Linux 20yrs
Linux 20yrs
By Ryan Paul | Published about 17 hours ago The Linux kernel was originally created by Linus Torvalds, a Finnish computer science student, and first announced to the world on August 25, 1991exactly 20 years ago today. At the time, Torvalds described his work as a "hobby" and contended that it would not be "big and professional" like the GNU project. But the Linux kernel turned out to be one of the most significant pieces of open source software ever developed. Over the past two decades, it has grown from a humble hobby project into a global phenomenon that runs on everything from low-cost e-book readers to a majority of the world's supercomputers. Here's how it grew.
From the Linux Foundation's Linux History Gallery The original 0.01 release of Linux could not actually run. Torvalds published the source codedespite its technical
shortcomingsfor the benefit of Lemmke, who had expressed interest after the initial announcement. Not until the 0.02 release on October 5, 1991 could the OS function. The earliest versions of the Linux kernel source code were published under licensing terms that made the software free to use and to redistribute for non-commercial purposes. The code was transitioned to GNU's General Public License in 1992 following the release of version 0.12, and the Linux kernel is still distributed under that license today.
Although Linux and MINIX had much in common at the start, including a similar filesystem layout, significant technical differences between the two kernels would later become the subject of a running debate between Torvalds and Tanenbaum. The Linux kernel has a "monolithic" architecture, whereas Tanenbaum's MINIX was designed as a modular microkernel. In a 1992 statement, Tanenbaum declared that the Linux kernel was "obsolete" from the start and that building a monolithic kernel was a "giant step back" from the state of the art and "a truly poor idea." Tanenbaum went on to suggest that people who wanted a modern free operating system would be better off waiting for GNU to deliver a microkernel rather than using Linux. Torvalds responded sharply to the criticism and defended his design decisions. Although he acknowledged the theoretical benefits of microkernel design, he argued that Linux was a better real-world kernel than MINIX due a number of pragmatic technical advantages in areas like threading and multitasking. He thought GNU might eventually produce a superior alternative, but he continued pressing forward with Linux because there was clearly demand for an immediate solution. "I've got more excuses than you have, and linux still beats the pants off minix in almost all areas," Torvalds wrote in response to Tanenbaum. "From a theoretical (and aesthetical) standpoint linux loses. If the GNU kernel had been ready last spring, I'd not have bothered to even start my project: the fact is that it wasn't and still isn't. Linux wins heavily on points of being available now." Linux arrived at a crucial time in computing history, offering the right blend of useful characteristics. Torvalds was willing to collaborate with others and add features that users wanted, the code was a clean-room implementation without any legacy intellectual property encumbrances, and it was being driven at a good pace with a focus on pragmatic considerations. These advantages allowed Linux to attract interest during its formative years. Photo illustration by Aurich Lawson