History of Linux: Timeline of Linux History

Here is timeline table of Linux History.

History of Linux: Some Linux Cookies

Here are some famous words by Linus himself.

History of Linux: Tux the penguin - Linux's Dear Logo

The logo of Linux is a penguin. Unlike other commercial products of computer operating systems, Linux doesn't have a formidable serious looking symbol. Rather Tux, as the penguin is lovingly called, symbolizes the carefree attitude of the total movement. This cute logo has a very interesting history. As put forward by Linus, initially no logo was selected for Linux. Once Linus went to the southern hemisphere on a vacation. There he encountered a penguin, not unlike the current logo of Linux. As he tried to pat it, the penguin bit his hand. This amusing incident led to the selection of a penguin as the logo of Linux sometime later.

History of Linux: After a Decade - Linux Today

Proving all the warning and prophecies of the skeptics wrong, Linux has completed a decade of development. Today, Linux is one of the fastest growing operating systems in the history. From a few dedicated fanatics in 1991-92 to millions of general users at present, it is certainly a remarkable journey. The big businesses have 'discovered' Linux, and have poured millions of dollars into the development effort, denouncing the anti-business myth of the open-source movement. IBM corp. once considered the archenemy of open-source hacker community, has come forward with a huge fund for development of open source Linux based solutions. But what's really amazing is the continuously increasing band of developers spread throughout the world who work with a fervent zeal to improve upon the features of Linux. The development effort is not, as many closed-sourced advocates accuse, totally engulfed with chaos. A well designed development model supervised by some maintainers is adopted. Along with this, there are thousands of developers working to port various applications to Linux.

History of Linux: Confrontation & Development

Linus displays Linux running on a notebook pc

Soon Linus faced some confrontation from none other than Andrew Tanenbaum, the great teacher who wrote MINIX. In a post to Linus, Tanenbaum commented:

History of Linux: New Baby in the Horizon

In 1991, Linux Benedict Torvalds was a second year student of Computer Science at the Univeristry of Helinsks and a self-taught hacker. The 21 year old sandy haired soft-spoken Finn loved to tinker with the power of the computers and the limits to which the system can be pushed. But all that was lacking was an operating system that could meet the demands of the professionals. MINIX was good, but still it was simply an operating system for the students, designed as a teaching tool rather than an industry strength one.

History of Linux: In The Beginning

It was 1991, and the ruthless agonies of the cold war were gradually coming to an end. There was an air of peace and tranquility that prevailed in the horizon. In the field of computing, a great future seemed to be in the offing, as powerful hardware pushed the limits of the computers beyond what anyone expected.

But still, something was missing.

And it was the none other than the Operating Systems, where a great void seemed to have appeared.

Linux philosophy: Cooperation vs. Competition

This is the second article in a series exploring the philosophy of free software. The first, entitled The Beauty of Doubt and published in the February 99 issue, covered the concept of doubt, and discussed the improbability that good software can be developed if one does not have the ability to doubt that one's code, work, theory, or whatever may be flawed. The arrogance that a final product is unimprovable is something rarely if ever seen in the free software community (FSC). This allows for the continued improvement that we all see, and for the quick reaction to problems.

Linux philosophy: The Beauty of Doubt

Nearly every article that I have read in The Linux Gazette has been technical and/or practical, so let me apologize if this seems a bit "off topic." I am primarily an anthropologist, and as such have always been a bit more inclined to write about things more generally. Instead of the technical and practical, I want to wax philosophic for a bit on the subject of free software in general, and the Linux kernel in particular by "porting" a bit of my philosophy of life to the computer. I have tried to write these articles for both the newcomers to the Free Software Community (FSC) as well as for those who have been around a lot longer than I. I will not waste time on the definition of free software except to say that it is free as in freedom. For a definition, I would have the reader visit the GNU/Free Software Foundation website. The few facts that I intend to present will only be news to those unfamiliar with free software, while the philosophy- at least as seen from my vantage- will probably be new to all. My idea is to present what for the lack of a better term I call The Four Cornerstones to the Foundation of Free Software. These are the four main things that I consider vital to the Free Software Movement (FSM) in general, and to the Linux kernel in particular. They are, in no particular order: Doubt, cooperation, non-control (read: Freedom), and rebellion. I have chosen to break these up into a series, because it would be a bit long as one article. In each case, I will give an explanation of what I mean by the idea and an example of how it pertains to the FSM. I also offer the opportunity for discussion/argumentation if anyone cares to explore "Free Philosophy" further. To those few I invite the use of my email address at the beginning of these articles.