Helsinki and landed in California, where he continues to collaborate with the Open-Source Development Lab, a consortium of major technology players such as Intel, Siemens, and IBM that advocate Linux development. His wife of almost 30 years is six-time Finnish national karate master Tove Torvalds, and both have been U.S. citizens since 2010. However, Torvalds continues to return to his home country to speak, especially in his old alma mater, the University of Helsinki.
In 2004, he was ranked 16th by the national broadcaster Yleth on their listThe 100 largest FinnsTime Magazine also listed him on their list 2004 Time 100 investment. He holds an honorary doctorate from Stockholm University and has the asteroid 9793 Torvalds, named after him.
Photo: Lehtikuva