Linus Torvalds began the Linux kernel as a personal project in 1991, describing it as something that “won’t be big and professional.” He later created Git to solve a practical problem for the Linux kernel community: how to coordinate a large, distributed stream of code changes. Linux and Git are different tools, but their histories are connected—and neither story is just the work of one programmer.
Who is Linus Torvalds?
Linus Torvalds was born in Helsinki, Finland, in 1969. He enrolled at the University of Helsinki in 1988 and later earned a master’s degree in computer science. The Linux Foundation’s biography identifies his thesis as “Linux: A Portable Operating System.” The Linux Foundation’s leadership biography provides these biographical details.
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
His work is best understood through two creations with different purposes: Linux, an operating-system kernel, and Git, software for tracking and coordinating changes to source code.
Free tools Windows power users keep installed
One-click scans. No signup required.
How did Linux begin?
In August 1991, Torvalds announced that he was developing a free operating system for 386 and 486 AT-compatible computers. The Linux Foundation biography reproduces his description of it as a hobby that “won’t be big and professional like gnu.” That modest expectation is a useful measure of how little the project’s eventual scale was assured at the start.
#1 Best Overall
The announcement was not the same as the first public release. The Linux Foundation’s account of the kernel’s history distinguishes Torvalds’s August 25 announcement from the initial release on October 5, 1991. Its 2020 report describes that early release as 88 files with about 10,000 lines of code—a historical snapshot, not a measure of today’s kernel. The Linux Foundation’s Kernel Archeology (2020) recounts that early history.
Linux refers to the kernel: the core software that manages hardware and provides services to programs. A Linux distribution combines the kernel with other software to make a usable operating system. The terms are often used loosely, but the kernel is not the same thing as every complete system built around it.
How did Linux become a collaborative project?
Linux grew through contributions from developers beyond Torvalds. The project’s development process divides work among subsystem maintainers, who generally manage their own kernel trees. Changes move through that distributed structure before they are incorporated into the mainline kernel.
Torvalds retains a distinct role: kernel documentation says he is the person who can merge patches into the mainline repository. That makes him the final integration authority for the standard kernel, not the sole author or manager of every subsystem. The distinction matters: Linux’s development depends on both a broad contributor and maintainer community and a central mainline integration point. The kernel documentation on how the development process works describes the maintainer and mainline roles.
Rank #3
Why did Linus Torvalds create Git?
By 2005, the Linux kernel community could no longer use BitKeeper, and it lacked a free distributed version-control system that met its needs for performance and scale. Torvalds created Git to let developers track and coordinate changes across a distributed project. Git is version-control software; it is neither the Linux kernel nor a Linux distribution.
The Linux Foundation biography says Torvalds built Git in about ten days. In a 2015 interview, Torvalds gave that timing a useful qualification: the central work was getting the basic ideas right, and the first kernel commit using Git came after roughly ten days. This is his retrospective account of elapsed development time, not an audited measure of working hours. He summarized the need this way: “We definitely needed something like git.” The Linux Foundation’s 2015 interview with Torvalds covers Git’s origins and his reflections on its design.
Rank #4
What is the difference between Git and GitHub?
Git is a version-control system: it records changes and supports collaboration around source code. GitHub is a hosting and collaboration service built around Git workflows. One is software for version control; the other provides a service for hosting repositories and working with them online.
What’s actually slowing this PC down?
Pick the symptom - the matching free tool is one click away.
In the 2015 interview, Torvalds called GitHub an excellent hosting service while criticizing its development interfaces for kernel work. Those comments describe his view at that time, not a current product evaluation.
Best Value
What should readers take from Torvalds’s story?
Linux began with one programmer’s project, then grew through years of contributions, subsystem maintenance and mainline integration. Git emerged from the needs of that same community, whose work required a suitable way to coordinate distributed development. Torvalds’s technical decisions mattered, but the enduring history is also one of shared work and project structures that let many developers contribute.
Quick Recap
Further reading
- Just for Fun: The Story of an Accidental Revolutionary, by Linus Torvalds and David Diamond, is a 2001 book about Torvalds’s life and Linux. It predates Git, which Torvalds created in 2005. WorldCat’s catalog record lists the book and authors.
- Christopher Tozzi’s For Fun and Profit, published by MIT Press as a paperback in 2024, offers broader context on free and open-source software, including early Linux development. It is a history of the wider movement, not a Torvalds biography. MIT Press’s book page describes the book.
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
