Linux turns 33 in 2024 [and GNU Turns 41]
Now that 2024 has gotten off the ground, it’s a good time to reflect on how Linux got its start and where it stands today. For many of us, it’s hard to grasp how long Linux has been actively developed and available. It’s likely even harder to fathom how far it has spread into so many aspects of computing. The availability today of more than 600 Linux distributions demonstrates its amazing success.
It’s interesting to consider that Linux got its start even before Linux Torvalds set down to work on the Linux kernel in 1991 (the exact date is hard to pin down). People like Richard M. Stallman had been getting excited about the concept of a “Free Unix !” – whether that “free” was meant to imply “no cost” or “liberation”. Linux followed its Unix predecessors (like SunOS) in many ways, but with the enticing character of being “open source” – the character which made it available to so many amazing levels of innovation.
The foundation that made the Linux kernel possible was set up back in September of 1983. Richard M. Stallman announced the GNU (which stands for “GNU’s not Unix”) Project – a name that confirmed the distinction between Unix and the evolving varieties of Linux.