Alan Cox

Alan Cox is exactly the sort of figure I admire most: someone who shaped the world without needing the spotlight. Born in Solihull in 1968 and educated at Aberystwyth, he became a key Linux developer, maintaining the 2.2 kernel branch in a collaboration dating back to 1991. His stage was never a screen; it was the code that quietly underpins the devices the rest of us take for granted. The 2004 Free Software award and a 2016 honorary degree are fitting nods. I think of him as a craftsman whose unseen handiwork sits beneath everything, and that kind of quiet importance deserves real respect.

Alan Cox (born 22 July 1968) is a British computer programmer who has been a key figure in the development of Linux. He maintained the 2.2 branch of the Linux kernel and was heavily involved in its development, an association that dates back to 1991. He lives in Swansea, Wales, where he lived with his wife Telsa Gwynne, who died in 2015, and now lives with author Tara Neale, whom he married in 2020.

Summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Name (English)

Alan Cox

Name (Japanese)

アラン・コックス

Reading

あらん・こっくす

Born

July 22, 1968 (age 57)

Zodiac / Chinese zodiac

Cancer / Monkey

Origin

Solihull, United Kingdom

Blood type

Private

Height

Private

Agency

Private

Occupation

programmer / blogger / computer scientist

Elementary school

Private

Junior high

Private

High school

Private

University

Aberystwyth University

Awards & achievements

• 2004 FSF Award for the Advancement of Free Software
• 2016 honorary degree

Spouse

Private

Children

Private

Parents

Private

Siblings

Private

Motto

Private

• Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%A2%E3%83%A9%E3%83%B3%E3%83%BB%E3%82%B3%E3%83%83%E3%82%AF%E3%82%B9

Tags

• programmer
• blogger
• computer scientist

Last updated

2026-06-02

Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.