The History of Linux The Linux kernel was initially written as a hobby by Finnish university student Linus Torvalds while attending the University of Helsinki. Linus originally used Minix on his computer, a simplified kernel written by Andrew Tanenbaum for teaching operating system design. However, Tanenbaum did not support extensions to his operating system, leading Linus to write a replacement for Minix. Although a running Minix system was originally necessary in order to install and run Linux, the Linux system quickly surpassed Minix in functionality. The first version of Linux was released to the Internet in September 1991, with the second version following shortly thereafter in October. Since then, thousands of developers around the world have participated in the project. The essay The Cathedral and the Bazaar discusses the development model of the Linux kernel and similar software. The history of Linux is closely tied to that of GNU, a prominent free-software project led by Richard Stallman. The GNU project was started in 1983 for developing a complete Unix-like operating system, including software development tools and user application programs, entirely of free software. By the release of the first version of the Linux kernel, the GNU project had produced all the necessary components of this system except the kernel. Torvalds and other early Linux-kernel developers adapted their kernel to work with the GNU components to create a fully functional operating system. The kernel is licensed under the GNU General Public License (GPL) but it is not part of the GNU Project. The GNU project does have a kernel, Hurd, but it is still in development. Tux the penguin is the logo and mascot of Linux. The name “Linux” was coined, not by Torvalds, but by Ari Lemmke, administrator at ftp.funet.fi, who named the FTP directory it was first available from [2] (http://liw.iki.fi/liw/texts/linux-anecdotes.html). The Linux trademark (SN: 1916230) is owned by Linus Torvalds, registered for “Computer operating system software to facilitate computer use and operation.” The licensing of the trademark is now handled by the Linux Mark Institute.
Litigation
Main article: SCO-Linux controversies
In March 2003, the SCO Group (SCO) filed a lawsuit against IBM claiming that IBM had contributed portions of SCO’s intellectual property to the Linux kernel in violation of IBM’s license to use UNIX. Additionally, SCO sent letters to a number of companies warning that their use of Linux without a license from SCO may be actionable, and claimed in the press that they would be suing individual Linux users. This controversy has involved lawsuits by SCO against Novell , DaimlerChrysler (partially dismissed in July, 2004), and AutoZone , and by Red Hat and others against SCO. To date, no proof of SCO’s claims of copied code in Linux has been provided.
Pronunciation of Linux
In 1992, Torvalds explained [3] (http://groups.google.com/groups?selm=1992Apr23.123216.22024%40klaava.Helsinki.FI&output=gplain) (IPA pronunciations added to quote in curly brackets):
“‘li’ is pronounced with a short [ee] {IPA /I/} sound: compare prInt, mInImal etc. ‘nux’ is also short, non-diphtong, like in pUt {IPA /ʊ/}. It’s partly due to minix: linux was just my working name for the thing, and as I wrote it to replace minix on my system, the result is what it is… linus’ minix became linux.”
An audio file of Torvalds saying “Hello, this is Linus Torvalds, and I pronounce Linux as /linəks/” also exists [4] (http://www.paul.sladen.org/pronunciation/). Note that in English, “Linux” and “Minix” are usually pronounced with a short /I/ sound that is different from Torvalds’s Finland-Swedish pronunciation of these words.
Source: wikipedia
Source: wikipedia
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