Niels Horn's Blog

Tux and… Tuz?

April 18th, 2009 by Niels Horn in Linux, Tux, kernel

In a previous post I wrote something about our little friend Tux, the symbol of Linux.

On most computers running Linux he'll show up while the kernel is starting up the main services, once for every processor in your system. This little picture in compiled into the kernel and, if you have the sources on your system (like on almost all Slackware installations), you can find him at /usr/src/linux/drivers/video/logo in his various forms (black & white, color, with several architecture-logos, etc.)
The most well-known version is in the logo_linux_clut224.ppm file:

Who likes to use the latest version of the kernel, will have noticed that as of 2.6.29, Tux has been replaced by… Tuz:

Tuz is a little Tasmanian Devil trying to disguise as a penguin

Linus Torvalds had already announced this chance in his blog and as most understood, this is a temporary change, only in the 2.6.29.x kernels.

But for those who can't wait and really do not like Tuz, it is possible to compile your own kernel with Tux on your screen again.

First you'll have to get hold of the original logo_linux_clut224.ppm with the image from Tux. Get it from a system still running the 2.6.28.x kernel or older, or find it on the internet. Save this file in /usr/src/linux/drivers/video/logo/ and then follow these standard steps to compile your kernel:

• # cd /usr/src/linux
• # make mrproper
• Copy the configuration file of your current kernel (usually in /boot) as .config here
• # make menuconfig
• In the configuration menu, choose "General setup" and change the "Local version" to something like "-tux", so that you can recognize your custom kernel later. Exit the menu saving your change.
• # make (this will take a while, depending on your processing power…)
• # make modules_install
• # cp arch/i386/boot/bzImage /boot/vmlinuz-tux
• # cp System.map /boot/System.map-tux
• # cp .config /boot/config-tux
• If you used an initrd with your normal kernel, you'll need to create one for this custom kernel as well
• Add your new kernel to your lilo.conf, run lilo and reboot!

If you feel like it you can also experiment with other pictures…