LINUX

History

Richard Stallman, left, founder of the GNU project, and Linus Torvalds, right, creator of the Linux kernel

The Unix operating system was conceived and implemented in the 1960s and first released in 1970. Its wide availability and portability meant that it was widely adopted, copied and modified by academic institutions and businesses, with its design being influential on authors of other systems.
The GNU Project, started in 1984 by Richard Stallman, had the goal of creating a "complete Unix-compatible software system"^[7] made entirely of free software. The next year Stallman created the Free Software Foundation and wrote the GNU General Public License (GNU GPL) in 1989. By the early 1990s, many of the programs required in an operating system (such as libraries, compilers, text editors, a Unix shell, and a windowing system) were completed, although low-level elements such as device drivers, daemons, and the kernel were stalled and incomplete.^[8] Linus Torvalds has said that if the GNU kernel had been available at the time (1991), he would not have decided to write his own.^[9]

-MINIX

MINIX, a Unix-like system intended for academic use, was released by Andrew S. Tanenbaum in 1987. While source code for the system was available, modification and redistribution were restricted (that is not the case today). In addition, MINIX's 16-bit design was not well adapted to the 32-bit design of the increasingly cheap and popular Intel 386 architecture for personal computers.
In 1991 while attending the University of Helsinki, Torvalds began to work on a non-commercial replacement for MINIX ^[10] which would eventually become the Linux kernel. In 1992, Tanenbaum posted an article on Usenet claiming Linux was obsolete. In the article, he criticized the operating system as being monolithic in design and being tied closely to the x86 architecture and thus not portable, as he described "a fundamental error."^[11] Tanenbaum suggested that those who wanted a modern operating system should look into one based on the microkernel model. The posting elicited the response of Torvalds, which resulted in a well known debate over the microkernel and monolithic kernel designs.^[11]
Linux was dependent on the MINIX user space at first. With code from the GNU system freely available, it was advantageous if this could be used with the fledgling OS. Code licensed under the GNU GPL can be used in other projects, so long as they also are released under the same or a compatible license. In order to make the Linux kernel compatible with the components from the GNU Project, Torvalds initiated a switch from his original license (which prohibited commercial redistribution) to the GNU GPL.^[12] Developers worked to integrate GNU components with Linux to make a fully functional and free operating system.^[8]

-Commercial and popular uptake

Today Linux distributions are used in numerous domains, from embedded systems to supercomputers,^[13][14] and have secured a place in server installations with the popular LAMP application stack.^[15] Use of Linux distributions in home and enterprise desktops has been rapidly expanding and now claims a significant share of the desktop market.^{[16][17][18][19][20][21][22]}
Linux distributions have also become popular with the newly founded netbook market, with many devices such as the ASUS Eee PC and Acer Aspire One shipping with customized Linux distributions pre-installed.

-Current development

Torvalds continues to direct the development of the kernel. Stallman heads the Free Software Foundation, which in turn supports the GNU components. Finally, individuals and corporations develop third-party non-GNU components. These third-party components comprise a vast body of work and may include both kernel modules and user applications and libraries. Linux vendors and communities combine and distribute the kernel, GNU components, and non-GNU components, with additional package management software in the form of Linux distributions.


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