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Tux (mascot)

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The original Linux penguin "Tux", drawn by Larry Ewing in 1996
Tux, originally drawn as a raster image by Larry Ewing in 1996.

Tux is a penguin character and the official brand character of the Linux kernel.[1] Originally created as an entry to a Linux logo competition, Tux is the most commonly used icon for Linux, although different Linux distributions depict Tux in various styles. The character is used in many other Linux programs and as a general symbol of Linux.

History

Origins

The concept of the Linux brand character being a penguin came from Linus Torvalds, the creator of Linux. According to Jeff Ayers, Linus Torvalds had a "fixation for flightless, fat waterfowl" and Torvalds claims to have contracted "penguinitis" after being nibbled by a little penguin on a visit to the National Zoo & Aquarium, Canberra, Australia,[2] joking that the disease "makes you stay awake at nights just thinking about penguins and feeling great love towards them".[3]

Linus spoke at the 1994 AUUG Conference (5-9 Sept, Melbourne) [4] as part of a "World Tour" to Belgium, Australia, Singapore and elsewhere, mentioning in Linux Journal he was bitten by a penguin at Canberra Zoo, not at Phillip Island, Victoria, by a (shy) wild penguin.[5]

In an interview Linus commented on the penguin bite:[6]

I've been to Australia several times, these days mostly for Linux.Conf.Au. But my first trip—and the one when I was bitten by a ferocious fairy penguin: you really should keep those things locked up!—was in 93 or so, talking about Linux for the Australian Unix Users Group.

At Canberra zoo a sign said in 2009 that staff believed the "original Tux" was still resident in the penguin enclosure.[7]

Apart from this, in the book Just for Fun: The Story of an Accidental Revolutionary, there is an excerpt dedicated to how Tux became the mascot of the Linux OS. In the book, Linus says he doesn’t remember how Tux became the mascot, but believes the zoo story, which, according to his wife, Tove Torvalds, is probably right.

The story, according to Linus, is that while Tove may in fact have vaguely mentioned penguins at some early stage, it was in a conversation with two high-ranking Linux types that the icy creatures were first seriously considered as the operating system’s official mascot.

In 1996 after an initial design suggestion made by Alan Cox,[8] use of an image Torvalds found on an FTP site,[9] showing a penguin figurine depicted in a similar style to the Creature Comforts characters created by Nick Park, the concept for Tux was further refined by Torvalds on the Linux kernel mailing list.[10]

Linus Torvalds' "favourite penguin picture", used as inspiration for Tux

Torvalds was looking for something fun and sympathetic to associate with Linux, and he felt that a slightly fat penguin sitting down after having eaten a great meal perfectly fit the bill.[11]

The final and original design was a submission for a Linux logo contest by Larry Ewing[12] using the first publicly released[13] version (0.54) of GIMP, a free software graphics package. It was released by him under the following condition:[14]

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

Since Tux won none of the three competitions that were held Tux is formally known as the Linux brand character and not the logo.[15]

The first person to call the penguin "Tux" was James Hughes, who said that it stood for "(T)orvalds (U)ni(X)".[16] However, tux is also an abbreviation of tuxedo, the outfit which bears resemblance in appearance to a penguin.

Tuz 2009

Tuz, the Tasmanian devil (2009)

Tuz, a Tasmanian devil wearing a fake penguin beak, was the brand character of the 2009 linux.conf.au conference. It has been chosen by Linus Torvalds as the logo for version 2.6.29 of the Linux kernel[17] to support the effort to save the Tasmanian devil species from extinction[18] due to the devil facial tumour disease.

The image was designed by Andrew McGown and recreated as an SVG using Inkscape by Josh Bush,[19] and released under the CC BY-SA license.[20]

Linux for Workgroups 2013

Tux logo in the "Linux for Workgroups" release (2013)

For the Linux 3.11-rc1 release, Linus Torvalds changed the code name from "Unicycling Gorilla" to "Linux for Workgroups" and modified the logo that some systems display when booting to depict a Tux holding a flag with a symbol that is reminiscent of the logo of Windows for Workgroups 3.11, which was released in 1993.[21]

Uses and reception

In some Linux distributions, for example Gentoo,[22] Tux greets the user during booting with multi-processor systems displaying multiple images of Tux, one for each processor core.

