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On Fri, 2002-11-29 at 01:20, Keith wrote:
I've now got this daft vision of hordes of penguins getting blown into Looe harbour on the SW gales and wandering about the streets. Pretty unlikely really seeing as they belong to the antarctic. Which begs the question of how the penguin became the Linux emblem. Did someone think they came from Finland?
From http://www.xs4all.nl/~tonstam/penguin.html
Why the Penguin?
Ok, short version:
I've always liked penguins, and when I was in Canberra a few years ago
we went to the local zoo with Andrew Tridgell (of samba fame). There
they had a ferocious penguin that bit me and infected me with a little
known disease called penguinitis. Penguinitis makes you stay awake at
nights just thinking about penguins and feeling great love towards them.
So when Linux needed a mascot, the first thing that came into my mind
was this picture of the majestic penguin, and the rest is history.
Slightly more accurate version:
Yes, I was bitten by a penguin, but it wasn't actually very ferocious.
It was really just a pigmy penguin about 6 inches tall or something, and
it was more of a timid nibble ("is this finger I see before me a small
fish, or what?"). Even so, I like penguins a lot.
More down-to-earth version:
All the other logos were too boring - I wasn't looking for the "Linux
Corporate Image", I was looking for something fun and sympathetic to
associate with Linux. A slightly fat penguin that sits down after having
had a great meal fits the bill perfectly.
Final comment:
Don't take the penguin too seriously. It's supposed to be kind of goofy
and fun, that's the whole point. Linux is supposed to be goofy and fun
(it's also the best operating system out there, but it's goofy and fun
at the same time!).
Linus Torvalds
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