In the vast expanse of technology, there shines a brilliant star that illuminates every corner of the computer world with its open and free spirit: Linux. Today, let us delve into the story of Linux’s birth and growth, exploring the legend behind it.
Origins: New Demands in the Context of the Times
Looking back to the late 1980s and early 1990s, Unix held a significant position in the field of computer operating systems. Unix was born at AT&T Bell Labs, conceived and implemented by Ken Thompson and Dennis Ritchie in 1969, and later rewritten in C language to enhance its portability. Due to its usability and portability, it was widely adopted, replicated, and modified by numerous academic institutions and enterprises.However, over time, the commercialization of Unix led to increasingly high licensing fees, which deterred many institutions and individuals. For example, the University of California, Berkeley developed Berkeley Unix (BSD) based on Unix, but as AT&T continuously raised licensing fees, Berkeley had to modify BSD to remove any code related to AT&T and promote a freely redistributable code model. Meanwhile, to teach the practical details of operating systems in the classroom without using AT&T’s source code, Andrew S. Tanenbaum released the Unix-like system Minix in 1987, designed for academic use. However, its modifications and redistribution were restricted, and its 16-bit design could not adapt well to the increasingly popular and affordable 32-bit Intel 386 architecture personal computers.It was against this backdrop that the seeds of change were quietly sown, waiting for the moment to break ground.
Birth: An Innovative Move by a Student
In 1991, Linus Torvalds, a computer science student at the University of Helsinki in Finland, embarked on a journey that would change the history of operating systems. At that time, Torvalds owned a personal computer running DOS, but he was dissatisfied with DOS and instead enamored with the “well-behaved sister” Minix next door. He thought: since Minix is so excellent and stable, why not port it to personal computers?With this idea in mind, Torvalds read the Unix kernel, stripped away the complex programs, and rewrote it into a version suitable for general personal computer x86 systems. During the development process, he used Minix as a foundation and the GNU C compiler, and through continuous exploration, a new operating system kernel gradually took shape.On August 25, 1991, at just 21 years old, Torvalds posted an announcement in the comp.os.minix newsgroup, declaring that he had written an operating system kernel. Initially, Torvalds intended to name it “freax,” a name that combined “free,” “freak” (self-deprecating for his obsession with technology), and “x” (hinting at Unix). In the early stages of development, related files were stored under this name for about six months. Later, although Torvalds considered “Linux,” he felt the name was too self-centered. Until September, when the files were uploaded to the FUNET FTP server, the server administrator Ari Lemmke, without Torvalds’ consent, named the project “Linux,” meaning “Linus’s Minix,” which Torvalds later accepted. Thus, Linux was born inadvertently, a nascent operating system that would change the world.
Growth: The Glory of the Open Source Model
At its inception, Linux was merely a simple kernel with limited functionality, insufficient hardware compatibility, and lacking a graphical user interface, operating solely through the command line. However, Torvalds made a far-reaching decision to release the Linux kernel source code online and adhere to the GNU General Public License (GPL). This meant that anyone could freely use, modify, and distribute the code, as long as their derivative works also followed the GPL agreement. This open development approach ignited the passion of programmers worldwide like a spark.With the support of the GNU movement initiated by free software pioneer Richard Stallman and the promotion of the GPL, numerous developers began to contribute to the development and improvement of Linux. They came from all over the world, with diverse backgrounds and ideas, but united by their love for free software. They continuously contributed source code to Linux, optimizing kernel functionality, supporting hardware drivers, enhancing system performance, and enriching the software ecosystem; each improvement made Linux stronger.In 1992, Orest Zborowski ported the X Window System to Linux, marking an important milestone in Linux’s development, as it provided Linux with a graphical user interface for the first time, greatly enhancing user experience and gradually expanding Linux from a geek’s exclusive domain to a broader user base. Subsequently, the Linux community continued to grow, with various distributions based on the Linux kernel emerging like mushrooms after rain, including Ubuntu, Fedora, and Debian, each customized for different user needs and application scenarios, further enriching the Linux ecosystem.With the rapid development of the internet in the late 1990s, Linux encountered new opportunities. In 2000, IBM announced its support for Linux and promoted it as a strategic platform. Enterprises gradually realized that Linux could not only reduce hardware costs but also provide greater flexibility and reliability. Thus, more and more companies began to choose Linux as the operating system for data centers and servers. In 2008, Google released the Android operating system based on the Linux kernel, further extending Linux’s influence into the mobile device realm, with billions of mobile devices worldwide now running systems based on the Linux kernel.Today, Linux has gained widespread application globally. In the server domain, it occupies a significant position, with many well-known websites and internet services running on Linux systems; in the supercomputer field, a considerable proportion of the top 500 supercomputers in the world use Linux as their operating system; in the Internet of Things and embedded devices, Linux also showcases its advantages of being open-source and customizable.
Reflecting on the birth and growth of Linux, it began with a student’s dream of challenging a closed world, and through the powerful force of the open-source model, it attracted global developers to participate together, gradually developing and growing into a pillar in the field of operating systems. The story of Linux is not only a victory of technology but also a victory of the open-source spirit, proving to us how dazzling human creativity can shine in an atmosphere of freedom and collaboration. In the future, we believe Linux will continue to move steadily along the open-source path, creating more brilliance.