Video games

Tux has taken on a role in the Linux community similar to that which Mario holds in the Nintendo community. The character has been featured in open-source look-alikes of other mainstream games, such as Tux Racer, Extreme Tux Racer, SuperTux, SuperTuxKart, and Tux Paint.

In Roblox, many users have uploaded images and t-shirts, a cosmetic, featuring Tux into the game for other users to wear.

Female Tux versions in video games

Some games that star Tux also include explicitly female penguin characters, allowing the players to play as one of those characters instead of Tux. One such female penguin is Tux's friend "Gown". Gown is variously depicted as being a pink version of Tux (XTux) or as having a somewhat less fat appearance and wearing items of clothing such as a red and white short skirt and a hair bow (e.g. TuxKart and A Quest for Herring).[citation needed]

In SuperTux and SuperTuxKart, there is a different female penguin called "Penny" who is purple and white (SuperTuxKart once had Gown and still has a map called "Gown's Bow"). In the arcade game Tux 2 there is a female penguin called "Trixi", and in FreeCiv the female leader name for the Antarctican civilization is "Tuxette".[citation needed]

  • In a Froot Loops advertisement, Tux appears as a squeaky toy, the "secret weapon" to distract a pack of dogs pulling a sled containing the villain.[23]
  • In the comics Hellblazer, in issue 234 "Joyride, part 1", a Tux plush toy makes an appearance, set on the side of the road where a little girl was killed in a hit-and-run accident.
  • Tux appeared as a character during one arc in the webcomic User Friendly.

Other uses

  • In 1999, Corel Linux Deluxe included a free Linux Penguin (Tux) toy.[24]
  • Since around 2001, there was a Linux-based web server named TUX, which was deprecated around 2006.
  • In 2006, Tux had an uncredited use in the Al Gore's Penguin Army video.
  • In 2007, Tux was used by the German cutlery producer WMF in the Sealion set for children.[25]
  • In 2008, Tux has also been made as a virtual pet under the name Tux Droid by Kysoh for Linux and Windows, has many features including reading tweets from Twitter and checking the weather.
  • Since 2009, TuxGuitar, a free guitar tab reading/editing program, features Tux holding a guitar as its brand character.[26]
  • In 2010, a prototype of a Tux monument with wings was presented in the Russian city of Tyumen by the local Linux user community.[27][28]
  • The avatar of Electronica artist Ephixa is based on Tux (around 2011).
  • In April 2016, Tux was adapted to a designer toy called a Gwin and was distributed by October Toys.[29] The toy was redesigned by different artists and sold in short collectible runs through the October Toys website and other collectable vinyl toy sites. October Toys has since ceased operations.
  • Tux variants
  • Vectorized from the pixel image source
    Vectorized from the pixel image source
  • Gloss look Tux
    Gloss look Tux
  • High quality 3d-look variant
    High quality 3d-look variant
  • Modern flat look
    Modern flat look
  • Modern flat look in monochrome
    Modern flat look in monochrome
  • Classic flat look: Emblem
    Classic flat look: Emblem
  • Classic flat look: 3D
    Classic flat look: 3D
  • Simple vector variant
    Simple vector variant
  • Tux Crystal 1st revision
    Tux Crystal 1st revision
  • Tux Crystal 2nd revision
    Tux Crystal 2nd revision
  • A Tux icon
    A Tux icon
  • Slackware version of Tux
    Slackware version of Tux
  • Tux from TuxGuitar
    Tux from TuxGuitar
  • PaX version of Tux
    PaX version of Tux
  • Appearances of Tux
  • Tux as the player character protagonist of SuperTux
    Tux as the player character protagonist of SuperTux
  • Tux on the fork of the cutlery set Sealion for children by WMF (2007).
    Tux on the fork of the cutlery set Sealion for children by WMF (2007).
  • Eight Tux displayed, representing eight processor cores running the Gentoo Linux installation CD.
    Eight Tux displayed, representing eight processor cores running the Gentoo Linux installation CD.
  • A Tux rangoli by students at GNUnify'13, Pune
    A Tux rangoli by students at GNUnify'13, Pune

