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{{dablink|This article is for Tux the [[Linux]] mascot. For other uses, see [[Tux (disambiguation)]].}}
{{subpages}}
{{dambigbox|Tux the [[Linux]] mascot|Tux}}
__NOTOC__
[[Image:Linux_Tux_Logo.png|thumb|150px|right|Tux  the official Linux penguin. This image depicts him as most commonly appears and as originally drawn by Larry Ewing. Also see [[Tux/Gallery|"A pictorial history of Tux".]]]]


[[Image:Linux_Tux_Logo.png|thumb|200px|right|Tux the penguin, the Linux mascot]]
'''Tux''' the [[penguin]] is the official logo and cartoon mascot for the [[Linux]] computer [[operating system]]. First drawn in 1996 by Larry Ewing, the fun-loving character has a special place in many people's imaginations, both inside and outside of the global Linux community.


'''Tux''' the [[penguin]] is the [[mascot]] for the [[Linux]] [[operating system]], originally drawn by [[Larry Ewing]].
[[Image:Penguin-angry-tran.1.gif|thumb|150px|right|An early sketch of Tux, depicting how Linux's early developers felt their operating system was gearing for competition with other operating systems.]]


==History==
==Quest for a Linux logo==
[[Image:Penguin-angry-tran.1.gif|thumb|200px|right|An early sketch of Tux]]
Tux originated from a discussion on the "Linux kernel" [[mailing list]].  On May 1, 1996, early Linux contributor Matt Hartley began a thread entitled "Linux logo", which included an image by David Christiansen showing the planet Earth as seen from outer space, along with the captions "LINUX" and "Take your computer to another dimension."<ref>{{cite web
On the 1st of May 1996, Matt Hartley began a thread on the Linux kernel [[USENET|mailing list]] titled "Linux logo", showcasing an image by David Christiansen of the [[Earth]] from outer space. Beside it were the words "LINUX" and "Take your computer to another dimension."<ref>{{cite web
| url=http://www.ussg.iu.edu/hypermail/linux/kernel/9605/0119.html
| url=http://www.ussg.iu.edu/hypermail/linux/kernel/9605/0119.html
| title=Linux logo
| title=Linux logo
| author=Matt Hartley
| author=Matt Hartley
| date=1996-05-5
| date=1996-05-5
}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
}}</ref> <ref>{{cite web
| url=http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/historic-linux/ftp-archives/sunsite.unc.edu/Sep-29-1996/logos/lin64.jpg
| url=http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/historic-linux/ftp-archives/sunsite.unc.edu/Sep-29-1996/logos/lin64.jpg
| title=lin64.jpg
| title=lin64.jpg
| author=David Christiansen
| author=David Christiansen
| date=
| date=
}}</ref> The next day, a [[hacker|kernel hacker]], [[Alan Cox]], suggested that the logo should be "a picture of the [[BSD Daemon|BSD daemon]] flat out on the floor with stars around its head and a penguin in boxing gloves standing on top."<ref>{{cite web
}}</ref> At one point, [[Linus Torvalds]], the software engineer behind Linux, had casually mentioned his fondness of penguins, and list-users began to rally around the idea.
 
The next day, [[Alan Cox]], a highly-esteemed [[hacker]], posted a message suggesting that the Linux logo should be "a picture of the [[BSD Daemon|BSD daemon]]"&mdash;the logo for another open source operating system&mdash;"flat out on the floor with stars around its head and a penguin in boxing gloves standing on top."<ref>{{cite web
| url=http://lkml.org/lkml/1996/5/2/110
| url=http://lkml.org/lkml/1996/5/2/110
| title=Re: Linux logo (LKML)
| title=Re: Linux logo (LKML)
| author=Alan Cox
| author=Alan Cox
| date=1996-05-2
| date=1996-05-2
}}</ref>
}}</ref> Mark Lehrer countered that FreeBSD was not Linux's real competition.  Microsoft's [[Windows 95]] was&mdash;then the dominant operating system worldwide, in fact&mdash;so the logo should instead show a penguin smashing a ''window''.<ref>{{cite web
 
