Textbook of Linux

b. 1968, Swansea, Wales — Long-time Linux kernel maintainer (networking, TTY layer)

Also known as: Cox

Alan Cox was — for much of the 1990s and 2000s — Linus Torvalds's principal kernel deputy. He maintained the networking subsystem, the TTY layer, and various driver areas, and ran the kernel's "-ac" development tree that often fed patches back to the mainline kernel. He was, along with Ted Ts'o, one of the most technically respected kernel developers of his generation.

Cox worked at Red Hat for over a decade, then at Intel on the Tizen project. In 2013 he stepped back from kernel development, citing in public posts the toxic tone of kernel mailing-list discourse — a moment that prompted some reflection inside the project about how it treated its own contributors, including the eventual CoC adoption in 2018.

He returned to kernel work later, at a reduced pace, continuing to maintain legacy networking and TTY code. His departure and later return became something of a bellwether for the community's culture.