See also

References

  1. ^ Linux Logos and brand characters. linux.org
  2. ^ ""Tux" the Aussie Penguin". Linux Australia. Archived from the original on 7 May 2006. Retrieved 25 June 2006.
  3. ^ Delio, Michelle (13 March 2001). "The Story Behind Tux the Penguin". Wired. Archived from the original on 29 August 2012. Retrieved 23 September 2012.
  4. ^ Torvalds, Linus (15 March 1994). Linux Kernel Implementation. Retrieved 9 July 2022.
  5. ^ Frazier, Belinda (1 January 1995). "A Conversation with Linus Torvalds". Linux Journal.
  6. ^ Buchanan, James (22 August 2007) Linus Torvalds talks future of Linux (page 3). APC Magazine.
  7. ^ "The Story Behind Tux". Wikimedia Commons. 23 February 2009. Retrieved 20 September 2019.
  8. ^ Re: Linux logo. Ussg.iu.edu (2 May 1996). Retrieved 4 July 2013.
  9. ^ Re: Linux logo. Lkml.org. Retrieved 4 July 2013.
  10. ^ Re: Linux Logo prototype. Archived 30 May 2012 at archive.today. Ussg.iu.edu (9 May 1996). Retrieved 4 July 2013.
  11. ^ "Why a Penguin?". Linux Online. Archived from the original on 15 August 2010. Retrieved 19 May 2009.
  12. ^ Larry Ewing. "Notes on creation". Retrieved 31 July 2007.
  13. ^ Bunks, Carey (2000). Grokking the GIMP. New Riders. ISBN 0-7357-0924-6.
  14. ^ Larry Ewing. "Linux 2.0 Penguins". Retrieved 25 June 2006.
  15. ^ The History of Tux the Linux Penguin. Sjbaker.org. Retrieved 4 July 2013.
  16. ^ Re: Let's name the penguin! (was: Re: Linux 2.0 really _is_ released..). Archived 1 July 2007 at the Wayback Machine. Ussg.iu.edu (10 June 1996). Retrieved 4 July 2013.
  17. ^ Linus' git commit from Rusty Russell[permanent dead link]. Git.kernel.org. Retrieved 4 July 2013.
  18. ^ The kernel gets a new logo. LWN.net (17 March 2009). Retrieved 4 July 2013.
  19. ^ One Bush who has designs on LCA2009. Itwire.com (30 December 2008). Retrieved 4 July 2013.
  20. ^ file Documentation/logo.txt from Linux kernel source code. Git.kernel.org. Retrieved 4 July 2013.
  21. ^ Linux for Workgroups, The H Open, 15 July 2013.
  22. ^ "Gentoo Forums :: View topic - Tux at top of screen during boot?". Forums.gentoo.org. Retrieved 25 March 2014.
  23. ^ "Tux Frootloops". 29 May 2011. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 23 July 2019 – via YouTube.
  24. ^ Corel Linux OS Deluxe, Corel Corporation, 1999.
  25. ^ Werner, Max Jonas (15 January 2007). "Tux-Besteck von WMF" (in German). linux-community.de. Retrieved 23 September 2012.
  26. ^ The website of TuxGuitar. Tuxguitar.herac.com.ar. Retrieved 4 July 2013.
  27. ^ The first Linux monument in history unveiled in Russia on lazarenko.me (archived)
  28. ^ Тюменские пользователи Linux собираются поставить памятник пингвину on www.tumix.ru (2010)
  29. ^ "October Toys". octobertoys.com.

This article incorporates material from the Citizendium article "Tux (mascot)", which is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License but not under the GFDL.

Media related to Tux at Wikimedia Commons

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