Mark Lehrer, however, insisted that [[Windows 95]] was the real competition - not FreeBSD, and that they should instead use a penguin smashing a window,<ref>{{cite web
| url=http://lkml.org/lkml/1996/5/4/3
| url=http://lkml.org/lkml/1996/5/4/3
| title=Re: Linux logo
| title=Re: Linux logo
| author=Mark Lehrer
| author=Mark Lehrer
| date=1996-05-4
| date=1996-05-4
}}</ref> to which Alan Clucas replied that this should be combined with Alan Cox's suggestion, killing, so to speak, two birds with one stone.<ref>{{cite web
}}</ref> Alan Clucas then suggested that these two ideas would be best if combined, with a fighting penguin victorious over ''both'' its operating system competitors.<ref>{{cite web
| url=http://lkml.org/lkml/1996/5/5/13
| url=http://lkml.org/lkml/1996/5/5/13
| title=Re: Linux logo
| title=Re: Linux logo
| author=Alan Clucas
| author=Alan Clucas
| date=1996-05-4
| date=1996-05-4
}}</ref> Disliking the notion of officially endorsing a mockery of another system, Linus Torvalds, the software engineer who initiated the development of the Linux kernel, posted his favorite penguin image and emphatically stated that the concept was final, requesting that someone with artistic skills draw a similar image under an appropriate license.<ref>{{cite web
}}</ref>
| url=http://www.uwsg.indiana.edu/hypermail/linux/kernel/9605/0499.html
| title=Re: Linux logo thread on the Linux Kernel Mailing List (LKML)
| author=Linus Torvalds
| date=1996-05-5
}}</ref> As of April 10th, 2007, this image is still available from its original location on the [[University of Helsinki|University of Helsinki's]] [[File Transfer Protocol|FTP]] server (see the [[Tux#External links|External links]] section).


Torvalds has often expressed his affinity for penguins, once jokingly claiming that he developed a disease called "penguinitis" after being bitten by a ferocious penguin, which "makes you stay awake at nights just thinking about penguins and feeling great love towards them". He claimed to have had a similar experience while visiting the Canberra zoo with Andrew Tridgell. According to a USENET message he posted, a small [[pigmy penguin]] nibbled on his finger.<ref>{{cite web
Although parodies of other operating systems seemed by far the most popular, little real progress was being made. Besides, Torvalds could not bring himself to endorse the mocking of other operating systems. So he made a general plea for someone artistic to design a logo based on his favorite image of a penguin and release it under a free license,<ref>See [ftp://ftp.cs.helsinki.fi/pub/Software/Linux/Kernel/v1.3/ccpenguin.jpg ftp://ftp.cs.helsinki.fi/pub/Software/Linux/Kernel/v1.3/ccpenguin.jpg] for the original image posted by Torvalds.</ref> emphatically stating that his penguin concept was final.
| url=http://www.sjbaker.org/tux/#why1
| title=A Complete History of Tux
| author=Steve Baker
| date=
}}</ref>


