Person

Linus Torvalds

b. 1969 · 21st century

Linus Torvalds (born 1969) is a Finnish-American software engineer who created the Linux kernel in 1991 while a student at the University of Helsinki. Released as free software, Linux grew through the work of thousands of volunteers and companies into the basis of most web servers, supercomputers and the Android mobile operating system. Torvalds also created the Git version-control system in 2005.

Linus Torvalds — Image: Krd (photo)Von Sprat (crop/extraction) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

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Republic of FinlandImpact

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Cite this entry

APA: The Epoch Institute. (2026). Linus Torvalds. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/linus-torvalds
MLA: “Linus Torvalds.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/linus-torvalds. Accessed .
Chicago: The Epoch Institute. “Linus Torvalds.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/linus-torvalds.
Harvard: The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Linus Torvalds’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/linus-torvalds (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