How to Pronounce Linux

There are three common pronunciations of Linux. All three are quite acceptable.

The only proper pronunciation is the one used by Linus Torvalds himself. The name Linux is a derivative of his name, and thus is pronounced like his name. Linus pronounces his name "Lee-noos", so Linux is properly pronounced "Lee-nooks".

A linguistically acceptable pronunciation is based on the Anglicized pronunciation of Linus, which is "Lie-nus". Hence, an acceptable Anglicized pronunciation of Linux is "Lie-nuks".

However, there is a third common pronunciation of Linux, which is "Lin-icks" (or sometimes "Lin-ucks"). This pronunciation has no basis as a linguistic derivative. It does, however, sound more like "Unix", which is probably the reason it came about.

Comments

Unknown said…

Actually there is a fairly well known recording floating about the net of Linus pronouncing Linux, which he does NOT pronounce the same way he pronounces his name.

November 8, 2009 at 7:17 PM