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Some Incredible Stories Around Tux: Our Lovable Linux Mascot!


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There are a couple of them that I had heard of before.

 

We’ve all heard about our favorite Linux Mascot! In this Linux trivia series, I’ve scoured every nook and corner of the web I could reach out to, to dig up some old archives to gather some interesting trivia about our cute and friendly penguin, starting from its early days.

 

 

history-of-linux-logo-mascot.png?resize=800%2C450&ssl=1

 

Chances are you might have already heard about its origins. But in this article exclusively dedicated to Tux, we are jotting down some interesting stories around the cute little fella with some info that might have gone unknown!

 

The first discussion about a mascot goes back to the early days of the Linux release, when https://itsfoss.com/...s-facts/"]Linus Torvalds%5B/url%5D shared his thoughts about choosing one that would gracefully be the torch-bearer of our beloved OS. That’s when many people dived in to contribute with their suggestions for the same.

 

The first email that cites the discussion of bringing in a Mascot goes back to 1996. It started with a hot debate about choosing creatures such as sharks or eagles which stopped the moment Linus mentioned that he was rather fond of penguins!

 

Re: Linux Logo prototype.

Linus Torvalds (torvalds@cs.helsinki.fi)

Thu, 9 May 1996 17:48:56 +0300 (EET DST)

.

Somebody had a logo competition announcement, maybe people can send their ideas to a web-site..

 

Anyway, this one looks like the poor penguin is not really strong enough to hold up the world, and it’s going to get squashed. Not a good, positive logo, in that respect..

 

Now, when you think about penguins, first take a deep calming breath, and then think “cuddly”. Take another breath, and think “cute”. Go back to “cuddly” for a while (and go on breathing), then think “contented”.

 

With me so far? Good..

 

Now, with penguins, (cuddly such), “contented” means it has either just gotten laid, or it’s stuffed on herring. Take it from me, I’m an expert on penguins, those are really the only two options.

 

Now, working on that angle, we don’t really want to be associated with a randy penguin (well, we do, but it’s not politic, so we won’t), so we should be looking at the “stuffed to its brim with herring” angle here.

 

So when you think “penguin”, you should be imagining a slighly overweight penguin (*), sitting down after having gorged itself, and having just burped. It’s sitting there with a beatific smile – the world is a good place to be when you have just eaten a few gallons of raw fish and you can feel another “burp” coming.

 

(*) Not FAT, but you should be able to see that it’s sitting down because it’s really too stuffed to stand up. Think “bean bag” here.

 

Now, if you have problems associating yourself with something that gets off by eating raw fish, think “chocolate” or something, but you get the idea.

 

Ok, so we should be thinking of a lovable, cuddly, stuffed penguin sitting down after having gorged itself on herring. Still with me?

 

NOW comes the hard part. With this image firmly etched on your eyeballs, you then scetch a stylizied version of it. Not a lot of detail – just a black brush-type outline (you know the effect you get with a brush where the thickness of the line varies). THAT requires talent. Give people the outline, and they should say [ sickly sweet voice, babytalk almost ]”Ooh, what a cuddly penguin, I bet he is just stuffed with herring”, and small children will jump up and down and scream “mommy mommy, can I have one too?”.

 

Then we can do a larger version with some more detail (maybe leaning against a globe of the world, but I don’t think we really want to give any “macho penguin” image here about Atlas or anything). That more detailed version can spank billy-boy to tears for all I care, or play ice-hockey with the FreeBSD demon. But the simple, single penguin would be the logo, and the others would just be that cuddly penguin being used as an actor in some tableau.

 

Linus

 

There have been numerous reports about the origins of Tux on various portals. I could have focused on just the origins but thought rather bring into light some other lesser known facts instead..................

 

https://itsfoss.com/tux-trivia/

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I'm not sure how it came about or what's in it but Slackware's Tux has been known to smoke a pipe...Slackware-mascot.png

 

Now the questions is.. what is in his pipe? :P

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Now the questions is.. what is in his pipe? :P

Should get him on to vaping. ;)

 

I've noticed on my system with the Liquorix kernel Tux appears with a necklace. Don't recall, it may be rubies or beads. I'll look closer next time.

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