===Linus' original description===
==Tux takes shape and is named==
In response to a post by Dale Scheetz, in which he demonstrated a prototype of the penguin holding the Earth<ref>{{cite web
Not long after, Dale Scheetz posted a prototype of a penguin holding up the Earth, combining Christiansen's original idea with Torvalds'.<ref>{{cite web
| url=http://www.ussg.iu.edu/hypermail/linux/kernel/9605/0930.html
| url=http://www.ussg.iu.edu/hypermail/linux/kernel/9605/0930.html
| title=Linux Logo prototype.
| title=Linux Logo prototype.
| author=Dale Scheetz
| author=Dale Scheetz
| date=1996-05-9
| date=1996-05-9
}}</ref>, Torvalds remarked that the penguin did not seem strong enough to hold it, saying that it looked as if he were to be squashed by it at any moment. He then went on to infamously describe the penguin we know today. He challenged his colleagues to picture instead a cute, cuddly animal, sitting down after eating a grand feast of [[herring]], totally content and smiling after a small burp. The penguin was not to be fat, but appearantly gorged full of fish.<ref>{{cite web
}}</ref> Torvalds was doubtful, however, saying the penguin looked too weak to hoist an entire planet&mdash;the bird appeared in imminent danger of being squashed, in fact!  The penguin logo, Torvalds thought, should instead be cute and cuddly.  He envisioned the bird sitting, content and smiling, having just let out a small burp after a grand feast of herring. The bird was not to be fat, just happily gorged with fish.<ref>{{cite web
| url=http://www.ussg.iu.edu/hypermail/linux/kernel/9605/0855.html
| url=http://www.ussg.iu.edu/hypermail/linux/kernel/9605/0855.html
| title=Re: Linux Logo prototype.
| title=Re: Linux Logo prototype.
| author=Linus Torvalds
| author=Linus Torvalds
| date=1996-05-9
| date=1996-05-9
}}</ref> He later mentioned that he was not looking for a "Linux Corporate Image", but something fun that can be modified extensively but still recognizable.
}}</ref> It was Larry Ewing who then drew the original version of the Linux penguin&mdash;on a computer running Linux, of course.<ref>A complete description of the methods Ewing used is on his website, [http://www.isc.tamu.edu/~lewing/linux/notes.html http://www.isc.tamu.edu/~lewing/linux/notes.html].</ref> 


===How Tux was originally drawn===
Once completed, the new mascot needed a name. Humorously, one of the earliest suggestions, from Henning Schmiedehausen, was "Homer", because to him the bird resembled television character [[Homer Simpson]] .<ref>{{cite web
Larry Ewing drew the original penguin in Linux with [[The GIMP]], version 0.54, on his 486 DX2/50, and rendered the final smoothness with an SGI Crimson because his monitor at home was an 8-bit display. He has documented his work online, and a complete description of [http://www.isc.tamu.edu/~lewing/linux/notes.html the methods he used] is posted on his  website.
| url=http://www.ussg.iu.edu/hypermail/linux/kernel/9606.1/0155.html
 
| title=Re: Let's name the penguin! (citation 1)
===The name===
| author=Henning Schmiedehausen
Early on, some referred to the penguin as 'Linnie'. This did not last for long, however, as the name 'Tux' caught on. The name 'Tux', coined by James Hughes, has a two-fold meaning, as both an acronym for '''T'''orvalds '''U'''ni'''x''' and, as a pun, an abbreviation of [[black tie|tuxedo]].<ref name="Let's name the penguin post 1">{{cite web
| date=1996-06-10
}}</ref> As a joke, Tux was later re-drawn by Anton Johansson as Homer Simpson morphed into a penguin.<ref>{{cite web
| name=historyoftux
| url=http://www.sjbaker.org/tux/#why1
| title=A Complete History of Tux
| author=Steve Baker
| date=Accessed April 18th, 2007
}}</ref>  Some then suggested "Linnie" as the penguin's name, but it was "Tux", coined by James Hughes, that soon caught on. This name has a two-fold meaning: as an acronym for '''T'''orvalds '''U'''ni'''x''', and as a pun based on the shortening of [[black tie|tuxedo]], which penguins are often said to be wearing.<ref name="Let's name the penguin post 1">{{cite web
| url=http://www.ussg.iu.edu/hypermail/linux/kernel/9606.1/0175.html
| url=http://www.ussg.iu.edu/hypermail/linux/kernel/9606.1/0175.html
| title=Re: Let's name the penguin! (citation 1)
| title=Re: Let's name the penguin! (citation 2)
| author=James Hughes
| author=James Hughes
| date=1996-06-10
| date=1996-06-10
}}</ref><ref name="Let's name the penguin post 2">{{cite web
}}</ref> <ref name="Let's name the penguin post 2">{{cite web
| url=http://www.ussg.iu.edu/hypermail/linux/kernel/9606.1/0392.html
| url=http://www.ussg.iu.edu/hypermail/linux/kernel/9606.1/0392.html
| title=Re: Let's name the penguin! (citation 2)
| title=Re: Let's name the penguin! (citation 3)
| author=LD Landis
| author=LD Landis
| date=1996-06-12
| date=1996-06-12
}}</ref> Humorously, one of the earliest suggestions, from Henning Schmiedehausen, was to name the penguin "Homer", due to its resemblance to the [[television]] character [[Homer Simpson]].<ref>{{cite web
}}</ref>
| url=http://www.ussg.iu.edu/hypermail/linux/kernel/9606.1/0155.html
| title=Re: Let's name the penguin! (citation 3)
| author=Henning Schmiedehausen
| date=1996-06-10
}}</ref> As a joke, Tux was later re-drawn by Anton Johansson as an image of Homer morphed into a penguin.


