Linus Torvalds Opens Code Power Session at TED2016

Linux creator highlights the feats and challenges of modern computing and the role of Linux in its rapid development

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, TED2016, February 17, 2016 – Linus Torvalds, creator of Linux and fellow at The Linux Foundation, today opened the “Code Power” session at the TED2016 conference held February 15-19 in Vancouver, British Columbia. Torvalds’ talk ran from 8:30-10:15 a.m. PST. The video of his session will be made available online at: https://conferences.ted.com/TED2016/

During the Q&A-style talk with TED Curator Chris Anderson, Torvalds discussed his life’s work, including the creation of Linux and the popular source code management system Git, as well as his opinions on good taste as it relates to code. Torvalds shared his modest intention in 1991 for Linux and went on to explain how he could never have predicted that it would become the fabric of modern day computing.

“Linus Torvalds is considered among the most influential people of the last century, having created the world’s most pervasive software,” said Jim Zemlin, executive director, The Linux Foundation. “Because software is the infrastructure on top of which we conduct our 21st century lives, his contribution to modern day society and computing is immeasurable. His perspective on the power of code and mass collaboration inspires others around the world in technology and other areas of industry to dream big.”

Linux is the largest shared technology investment in the history of computing. It is instrumental in accelerating technology innovations in mobile computing and devices, web infrastructure, digital social connection, data centers, supercomputing and more. Torvalds is a fellow at The Linux Foundation, the nonprofit organization enabling mass innovation through open source, and remains the ultimate authority on what new code is incorporated into the Linux kernel

Also featured in the Code Power session today was Education Activist Reshma Saujani; Copy Editor Mary Norris, augmented reality startup CEO Meron Gribetz; Artist, Composer and Engineer R. Luke DuBois; and Autonomous Systems Pioneer Raffaello D’Andrea. For more information on the session, please visit:

https://conferences.ted.com/TED2016/program/guide.php#Wednesday,February17,2016.

For the full TED2016 Dream program, visit

https://conferences.ted.com/TED2016/program/index.php.

About The Linux Foundation

The Linux Foundation is the organization of choice for the world’s top developers and companies to build ecosystems that accelerate open technology development and commercial adoption. Together with the worldwide open source community, it is solving the hardest technology problems by creating the largest shared technology investment in history. Founded in 2000, The Linux Foundation today provides tools, training and events to scale any open source project, which together deliver an economic impact not achievable by any one company. More information can be found at www.linuxfoundation.org.

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The Linux Foundation and Linux Standard Base are trademarks of The Linux Foundation. Linux is a trademark of Linus Torvalds.