Alan Cox

About

Known for maintaining branch 2.2 of the Linux operating system kernel, this computer programmer also owned a model train manufacturing company called Etched Pixels. 

Before Fame

While an employee of Swansea University in Wales, he installed an early Linux system on a university computer.

Trivia

An opponent of the patenting of software, he earned a 2003 honor from the Free Software Foundation.

Family Life

A native of Solihull, England, he later settled in Swansea, Wales, with his wife Telsa Gwynne.

Associated With

He and Linus Torvalds were both key figures in the development and maintenance of the Linux kernel.