No he's not. He invented Free Software, and he wants Free Software to win over the half-assed "open source" movement. Many people think they're the same, but they're not.
He also wrote emacs, gcc, the GNU userspace, etc.
Also:
attempts to fight Tivoization of Linux with the GPLv3 (notice that the Linux kernel is still GPLv2? This isn't an accident.)
You're right, it's not an accident. Linus didn't require contributors to assign copyright to anyone, and hence the only way Linux's license can change is by getting permission from each copyright holder. Since many of Linux's copyright holders are dead, this isn't going to happen. Linux is stuck at GPLv2 forever.
The copyright claim on Linux, although correct, is misleading. 1) Sections of the kernel could be dual-licensed GPLv2/3 or converted to GPLv3 without the entire kernel being moved over, and 2) Linus himself has come out on numerous occasions against the GPLv3, especially the early versions.
He also wrote emacs, gcc, the GNU userspace, etc.
Also:
attempts to fight Tivoization of Linux with the GPLv3 (notice that the Linux kernel is still GPLv2? This isn't an accident.)
You're right, it's not an accident. Linus didn't require contributors to assign copyright to anyone, and hence the only way Linux's license can change is by getting permission from each copyright holder. Since many of Linux's copyright holders are dead, this isn't going to happen. Linux is stuck at GPLv2 forever.