On August 25, 1991, Linus Torvalds, then a student at the University of Helsinki in Finland, posted a message to the comp.os.minix newsgroup asking for suggestions for a free operating system that he developed in his spare time, similar to Unix.
Thirty years later, Linux is everywhere.
It dominates the world of supercomputers, with a market share reaching 100%. According to Google, the Linux kernel is at the heart of more than three billion active devices running Android, the world's most used operating system.
Linux is also in the vast majority of web servers. It is even more used by Windows in Microsoft Azure cloud. And then there are embedded electronics, Internet-of-Things spaces and more.
Linux does not seem to have caught the attention of desktop users, with a market share of around 2,38 percent, or 3,59 percent, including ChromeOS, compared to Windows (73,04 percent). one hundred) and macOS (15,43 percent).
But Linux has more to do with the triumph of an idea: free open source software.
"One cannot estimate how critical Linux is to today's Internet ecosystem," said Kees Cook, a Linux security engineer at Google. "Linux is currently running on everything from the smartphone we rely on every day to the International Space Station. Relying on the Internet means relying on Linux. ”
The next 30 years Linux, Cook argues, will require the technology industry to work together on security and provide
more resources for open source maintenance and testing.
The first 30 years seem to be clearer, but the past still needs some interpretation. Those interested should explain exactly what happened and where the free and open operating system is going.
If you have an idea you can leave it in the comments.
George is still wondering what he is doing here….
