Linux Turns 20 Today”And Shut Up, Yes, It Still Matters [Techversary]

September 12, 2011 by rich · Leave a Comment
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We obtain it. Linux is only for nerds. Not small nerds-we’re all nerds- Linux nerds . It’s a hobbyist OS for contrarians. It’s an antique. An oddity. Pointless. Right? Very, really wrong. Happy birthday, Linux-let’s commemorate you similar to we should

Linux proposed off humbly enough-just a few guy, a few programmer’s side project. A blip on a niche usenet organisation typed by Linus Torvalds, 20 years ago today:

August 25th 1991 – Linus posted the subsequent to to comp.os.minix (a usenet newsgroup):
I’m carrying out a (free) working network (just a hobby, won’t be large and
veteran similar to gnu) for 386(486) AT clones. This has been brewing
given april, and is starting to obtain ready. I’d similar to any feedback on
things people like/dislike in minix, as my OS resembles it somewhat
(same earthy plan of the file-system (due to functional reasons)
amid other things).

I’ve now ported bash(1.08) and gcc(1.40), and things appear to work.
This implies that I’ll obtain something functional inside of a few months, and
I’d similar to to know what features many people would want. Any suggestions
are welcome, but we won’t guarantee I’ll exercise them

Linus (torvalds@kruuna.helsinki.fi)

PS. Yes ” it’s giveaway of any minix code, and it has a multi-threaded fs.
It is NOT protable (uses 386 charge switching etc), and it probably never
will encouragement anything other than AT-harddisks, as that’s all we have .

Yes, this is often programmer gobbledygook. It doesn’t really matter, today. What counts is that Torvalds’ affirm that his origination will be “just a hobby, [not] large and professional” was entirely wrong. Like, it could not be more incorrect. You might regard of Linux as only that thing your nerdy Windows-hating buddy struggles to obtain games working on. But it’s more than only what he tinkers with in his bedroom-it’s all over the place, and you’ve probably already used it today. It may have mislaid the OS wars long ago (if it even had a battle), but Linux is still an invisible king.

Your Android device? we do not caring if it’s a Gingerbread phone or a Honeycomb tablet-both are built on the back of Linux code.

Your TiVo? Linux. Along with a lot of the other line and set tip media boxes you may have pressed beneath your TV.

The New York Stock Exchange? The entire shebang runs on a cluster of HP Linux boxes. The boxes are more critical than the ones beneath your TV.

Google something. Go ahead! That search? Executed on servers running customized Linux.

That ATM you withdrew money from final night? An stepping up number are using a Linux variant.

And of course, there is the extensive number of servers powered by Linux that run the websites you visit daily.

Linux is a workhorse. It’s worth in this little world of ours isn’t to lay in front of your nose on a good display. It’s not something to be talked about. Most of us will never caring about its history, or features, or future. And that’s because we do not have to-it sits there, invisibly, and carries the things we caring about. It doesn’t have OS X’s chicness or Windows’ geniality. It keeps its head down and hustles. And it’s been at it for two decades now. So cheerful 20th, Linux-we’re blissful you didn’t only stay a hobby.

Photo of Larry Ellison, who cares a lot about Linux no matter what, by Justin Sullivan/Getty