(this page is very incomplete)
| Timeline | |
|---|---|
| Apr 1991 | Linus Torvalds, then 21 starts working on some simple ideas for a operating-system. Starting with a task-switcher in 386-assembly and a terminal-driver. |
| 25 Aug 1991 | Linus posts to comp.os.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 [...] Yes - it's free of any minix code, and it has a multi-threaded fs. It is NOT protable (uses 386 task switching etc), and it probably never will support anything other than AT-harddisks, as that's all I have :-(. [...] It's mostly in C, but most people wouldn't call what I write C. It uses every conceivable feature of the 386 I could find, as it was also a project to teach me about the 386. As already mentioned, it uses a MMU, for both paging (not to disk yet) and segmentation. It's the segmentation that makes it REALLY 386 dependent (every task has a 64Mb segment for code & data - max 64 tasks in 4Gb. Anybody who needs more than 64Mb/task - tough cookies). [...] Some of my "C"-files (specifically mm.c) are almost as much assembler as C. [...] Unlike minix, I also happen to LIKE interrupts, so interrupts are handled without trying to hide the reason behind them" |
| Sep 1991 | Linux version 0.01 is released, the source is all of 64kb. |
| Dec 1991 | Linux 0.11 is released. This version is the first that is self-hosted. (that is: you can compile Linux 0.11 under Linux 0.11) |
| 31 Mar 1992 | The newsgroup comp.os.linux is created |
| Apr 1992 | Linux version 0.96 is the first to be capable of running the X Window System. |
| 14 Mar 1994 | Linux 1.0 is released. |
| Mar 1995 | Linux 1.2 is released |
| 9 May 1996 | Tux the penguin, is suggested as mascot for Linux |
| 9 Jun 1996 | Linux 2.0 is released. |
| 25 Jan 1999 | Linux 2.2 is released, very buggy at first. |
| 4 Jan 2001 | Linux 2.4 is released |
| 18 Dec 2003 | Linux 2.6 is released |