Linus Torvalds once wrote the following message:
Hello everybody out there using minix -
I'm doing a (free) operating system (just a hobby, won't be big and professional like gnu) for 386(486) AT clones. This has been brewing since April, and is starting to get ready. I'd like any feedback on things people like/dislike in minix, as my OS resembles it somewhat (same physical layout of the file-system (due to practical reasons) among other things).
I've currently ported bash(1.08) and gcc(1.40), and things seem to work. This implies that I'll get something practical within a few months, and I'd like to know what features most people would want. Any suggestions are welcome, but I won't promise I'll implement them :-)
Linus (torvalds@kruuna.helsinki.fi)
It was Torvalds' first announcement that he would start building a new operating system. This message was posted in the chat group usenet comp.os.minix, and was released on August 25, 1991, that is 29 years ago.
A student, her scienceof computers at the University of Helsinki, could not purchase the Minix operating system for his faculty. So he tried to find a solution to his problem.
Since then it does exactly the same thing for Linux, it finds solutions.
Torvalds began developing a non-profit operating system in 1991 while attending the University of Helsinki. It was inspired by the Unix operating system Minix, and began to develop the kernel known as the Linux kernel. Torvalds originally wrote programs that ran on Minix until Linux reached a stage where the links between the two operating systems were no longer necessary.
Torvalds then decided to change the license, which until then did not allow redistribution for commercial purposes, making Linux available under the GNU GPL license.
So GNU found a kernel to work with, and Linux found a large library of programs ready. With its collaboration with GNU, Linux quickly surpassed Minix in popularity.
I do not think that Torvalds at that time had any idea how important his project is. Its operating system is the basis of the internet as we know it, it is the favorite operating system of servers and Super computers. Or did he know?
Those who have used Linux know that it is something special.
I wish Linux 1000s, with a big thank you. August 25 should be dedicated to Linux and Torvalds.
