Case Study: Linus Torvalds

By: Tricia Morris Linus Torvalds, born Linus Benedict Torvalds, has become known as one of the most famous computer programmers of all time. Torvalds was born in Helsinki, Finland on December 28th of 1969. He spent his childhood in Helsinki living with his mother, who worked for a Finnish newspaper, and grandparents. His father, who was separated from his mother, was a journalist as well, specializing in radio journalism. In 1988, Torvalds enrolled in the University of Helsinki, the university his parents had also attended, in the field of Computer Science. He spent a decade at the university where he both studied and instructed, and completed the majority of the work he is known for today. Growing up in a house full of journalists, Torvalds main mentor was his grandfather, Leo Toerngvist, who was a professor of Statistics at the University of Helsinki. Toerngvist bought one of the first computers in the 1970s, called a Commodore Vic 20. This was the first computer Torvalds used, and on it he created his first programs using basic programming language. Torvalds grew up in the time when computers were just being created and improved, a fact which would have interested and influenced greatly. The Sinclair QL, one of the world's first 32bit computers manufactured for home use, was bought by Torvalds a year before he went to university. Torvalds was eager to reprogram the computer, but as it was written in ROM (readonly memory), he could not. This caused him to become curious about programming, and different types of programming, which resulted in him taking his first class in C programming language at the university. Later, he would use this programming technique to write the Linux system he is best known for.

In 2010, the Linux system as we know it turned 20 years old. The amount that it has grown and effected technology is astronomical. There are now 14,000,000 lines of code in the Linux kernal, up from the 250,000 there were in 1995, just 5 years previously. Additionally, Linux, which was originally a hobby OS, is run on countless devices around the world, as well as 413 supercomputers. Looking at how Linux has affected the world, due to the fact that Linux was freely available and easily modified, it is possible to credit it with the growth of websites and online business that is so well known and popular today. The majority of social networking sites, such as Facebook or Twitter, which can be used from anywhere to regular social networking, to businesss networing, depend on Linux. All of this illustrates the way in which Linux was essentially the beginning of the networking age, and without it, a lot of the technological advances we have achieved since, wouldn't have been possible. The main thing to be learned from studying Linux Torvalds is how important it is to really care about something that you are putting effort into. Torvalds didn't just want to create a new software, he actually cared about why he was creating and for what purpose. Because of his passion for it, and his desire for everyone to be able to enjoy what he'd made, he created Linux to be a free program, with an Open Source code. This meant that anyone who owned it could edit or play around with it and become just as interested in programming as he was. It was because of this dedication, and his desire to spread his knowledge that Linux was such a success, and such an influence on future technology.

Statement of Sources LINFO - The Linux Information Project. (2004). Linus Torvalds. Retrieved from http://www.linfo.org/linus.html Brockmeier, Joe. (August 25, 2011). As Steve Jobs steps down, Linux turns 20: Which changed the world more? ReadWrite Enterprise. Retrieved from http://www.readwriteweb.com/enterprise/2011/08/as-steve-jobs-steps-down-linux.php Beekman, G., & Beekman, B. (2011). Digital Planet: Tomorrow's Technology and You, 10th edition. Prentice Hall.