Everything you need to celebrate #Linux35
“I’m doing a (free) operating system (just a hobby, won’t be big and professional like gnu)…” — Linus Torvalds, Usenet, August 25, 1991
Downloadable graphics
Save these Linux35 graphics and share them wherever you post about #Linux35.
Linux35 logo
Download PNG
Celebrating 35 Years of Linux
Download PNGBuild your Linux35 signature
Fill in your details, click Copy Signature, then paste it right into your Gmail signature box — it pastes in fully formatted, logo and all.
Live preview
|
First Last
Job Title
(123) 456 7890
|
Frame your profile photo
Upload a photo and we’ll add a gradient ring, a “35 Years of Linux” banner, and the Tux badge — sized for LinkedIn and X profile photos.
Drag the photo to reposition it, and use the zoom slider to scale it in the frame.
35 other things that also happened in 1991
Linux wasn’t the only thing launched that year.
Tech
- The World Wide Web goes liveTim Berners-Lee publishes the first website at CERN.
- GSM networks launchThe first commercial digital mobile network switches on in Finland.
- PGP encryption is releasedPhil Zimmermann publishes Pretty Good Privacy, an early public-key encryption tool.
- Unicode 1.0 is publishedA universal standard for encoding text lays groundwork for the global internet.
- Apple ships the first PowerBookThe laptop layout it introduced — palm rest, trackball, keyboard up top — is still the template today.
- Apple releases System 7A major overhaul of the Macintosh operating system.
- The first commercial digital SLRKodak’s DCS-100 pairs a Nikon body with a hard-drive-sized digital back.
- The world’s first webcam goes liveCambridge researchers point a camera at the “Trojan Room” coffee pot so they don’t have to walk over for nothing.
- Adobe Premiere debutsConsumer video editing software arrives for the first time.
- MiniDisc and DCC are announcedSony and Philips launch competing digital audio cassette formats.
Gaming
- Sonic the Hedgehog debutsSega’s mascot launches on the Genesis.
- The Super Nintendo launches in North AmericaSNES arrives on August 23, 1991 — just two days before Linux.
- Street Fighter II hits arcadesIt redefines competitive gaming and the fighting-game genre.
- Sid Meier’s Civilization is releasedThe turn-based strategy genre is essentially invented overnight.
- id Software is foundedFuture home of Doom and Quake.
- Blizzard Entertainment is foundedAs Silicon & Synapse, before it became a household name.
Music
- Nirvana releases NevermindGrunge crashes into the mainstream and changes rock overnight.
- R.E.M. releases Out of TimeFeaturing “Losing My Religion.”
- Metallica’s self-titled “Black Album”Becomes one of the best-selling albums of all time.
- Guns N’ Roses release Use Your Illusion I & IITwo albums, one release day.
- Red Hot Chili Peppers release Blood Sugar Sex MagikTheir commercial breakthrough.
- Pearl Jam releases their debut album, TenReleased within days of Linux’s own debut.
- Boyz II Men release CooleyhighharmonyTheir debut album introduces a new era of R&B.
- Michael Jackson releases DangerousOne of the year’s biggest album events.
- Bryan Adams spends 16 weeks at #1“(Everything I Do) I Do It for You” sets a chart record.
Film & TV
- Terminator 2: Judgment Day redefines CGIJames Cameron’s sequel pushes visual effects into a new era.
- The Silence of the Lambs sweeps the OscarsIt wins all five top Academy Award categories.
- Beauty and the Beast makes Oscar historyThe first animated film ever nominated for Best Picture.
- Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and Point Break hit theatersTwo of the year’s biggest blockbusters.
- Nickelodeon premieres its first NicktoonsRugrats, Doug, and Ren & Stimpy all debut.
- Home Improvement premieresTim Allen’s sitcom debuts on ABC.
World Stage
- Michael Jordan wins his first NBA titleThe Bulls beat the Lakers to start a dynasty.
- The Soviet Union dissolvesOne of the defining geopolitical events of the 20th century.
- South Africa repeals its apartheid lawsA pivotal step toward the country’s democratic transition.
- The Gulf War concludesOperation Desert Storm ends in February 1991.
Fun facts about Linux
From a college side project to the backbone of the modern world.
10,000 → 40,000,000+
Linux began in 1991 with roughly 10,000 lines of code. Today, the kernel source tree has surpassed 40 million lines — and has been growing by roughly 400,000 lines every two months.
Thousands of developers. Thousands of organizations.
Thousands of developers and organizations have contributed to the Linux kernel over its history. In 2024 alone, more than 4,800 individual authors contributed changes — part of one of the largest collaborative software engineering efforts ever undertaken.
Its roots go back to 2000
The Linux Foundation traces its roots to the Open Source Development Labs, founded in 2000, and the Free Standards Group. The two organizations merged in 2007 to form the Linux Foundation.
It runs the ISS and every TOP500 supercomputer
Linux is used aboard the International Space Station, and since 2017, every system ranked on the TOP500 list of the world’s most powerful supercomputers has run Linux.
It’s inside roughly 4 out of 5 smartphones
Android is built on the Linux kernel and accounts for roughly 80% of the global smartphone operating system market.
Git started as a Linux side project
Linus Torvalds created Git in 2005 when the Linux kernel project needed a new version-control system. He had the first working version running within days. Today, Git is the dominant version-control system in software development.
Tux didn’t win the contest
Larry Ewing created the now-famous Tux penguin in 1996 as an entry in a Linux logo competition. His design didn’t win — but it became the Linux mascot anyway.
It was almost called “Freax”
Linus Torvalds considered calling his new operating system “Freax.” But when Ari Lemmke set up an FTP directory for the project, he called it “linux” instead. The name stuck.