5333 private links
ANY LIST OF THE MOST FAMOUS FINNS in the world today would be incomplete without the inclusion of Linus Torvalds, the software developer who created Linux, the world’s largest open-source operating system. //
Although Torvalds resides in the heart of Silicon Valley today and has a net worth of around $150 million, his origins are somewhat humbler, although by no means working class. He was born on 28 December 1969 to Finnish Swedish parents, one of whom is the journalist and MP Nils Torvalds. His grandfathers were Leo Törnqvist, another famous Finland Swede who was Finland’s first-ever statistician, and Ole Torvalds, the celebrated poet, and journalist. It was Törnqvist, his maternal grandfather, who first sparked Torvalds’ interest in computing, after asking him to help program his brand-new Commodore VIC-20 computer in 1981. //
In 1997, Torvalds left Helsinki and decamped in California, where he continues to work with the Open-Source Development Lab, a consortium of big tech players such as Intel, Siemens, and IBM that advocate for Linux development. His wife of almost 30 years is the six-time Finnish national karate champion Tove Torvalds, and both have been US citizens since 2010. However, Torvalds still returns to his homeland to give talks, especially at his old alma mater, the University of Helsinki.