[[Image:Tux_linux_mascot_doll.jpg|thumb|200px|right|A Tux the penguin doll]]
==Continued "distributions" of Tux==
 
[[Image:Tux_image_gallery_GFDL.jpg|thumb|275px|right|Ever since Tux's beginning, he has been re-drawn and re-set in seemingly endless ways. Click on the image above to be brought to a gallery of some of his creative renditions.]]
==Tux in popular culture==
Tux was therefore born of what Torvalds had often expressed as his affinity for "flightless, fat waterfowl". He once joked he had caught "penguinitis" after being nipped by a ferocious one, saying his "disease" caused him to "stay awake at nights just thinking about penguins and feeling great love towards them".<ref>{{cite web
Tux has appeared in several [[magazine|magazines]] and [[television]] broadcasts. He has also been replicated in dolls (see photo at right), articles of clothing, stickers, and other similar paraphernalia. Because it is one of the more popular search results for "penguin" on [[Google Images]], it has also been used in many home and small business projects, such as fliers and newsletters. Tux has also been portrayed as a symbol of a person's [[geek|geekiness]]. It can often be found in computer [[gaming]] magazines, laying on a user's desk even while the person pictured is running Microsoft Windows. Tux has also appeared in open source video games such as [[Tux Racer]] (also known as 'Planet Penguin Racer') and [[TuxKart]], as well as in several educational tools, such as [[Tux Paint]].
| name=historyoftux
| url=http://www.sjbaker.org/tux/#why1
| title=A Complete History of Tux
| author=Steve Baker
| date=Accessed April 18th, 2007
}}</ref> Some years later, Torvalds confessed he had not been looking for a "Linux Corporate Image", but for something fun that could be extensively modified yet still be recognizable.  


==Variants==
It is not surprising, then, that the Tux character has never been static. Like the Linux system itself, he changes with the input of creative contributors. From the beginning, people have felt free to "play with" and re-draw the character in a variety of "goofy" ways. Each has creatively cast Tux in a different light, including a [[skateboard|skateboarder]], a [[ninja]], and a [[pipe]]-smoker. They have given Tux appearances in magazines, television broadcasts, video games and other software, mouse-pads, on clothing, stickers, and other paraphernalia.  Sculptor [[Eric Harshbarger]] made a 25" [[Lego]] model of Tux,<ref>{{cite web
Tux is not a mere static logo. From the beginning, the image was meant to be played with and re-drawn in a "goofy" manner. Popular versions of Tux include that in the [[Crystal]] [[icon]] set, the [[Slackware]] logo, which features Tux smoking a [[pipe]], and that of [[PaX]], which displays Tux as a [[viking]]. The Crystal Tux has been shown depicting him as many things, such as a [[skateboard|skateboarder]] and a [[ninja]]. Two female penguins, known as Gown and Penny have also appeared in several open source games, but they have no official bindings to the Linux kernel. Tux was also made into a 25" [[Lego]] model by a talented sculptor named [[Eric Harshbarger]].<ref>{{cite web
| url=http://www.ericharshbarger.org/lego/penguin.html
| url=http://www.ericharshbarger.org/lego/penguin.html
| title=Linux Penguin - LEGO
| title=Linux Penguin - LEGO
| author=Eric Harshbarger
| author=Eric Harshbarger
| date=
| date=
}}</ref> and anyone can make his or her own plush toy (see image gallery at right) from free patterns which are available.<ref>See http://www.free-penguin.org</ref>
People have even gone so far as to get Tux permanently etched onto their bodies, as a tattoo.<ref name="Tux tattoos">{{cite web
| url=http://olliver.family.gen.nz/tattoos.html
| author=Suzzy Olliver
| title=Tux (the Linux penguin) tattoos
| date=Retrieved 2007-04-15
}}</ref>
}}</ref>


Most recently, some have suspected Tux to have competing romantic involvements. Gown and Penny, two female penguins, have appeared in several open source games.  Tux's status remains unclear, however, since the gals are not official Linux projects.


