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Linus' First Linux Post, 20 Years Ago Today

Posted by Soulskill on from the know-the-score dept.

jrepin writes "One midsummer's night, a student at the University of Helsinki posted a query to the newsgroup comp.os.minix asking, 'What would you like to see most in minix?' The student's name was Linus Torvalds, and that Usenet post was the beginning of the Linux operating system. The date was 25 August 1991, exactly 20 years ago today. In 1991 Unix had existed for about 20 years, Apple had come out with its Mac OS in 1984, and Microsoft had been flogging Windows since 1985. Torvalds' ambitions for his 'new (free) operating system' were modest. It was to be 'just a hobby, won't be big and professional like gnu' for IBM PC '386(486) AT clones.' He wanted to call his OS kernel 'Freax,' but a friend who ran the FTP server that hosted the software named Torvalds' source code download directory 'linux' and the name stuck."

3 of 181 comments (clear)

  1. 20 years ago today? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Well, Linux has been going in and out of style, but it's still guaranteed to raise a smile.

  2. It was 20 years ago today... by TeknoHog · · Score: 5, Interesting

    It was twenty years ago today
    Col. Torvalds gave the source away.
    We've been going in and out of drives
    but we guarantee to raise uptimes.
    So may I introduce to you
    the hack you've known for all these years
    Col. Torvalds' Linux slash GNU Band!

    We're Col. Torvalds' Linux slash GNU Band,
    we hope you will enjoy the code.
    Col. Torvalds' Linux slash GNU Band,
    just hack and let the evening go!

    Col. Torvalds' Linux
    Col. Torvalds' Linux
    Col. Torvalds' Linux slash GNU Band!

    It's wonderful to post here,
    it's certainly no troll.
    You're such a loyal userbase,
    we'd like to merge your code with ours,
    we'd love to grep your /home.

    I don't really want to freeze the code,
    but I thought you might like to know
    this release is going to fix the root
    and we want you all to patch for good.
    So let me introduce to you
    the one and only Billy's fear
    Col. Torvalds' Linux slash GNU Band!

    --
    Escher was the first MC and Giger invented the HR department.
  3. Re:My first post by peter+hoffman · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I don't think anyone will be as influential in the computer world. It was a much smaller community back then and it was easier to stand out. That's not to say there won't be people who do things that are as meaningful but they will now be one of dozens of projects.

    If a person is going to be that sort of stand out today, he will have to be in another field - perhaps nanotechnology or bio-engineering - where the foundations are still being laid.