History of Linux Operating System
Before we dive into learning Linux Administration course it is always good to know the origin of Linux OS.
Before the Linux operating system came into picture there is Unix operating system was created by Ken Thompson and Dennis Ritchie at AT&T Bell Laboratories in 1969. Unix operating system was first released in 1970 and then later it was rewritten in C programming language to make it more portable. Yes, we all know very well that Dennis Ritchie created the C programming language.
Initially, in order to have a Unix operating system you will need to have its license as we do now for Windows OS which is prohibited from the commercial distribution which means Unix was not open source at the early stages and was under AT&T. Due to this AT&T filed a lawsuit against the University of California as they were developing BSD (Berkeley Software Distribution) which is a Unix-like operating system, as it contained some part of Unix code in it.
Later in 1983, Richard Stallman started the GNU project with the intention to make an open-source Unix-like operating system and it’s source code is open to the world so that anyone can read it, modify it and redistribute it by making advancements. So, this GNU project was like a free software movement and this project was developed under the GNU General Public License (GPL). Free Software Foundation (FSF) is a non-profited organization founded by Richard Stallman, this organization publishes the GPL, and all the softwares that are under GPL can be widely used, source code is available to the public and anyone can modify and redistribute.
Linux Torvald is a Computer Science student at the University of Helsinki. In a recent interview, Linus Torvald, says that Linux initially started as a home project, and he did not have any expectations that Linux would travel all the way with major companies contributing to its growth. To be clear on this Linus Torvald created the kernel (Linux) from scratch and with the combination of GNU (free software resource) it becomes an entire operating system called Linux or GNU/Linux OS. The reason Linus Torvald created the Linux operating system was that back then other operating systems were costlier and the ones that are available are cheap and had nothing to do with them. So, Linus Torvald can’t either buy a good Computer with a good OS in it or use the cheap one. So, he started working on the MINIX operating system to create his own Linux kernel using the GNU C Compiler.
The thing that grabbed my attention is, initially Linux Torvald called his invention as Freax which is a combination of “free” and “x” as Unix had x at the end. As he wanted people to contribute to this project, he uploaded it to the FTP server of the Helsinki University of Technology. The volunteer administrator of that FTP at that time thought Freax is not a good name and changed it to “Linux” on the server without consulting Linus Torvald. And this didn’t matter much to Linus Torvald.
Then how did Linux represent a penguin figure? Maybe Linus Torvald was bitten by a little penguin on a visit to the National Zoo & Aquarium in Canberra, Australia or maybe it is a coincidence.
Linus Torvald himself said, integrating the GNU and Linux kernel was the greatest thing he did, and people who helped him in this. And did Linux Torvald all by himself create the GNU/Linux OS that it is today? Yes, Linus Torvald created the Linux kernel from scratch on the MINIX operating system but, along the way, there were many developers and organizations contributing to the advancement of Linux OS. In fact, Linus Torvald even now is a member of The Linux Foundation (which was previously called Open Source Development Labs) entity where top contributors of Linux and organizations who want to promote free softwares come together and discuss on making innovations that can be made open source and one of such innovative products is the Linux. Even now organizations contribute their part in advancement of the Linux operating system.
Here is the Linux repository: kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git – Linux kernel source tree.
Following are the major organizations that collab under The Linux Foundation entity and help support the development of technology and software that are free and open source.
Ericsson
Fujitsu
Hitachi
Huawei
Intel
Meta
Microsoft
Nec
Oracle
Qualcomm
Red Hat
Samsung
Tencent
VMware
Accenture
Cisco
Dell Technologies
Google
You can see the list of companies contributing here.
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