==References==
==References==
<references/>
{{reflist|2}}


==Related Topics==
==Other software mascots==
* The [[BSD Daemon]], the mascot of the various [[Berkeley Software Distribution]] releases
* The [[BSD Daemon]], the mascot of the various [[Berkeley Software Distribution]] releases
* [[Wilber]], the mascot of [[The GIMP]]
* [[Wilber]], the mascot of [[The GIMP]]


==Subtopics==
==Subtopics==
[[Larry Ewing]]
*[[Larry Ewing]]


==External links==
==External links==
* [ftp://ftp.cs.helsinki.fi/pub/Software/Linux/Kernel/v1.3/ccpenguin.jpg ccpenguin.jpg] Linus' original penguin image. At his recommendation, Tux is based on this image
* [ftp://ftp.cs.helsinki.fi/pub/Software/Linux/Kernel/v1.3/ccpenguin.jpg ccpenguin.jpg] Torvalds' original penguin image. At his recommendation, Tux is based on this image
* [http://www.isc.tamu.edu/~lewing/linux/notes.html Larry Ewing's description of how he drew Tux]
* [http://www.babytux.org/gallery.php Tux image gallery] - ''many'' interpretations of Tux.


[[Category:CZ Live]]
[[Category:CZ Live]]
[[Category:Computers Workgroup]]
[[Category:Computers Workgroup]]

Latest revision as of 15:31, 23 September 2013

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This article is about Tux the Linux mascot. For other uses of the term Tux, please see Tux (disambiguation).
Tux the official Linux penguin. This image depicts him as most commonly appears and as originally drawn by Larry Ewing. Also see "A pictorial history of Tux".

Tux the penguin is the official logo and cartoon mascot for the Linux computer operating system. First drawn in 1996 by Larry Ewing, the fun-loving character has a special place in many people's imaginations, both inside and outside of the global Linux community.

An early sketch of Tux, depicting how Linux's early developers felt their operating system was gearing for competition with other operating systems.

Tux originated from a discussion on the "Linux kernel" mailing list. On May 1, 1996, early Linux contributor Matt Hartley began a thread entitled "Linux logo", which included an image by David Christiansen showing the planet Earth as seen from outer space, along with the captions "LINUX" and "Take your computer to another dimension."[1] [2] At one point, Linus Torvalds, the software engineer behind Linux, had casually mentioned his fondness of penguins, and list-users began to rally around the idea.

The next day, Alan Cox, a highly-esteemed hacker, posted a message suggesting that the Linux logo should be "a picture of the BSD daemon"—the logo for another open source operating system—"flat out on the floor with stars around its head and a penguin in boxing gloves standing on top."[3] Mark Lehrer countered that FreeBSD was not Linux's real competition. Microsoft's Windows 95 was—then the dominant operating system worldwide, in fact—so the logo should instead show a penguin smashing a window.[4] Alan Clucas then suggested that these two ideas would be best if combined, with a fighting penguin victorious over both its operating system competitors.[5]

Although parodies of other operating systems seemed by far the most popular, little real progress was being made. Besides, Torvalds could not bring himself to endorse the mocking of other operating systems. So he made a general plea for someone artistic to design a logo based on his favorite image of a penguin and release it under a free license,[6] emphatically stating that his penguin concept was final.

