Alan Cox (born 1968) is a British computer programmer who has been heavily involved in the development of the Linux kernel since its early days in 1991. He went on to become one of its most important developers and maintainers, notably rewriting large parts of the networking subsystem — an enormously important contribution to the open-source software community. He was born in Solihull, England.
Cox's connection to Wales runs through Swansea University, where he studied for a BSc in Computer Science, graduating in 1991, and later returned to complete an MBA in 2005. While working on the university's computer network, he installed an early version of Linux on one of its machines — among the first Linux installations on a busy network anywhere — and used the experience to fix many early bugs. He lived and worked in Swansea for much of his career, and extracts of his personal diary have circulated online written in Welsh.
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A leading Linux kernel developer who studied and worked in Swansea for much of his career.
Alan Cox
Computer programmer, Linux kernel developer
Studied computer science at Swansea University, lived and worked in Swansea for much of his career
Cox maintained the influential 2.2 branch of the Linux kernel and remained one of its most trusted core developers for decades, later working on kernel security and driver development for companies including Red Hat and Intel.
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Career Highlights
BSc Computer Science, Swansea University, 1991
Maintainer, Linux kernel 2.2 branch
MBA, Swansea University, 2005
ℹ️ Alan was born on the 22nd of July, 1968, in Solihull, England.
Studied computer science at Swansea University, lived and worked in Swansea for much of his career