If a Linus Torvalds started behaving like a virtual Milosevic, Linux hackers would take themselves elsewhere.

ECONOMIST: The consensus machine

Linux(R) is the registered trademark of Linus Torvalds in the U.S. and other countries.

ENGADGET: ARM, Samsung, IBM, Freescale, TI and more join to form Linaro, speed rollout of Linux-based devices

Or picture the Microsoft-versus-Linux squabble settled with a single slash of Gates' saber into Linus Torvalds' ear.

FORBES: Forget those depositions. Let's duel.

Linus Torvalds sits at the center, not all powerful, but a major factor.

FORBES: Red Hat At $1 Billion

GitHub is a version control system based on Git, an open source project started by Linux creator Linus Torvalds.

FORBES: Software Engineers Are In Demand, And GitHub Is How You Find Them

Not long after Linus Torvalds, then an undergraduate at the University of Helsinki, created the software in 1991, it was adopted by influential programmers and hackers.

FORBES: Cult brands

We focused on 28-year-old Linus Torvalds, a Finn who in 1991 wrote the first version of Linux, operating system software that has become the darling of hard-core computer users.

FORBES: Follow Through

On January 4th, Linus Torvalds, the Finnish programmer who co-ordinates the development of Linux (see article), quietly released the latest version of the Linux kernel the software that, as its name suggests, is at the core of the operating system.

ECONOMIST: Computing

Linus Torvalds of Linux was 22.

FORBES: BOOM INTERRUPTUS