It was created by Larry Ewing in The GIMP, because LinusTorvalds likes Penguins. (After discussions on the linux-kernel mailing list, and an initial suggestion by AlanCox.)
Woodsoup.org has gathered 
an exhaustive history of Tux. The Google directory has a lot of information about Tux.
There is also a cool game called Tux Racer, where you guide a Penguin down a hill. It used to be Free, but is now Proprietary and commercial. However, see OpenRacer.
3 pages link to Tux:
