KOMPAS.com– KOMPAS.com – A number of brands use animal characters as logos that symbolize the company’s vision and mission. Call it a Ferrari that uses a horse in its logo, or Mozilla Firefox which uses a red panda character.

Linux is also one of the companies that use animal characters as its logo. The company known for its operating system is popular for the sitting penguin logo. So what does it mean?

According to the official Linux website, the decision to make the penguin the company’s main mascot was made by Linux creator Linus Torvalds.

The final version of the logo that is known so far was created by a designer named Larry Ewing. Ewring said the penguin logo he created was based on discussions he had via email with Alan Cox, the programmer who was instrumental in the early development of Linux.

As for the archived Linux Australia post, it is explained that the Linux penguin is nicknamed “Tux, the Australian Penguin”. Tux itself is associated with an abbreviation of the last name of the founder of Linux, “Torvalds UniX”.

Linux founder likes fun things

To Torvalds, the overly rigid and serious design was unattractive to associate with his company. Therefore, he eliminated most of the Linux logo options that were presented to him at that time.

On the other hand, Torvalds prefers things to be “fun and sympathetic,” as described by the penguin smiling and happy after he eats.

“Some people say they think the fat penguins really represent the elegance of Linux, which they’ve never seen angry (penguins) attack them at more than 100 mph,” Torvalds wrote when announcing Linux 2.0 in 1996.

host.co Linux OS Logo

Another reason why the penguin is the Linux logo is that Torvalds was attracted to the animal, especially after he was bitten by the water bird. The incident occurred while Torvalds and his team were on a trip to the zoo in Canberra, Australia.