Textbook of Linux

b. 1950, United States — Linux International; early commercial Linux evangelist

Also known as: maddog, Jon Hall, Jon maddog Hall

Jon "maddog" Hall — the nickname comes from his temper at an early DEC job — ran Linux International from 1994 to the mid-2010s and was one of the first people to bring Linux seriously to the attention of American industry. In 1994, as an engineer at Digital Equipment Corporation, he persuaded Linus Torvalds to port Linux to the 64-bit Alpha architecture — the first non-x86 port — by arranging for a loaner workstation. That port proved Linux was more than just a hobby kernel.

For two decades Hall travelled the world delivering keynote talks on open source to governments, industry conferences, and universities. He was president of Linux International (an early industry consortium), has served on numerous free-software-related boards, and is one of the few figures respected across both the Stallman "software freedom" camp and the Raymond "open source" camp.

He is instantly recognisable: long white beard, Hawaiian shirts, and an evangelist's relentless good cheer. He continues to contribute to Project Cauã, a Brazilian initiative to train free-software sysadmins and entrepreneurs.