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Linus Torvalds Facts & Worksheets

Linus Torvalds is a software engineer who is the creator and the principal developer of the Linux Kernel.

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Linus Torvalds is a software engineer who is the creator and the principal developer of the Linux Kernel. This open-source operating system is also the core of the operating systems for GNU/Linux and other operating systems, like Android and Chrome OS.

See the fact file below for more information on the Linus Torvalds or alternatively, you can download our 24-page Linus Torvalds worksheet pack to utilise within the classroom or home environment.

Key Facts & Information

BIOGRAPHY

  • Linus Benedict Torvalds was born in Helsinki, Finland, on December 28, 1969. His name was taken from the famous physical chemist and Nobel Prize winner, Linus Pauling.
  • Torvalds’ family was mostly journalists. His father, Nils Torvalds, was a Communist who studied in Moscow for a year and later became a radio journalist. His mother, Anna Torvalds, worked as a translator and creator of news graphics in a Finnish newspaper. Torvalds’ grandfather also worked in a Finnish newspaper as the editor-in-chief.
  • Torvalds’ childhood was conventional and full of happiness, even though his parents were divorced at a young age. His grandfather, Leo Toerngvist, had a great influence on young Linus. Toerngvist was a professor of statistics at the University of Helsinki.
  • Toerngvist bought a Commodore Vic 20, which was one of the first personal computers during the mid-1970s. Torvalds became very fond of the computer, but later on, he became bored with the limited programs. Thus, he began creating new programs using the Basic Programming Language. Later on, he used a more powerful but difficult assembly language.
  • In the following years, Torvalds focused on his passion for programming and mathematics, which eventually birthed the development of Linux.

LINUX’S BIRTH

  • At the age of 18 years old, Torvalds bought his first computer, the Sinclair QL, with his savings. The Sinclair QL was one of the world’s first 32-bit computers, having its Motorola 68008 processor that runs at 7.5 megahertz and 128 kilobytes of RAM. However, Torvalds became dissatisfied because the computer could not be reprogrammed. After all, the operating system resided in ROM.
  • In the year 1988, Torvalds attended the University of Helsinki, the same university his parents attended. Torvalds was considered to be an accomplished programmer at that time, and naturally, he majored in computer science.
  • Torvalds had his first class in C Programming Language in 1990, and he also used C programming language in writing the Linux Kernel.
  • In 1991, Torvalds bought an IBM-compatible personal computer with its specifications of 33 MHz Intel 386 processor and a huge 4MB of memory. The processor was greatly liked because it represented a huge improvement over earlier Intel chips.
  • However, Torvalds was still disappointed with its MS-DOS (Microsoft Disk Operating System) operating system. The MS-DOS was not capable of taking advantage of the greatly improved capabilities of the 386-chip. Torvalds stated that he still prefers the much more powerful and stable UNIX Operating system that he grew accustomed to using on the university’s computers.
  • Torvalds tried to obtain a version of UNIX for the computer, but he could not find a basic system for less than $5,000. He considered using MINIX (a small clone of UNIX that was created by Andrew Tanenbaum), but it still had major disadvantages.
  • Torvalds and other highly-skilled programmers became very uninterested with software for which the source code was not available. Source code is the written version of the software that was done by a human using a programming language (Java, C, BASIC). It was compiled by the computer to turn it into machine language that the computer understands.
  • Torvalds decided to use MINIX and UNIX in creating a new operating system from scratch. He knew that it would take a lot of work, which is why he decided to focus and give his full attention to making it.
  • Torvalds completed a crude version (0.01) of his new operating system on September 17. After almost three weeks, he announced the first official version. The new operating system could run both the bash shell (a program that provides the traditional text-only user interface) and GCC, which are two key system utilities.
  • Torvalds named the operating system Linux, but he initially planned to call it Freax (from free, freak, and MINIX). However, Ari Lemmke, his friend, already created a directory called Linux on his FTP server, so the new operating system was officially named Linux.
  • Torvalds released Linux under the GPL (General Public License) to allow other programmers to obtain the free software. This allowed anyone to study, use, modify, extend, and redistribute the software as long they made the source code freely available for any modified versions.

THE DEVELOPMENT OF LINUX

  • Torvalds’ Linux was developed into a remarkably reliable, very efficient system that rarely crashed. In the 1990s, Linux got its big break when Microsoft, its competitor, began taking the upstart OS seriously.
  • Many companies such as Netscape Communications Corp., Corel Corp., Intel Corp., and Oracle Corp., supported Linux as an inexpensive alternative to Windows.
  • The media and other Linux supporters said that Torvalds would slay Bill Gates and Microsoft. However, he stated that he had no plans to overcome Gates’ financial success. He just detested poorly engineered software.
  • In 1999, Linux was the operating system that was used to run an estimated seven million computers, and it was still free of charge. Additionally, several major software companies announced that they would support the Linux operating system.

LINUS TORVALDS TODAY

  • In 1997, Torvalds moved to the US with his wife and three daughters. At present, Torvalds is working full-time on the Linux Kernel as a part of the Linux Foundation.
  • Torvalds also stated that he is very happy with what he’s doing with Linux today, and he is very much content with how Linux is doing today.

Linus Torvalds Worksheets

This is a fantastic bundle which includes everything you need to know about Linus Torvalds across 24 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use Linus Torvalds worksheets that are perfect for teaching students about Linus Torvalds who is the creator and the principal developer of the Linux Kernel. This open-source operating system is also the core of the operating systems for GNU/Linux and other operating systems, like Android and Chrome OS.

Complete List Of Included Worksheets

  • Linus Torvalds Facts
  • Torvalds’ Profile Writing
  • Timeline of Linus
  • The Operating Systems
  • Filling the Codes
  • Jumbled Software
  • Programmer’s Questions
  • Finding Bits
  • Linus’ Quotes
  • Fact or Bluff?
  • Programming Languages

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Use With Any Curriculum

These worksheets have been specifically designed for use with any international curriculum. You can use these worksheets as-is, or edit them using Google Slides to make them more specific to your own student ability levels and curriculum standards.

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