Exploring the Linux Kernel - Part 3.5
Early History
The Linux kernel has a long (in computer terms) history. It started more than 25 years ago and is now one of the biggest open source projects that has ever existed
It all began with a computer science student posting on the MINIX forum in August 1991.
The following is the post that started it all.
Only a month later in September 1991 the first version of Linux, 0.01 was released. It was provided through an FTP server on the Finish University and Research Network. This first version of Linux had a measly 10 000 lines of code.
Development of the kernel continued at a steady pace thereafter with the next version .002 coming out in October of the same year.
The next milestone release was version 0.11 which was the first version of Linux that was self-hosted. self-hosted is any program that can be used to produce new versions of itself. A common example is a compiler which can compile it's own source code.
Next was version 0.12 which was not particularly interesting as far as code improvements go, however it was the first version to use the new GNU General Public License. Before this Linux had been under a license made by Linus himself which had restricted commercial use.
Later in march 1992 the first version of Linux that could support running the X Window System was released. This version was dubbed 0.95 because Linus felt that with the completion of X Windows System support that Linux was nearly feature complete for version 1.0.
However it wouldn't be until march 14th 1994 until the first version was released. Version 1.0 of Linux contained 176,250 lines of code.
The current version of Linux is version 4.13.9 as of the writing of this article. The codebase has grown to be over 19 million lines of code and has had thousands and thousands of contributors help improve the kernel. It's used in everything from desktop computers, phones, all the way to things like cars and calculators.
It all began with a computer science student posting on the MINIX forum in August 1991.
The following is the post that started it all.
With this post many people from the MINIX community started getting involved with the project and contributing code.From: torvalds@klaava.Helsinki.FI (Linus Benedict Torvalds)
Newsgroups: comp.os.minix
Subject: What would you like to see most in minix?
Summary: small poll for my new operating system
Message-ID: <1991Aug25.205708.9541@klaava.Helsinki.FI>
Date: 25 Aug 91 20:57:08 GMT
Organization: University of HelsinkiHello everybody out there using minix –I’m doing a (free) operating system (just a hobby, won’t be big and
professional like gnu) for 386(486) AT clones. This has been brewing
since april, and is starting to get ready. I’d like any feedback on
things people like/dislike in minix, as my OS resembles it somewhat
(same physical layout of the file-system (due to practical reasons)
among other things).I’ve currently ported bash(1.08) and gcc(1.40), and things seem to work.
This implies that I’ll get something practical within a few months, and
I’d like to know what features most people would want. Any suggestions
are welcome, but I won’t promise I’ll implement them 🙂Linus (torvalds@kruuna.helsinki.fi)PS. Yes – it’s free of any minix code, and it has a multi-threaded fs.
It is NOT protable (uses 386 task switching etc), and it probably never
will support anything other than AT-harddisks, as that’s all I have :-(.
Only a month later in September 1991 the first version of Linux, 0.01 was released. It was provided through an FTP server on the Finish University and Research Network. This first version of Linux had a measly 10 000 lines of code.
Development of the kernel continued at a steady pace thereafter with the next version .002 coming out in October of the same year.
The next milestone release was version 0.11 which was the first version of Linux that was self-hosted. self-hosted is any program that can be used to produce new versions of itself. A common example is a compiler which can compile it's own source code.
Next was version 0.12 which was not particularly interesting as far as code improvements go, however it was the first version to use the new GNU General Public License. Before this Linux had been under a license made by Linus himself which had restricted commercial use.
Later in march 1992 the first version of Linux that could support running the X Window System was released. This version was dubbed 0.95 because Linus felt that with the completion of X Windows System support that Linux was nearly feature complete for version 1.0.
However it wouldn't be until march 14th 1994 until the first version was released. Version 1.0 of Linux contained 176,250 lines of code.
Linux Now
The current version of Linux is version 4.13.9 as of the writing of this article. The codebase has grown to be over 19 million lines of code and has had thousands and thousands of contributors help improve the kernel. It's used in everything from desktop computers, phones, all the way to things like cars and calculators.
Random Facts
- Linux was originally going to be named Freax.
- The Linux mascot is a penguin named tux, an idea originating from when Linus mentioned being bitten by a little penguin at the zoo.
This is a blog series on the linux kernel; why it's important, what it does it, and how it does it.
The first post in this series can be found here Part 1 - The Kernel
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