Tux

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For other uses, see Tux (disambiguation).

Tux as drawn by Larry Ewing

Tux (also known as Tux the Penguin), is the official mascot of the Linux kernel.

1 Origins
2 Appearance
3 QuickTime penguin controversy
4 Uses
5 Tux in Popular Culture
6 Video games
7 Gown and Penny
8 Other uses
9 References
10 External links

[edit] Origins

An Adélie penguin

The concept of the Linux mascot being a penguin came from Linus Torvalds, the creator of Linux. Tux was created by Larry Ewing in 1996 after an initial suggestion made by Alan Cox ^[1] and further refined by Linus Torvalds on the Linux kernel mailing list ^[2]. The first person to call the penguin "Tux" was James Hughes who said that it stood for "(T)orvalds (U)ni(X)"[sic].

Tux was designed for a Linux logo contest. Confusingly, there were actually three separate contests and Tux didn't win any of them. This is why Tux is formally known as the Linux mascot and not the logo. Pictures of some of the other contestants can be found here. Tux was created by Larry Ewing using GIMP (a free software graphics package) and was released by him under the following condition:

Permission to use and/or modify this image is granted provided you acknowledge me lewing@isc.tamu.edu and The GIMP if someone asks. ^[3]

According to Jeff Ayers, Linus Torvalds had a "fixation for flightless, fat waterfowl" and Torvalds claims to have contracted "penguinitis" after being gently nibbled by a penguin: "Penguinitis makes you stay awake at nights just thinking about penguins and feeling great love towards them." Torvalds' supposed illness is of course a joke, but he really was bitten by a Little Penguin on a visit to Canberra, Australia ^[4]. Torvalds was looking for something fun and sympathetic to associate with Linux, and a slightly fat penguin sitting down after having had a great meal perfectly fit the bill.

Tux has become iconic for Linux, with one British Linux user group adopting a live Black-Footed (Jackass) penguin at Bristol Zoo on the occasion of Linus Torvalds' birthday.

[edit] Appearance

Tux does not accurately portray any of the 19 species of penguin although he somewhat resembles an Adelie penguin.

He is often dressed or portrayed differently, depending on context; for example, when representing the PaX security algorithm, he wears a helmet and brandishes an axe and shield, and his eyes are red. Recently, Tux has been redrawn to blend more appropriately into "crystalized" desktop themes.

Tux Crystal 1st revision

Tux Crystal 2nd revision

PaX Tux

Slackware Tux

[edit] QuickTime penguin controversy

The old QuickTime penguin is not Tux.

Some people believe that the QuickTime penguin is inspired by Tux and is a genuine free image. This is not the case, the image is copyrighted by Apple. Some open source projects still use modified version of this penguin, without the QuickTime logo: notably the Gentoo homepage.

[edit] Uses

Tux is the star of many games, including Tux Racer, in which the user guides Tux down a variety of different icy hills on his belly, trying to catch herring and beat the time limit. Tux is also a character in the webcomic User Friendly.

In some Linux distributions, Tux greets the user during booting, with multi-processor systems displaying multiple tuxes.

TUX is also the name of Linux kernel-based web server.

[edit] Tux in Popular Culture

On the Madagascar DVD, the penguins provide their own commentary on their scenes. When Private is struggling to operate a computer, Skipper comments, "You told me you knew Linux, Private!"
In the webcomic Ctrl+Alt+Del, the devout Linux user Scott has a pet penguin named Ted, an obvious reference to Tux.
In the Web RPG DragonFable, the penguin pet is named Linus, referring to Linus Torvalds himself; he also refuses to do Windows!

[edit] Video games

Tux, in front of the Palais Brongniart (former Paris stock exchange), during a free software business meeting

Tux has taken on a role in the Linux community similar to that which Mario holds in the Nintendo community. As such, several video games, mostly free software/open source and/or for Linux, have starred Tux, including:

Tux Racer (or its continuation, Planet Penguin Racer), a game similar to popular snowboarding games, except the snowboarder here is replaced by Tux
SuperTux, a platform game similar to Super Mario Bros.
Pingus, a Lemmings clone (where the penguins replaced the lemmings)
Tux the Penguin - A Quest for Herring (the first 3D game starring Tux).
Tux Kart - A GoKart racing game.
Super Tux Kart The sequel of Tux Kart.
Tux Paint, a drawing program for young children.
Freedroid RPG
Icy Tower, a platform game similar to Ice Climber. Tux is a downloadable character
XTux, a multiplayer 2D Gauntlet-style game.
Tux typing, an educational typing tutor for children.
Tux of math command, an educational math game for children.
Tux Climber,a Icy Tower-like game featuring Tux.

[edit] Gown and Penny

In some games that star Tux, a desire for more gender neutrality has resulted in them allowing the players to play as either Tux or his female friend "Gown".^[5] Gown is variously depicted as being a pink version of Tux (eg XTux) or as having a somewhat less fat appearance and wearing items of clothing such as a short skirt and a hair bow (eg TuxKart and Quest for Herring). In SuperTux and Super TuxKart, there is a different female penguin called 'Penny' who is purple and white.

[edit] Other uses

Tux had an uncredited use in the Al Gore's Penguin Army video controversy.

During the Q&A session following his COMDEX Fall 1999 keynote address, Linus Torvalds was asked if he had any idea how many stuffed penguins had been sent to Bill Gates. Torvalds' response was another question: "To the nearest thousand?"