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Havoc Pennington

b. 1976

American computer engineer and entrepreneur

Computer scientist Engineer Software developer

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About Havoc Pennington

Born 1976. Havoc Pennington is an American computer scientist, engineer, software developer and programmer, known for GNOME and Linux.

Robert Sanford Havoc Pennington (born c. 1976) is an American computer engineer and entrepreneur. He is known in the free software movement due to his work on HAL, GNOME, Metacity, GConf, and D-Bus.

History Havoc Pennington graduated from the University of Chicago in 1998. After graduation, he worked at Red Hat as a Desktop manager/engineer for nine years, ending in 2008. He also founded the project freedesktop.org in 2000. He promoted the idea of the Gnome Online Desktop in 2007. For a time, he led the development of the 2006–2009 Mugshot project. From 2008 until June 2011, he worked on a consumer product for the startup company Litl (hardware, and proprietary software and services). From 2011 to 2015 he worked for Typesafe (now Lightbend).

Publications Havoc Pennington, GTK+ /Gnome Application Development, Sams, , 1999.

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Important facts

Born

1976

Birth century

20th century

Occupation

Computer scientist, engineer, software developer, programmer

Nationality

United States, Americans

Known for

GNOME, Linux

Education

University of Chicago

Positions held

Co-founder

Employers

Lightbend Inc., Red Hat

Contemporaries

People whose lives overlapped Havoc Pennington's

Frequently asked questions

Who is Havoc Pennington?

American computer engineer and entrepreneur

When was Havoc Pennington born?

Havoc Pennington was born in 1976.

What is Havoc Pennington's occupation?

Havoc Pennington is a computer scientist, engineer, software developer and programmer.

What is Havoc Pennington known for?

Havoc Pennington is known for GNOME and Linux.

What nationality is Havoc Pennington?

Havoc Pennington is American.

Sources & further reading

· Wikipedia: Havoc Pennington

· Wikidata: Q2444944

· DBpedia: Havoc Pennington

Cite this page

APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Havoc Pennington. https://biography.guide/havoc-pennington/

MLA: "Havoc Pennington." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/havoc-pennington/.

Chicago: "Havoc Pennington." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/havoc-pennington/.

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