Tux takes shape and is named

Not long after, Dale Scheetz posted a prototype of a penguin holding up the Earth, combining Christiansen's original idea with Torvalds'.[7] Torvalds was doubtful, however, saying the penguin looked too weak to hoist an entire planet—the bird appeared in imminent danger of being squashed, in fact! The penguin logo, Torvalds thought, should instead be cute and cuddly. He envisioned the bird sitting, content and smiling, having just let out a small burp after a grand feast of herring. The bird was not to be fat, just happily gorged with fish.[8] It was Larry Ewing who then drew the original version of the Linux penguin—on a computer running Linux, of course.[9]

Once completed, the new mascot needed a name. Humorously, one of the earliest suggestions, from Henning Schmiedehausen, was "Homer", because to him the bird resembled television character Homer Simpson .[10] As a joke, Tux was later re-drawn by Anton Johansson as Homer Simpson morphed into a penguin.[11] Some then suggested "Linnie" as the penguin's name, but it was "Tux", coined by James Hughes, that soon caught on. This name has a two-fold meaning: as an acronym for Torvalds Unix, and as a pun based on the shortening of tuxedo, which penguins are often said to be wearing.[12] [13]

Continued "distributions" of Tux

Ever since Tux's beginning, he has been re-drawn and re-set in seemingly endless ways. Click on the image above to be brought to a gallery of some of his creative renditions.

Tux was therefore born of what Torvalds had often expressed as his affinity for "flightless, fat waterfowl". He once joked he had caught "penguinitis" after being nipped by a ferocious one, saying his "disease" caused him to "stay awake at nights just thinking about penguins and feeling great love towards them".[14] Some years later, Torvalds confessed he had not been looking for a "Linux Corporate Image", but for something fun that could be extensively modified yet still be recognizable.

It is not surprising, then, that the Tux character has never been static. Like the Linux system itself, he changes with the input of creative contributors. From the beginning, people have felt free to "play with" and re-draw the character in a variety of "goofy" ways. Each has creatively cast Tux in a different light, including a skateboarder, a ninja, and a pipe-smoker. They have given Tux appearances in magazines, television broadcasts, video games and other software, mouse-pads, on clothing, stickers, and other paraphernalia. Sculptor Eric Harshbarger made a 25" Lego model of Tux,[15] and anyone can make his or her own plush toy (see image gallery at right) from free patterns which are available.[16]

People have even gone so far as to get Tux permanently etched onto their bodies, as a tattoo.[17]

Most recently, some have suspected Tux to have competing romantic involvements. Gown and Penny, two female penguins, have appeared in several open source games. Tux's status remains unclear, however, since the gals are not official Linux projects.

References

  1. ↑ Matt Hartley (1996-05-5). Linux logo.
  2. ↑ David Christiansen. lin64.jpg.
  3. ↑ Alan Cox (1996-05-2). Re: Linux logo (LKML).
  4. ↑ Mark Lehrer (1996-05-4). Re: Linux logo.
  5. ↑ Alan Clucas (1996-05-4). Re: Linux logo.
  6. ↑ See ftp://ftp.cs.helsinki.fi/pub/Software/Linux/Kernel/v1.3/ccpenguin.jpg for the original image posted by Torvalds.
  7. ↑ Dale Scheetz (1996-05-9). Linux Logo prototype..
  8. ↑ Linus Torvalds (1996-05-9). Re: Linux Logo prototype..
  9. ↑ A complete description of the methods Ewing used is on his website, http://www.isc.tamu.edu/~lewing/linux/notes.html.
  10. ↑ Henning Schmiedehausen (1996-06-10). Re: Let's name the penguin! (citation 1).
  11. ↑ Steve Baker (Accessed April 18th, 2007). A Complete History of Tux.
  12. ↑ James Hughes (1996-06-10). Re: Let's name the penguin! (citation 2).
  13. ↑ LD Landis (1996-06-12). Re: Let's name the penguin! (citation 3).
  14. ↑ Steve Baker (Accessed April 18th, 2007). A Complete History of Tux.
  15. ↑ Eric Harshbarger. Linux Penguin - LEGO.
  16. ↑ See http://www.free-penguin.org
  17. ↑ Suzzy Olliver (Retrieved 2007-04-15). Tux (the Linux penguin) tattoos.

Other software mascots

Subtopics

External links

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