First recorded in 1990–95; named after Linu(s) Benedict Torvalds (born 1969), Finnish software engineer + x as in UNIX ( def. )
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
It was worth it, and footage from the event shows her looking happy and tired on stage as she successfully hacked into a Linux based system to win $50,000.
From BBC • May 27, 2026
Networking giants Cisco and Broadcom are taking part in the project, along with the Linux Foundation that promotes the free, open-source Linux computer operating system.
From Barron's • Apr. 7, 2026
Previously, he was a writer at Wired, the IDG News Service and Linux Magazine, where he covered cloud computing, business technology, bitcoin, artificial intelligence and open-source software.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 23, 2026
Essex said a reacceleration in software growth was encouraging, even as the government shutdown weighed on bookings and growth at Red Hat, the Linux software provider, which IBM acquired in 2019.
From MarketWatch • Jan. 29, 2026
I’d begun writing for a new website, Slashdot.org, an intensely geeky techno/pop-culture site devoted to the open source Linux operating system and to the open source and free software movements.
From "Geeks: How Two Lost Boys Rode the Internet Out of Idaho" by Jon Katz
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
