I think it would work quite well in an icon/emoji setting, where the context "operation system brand" was already established.

E.g. think of some "coose your OS" widget with entries:

  - (Apple with bite) MacOS
  - (Colored flag) Windows
  - (This icon) Linux

I disagree while, there is an Linux icon that would fit in here. This is not it. It might be a starting point, I don't think the design works. despite how simple the windows and apple logos they represent thousands of hours of work by the best graphic artists.

I'm not one of the best graphic artists but I'll give it a shot. First the default version feels vaguely ominous. To me it feels like someone robbing a bank or the logo on stormtroopers murdering civilians, this is obviously horrible. I think this is due to the sharp angles and the eyes without an attached mouth.

The other options improve the scary problem but add complexity that moves it away from the simple universal recognizable logo we are trying to make. On that note the default version is still too complex. Maybe you could move to more of a silhouette, though I think that would fail in recognizably.

Perhaps part of the problem is a penguin is just not so omnipresent in our lives as windows and apples are. Redhat does achieve this with a very simple instantly recognizable logo, I think that could work. Ubuntu also does well with it's logo thought it has gone full abstract, it's distinct and works well.

If you want to see more google image search for "logos"

You want a dev to fill in that third set of bracket with "A penguin", and it didn't happen.