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Happy 34th Birthday, Linux!
It was on August 25th, 1991, when the 21-year-old Finnish student Linus Benedict Torvalds made his now-famous announcement on the comp.os.minix newsgroup that he was working on a free operating system for 386(486) AT clones, just as a “hobby”, called Linux.
That’s right, it’s been 34 years since he made that announcement, and he probably never dreamed that the so-called “hobby” would turn into something huge, used by millions of computer users around the globe.
Linux Magazine:
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Happy Birthday, Linux » Linux Magazine
August 25, 1991 marks an important date for Linux and open-source enthusiasts, because that's the day Linus Torvalds posted to the comp.os.minix newsgroup (remember newsgroups?) the following message:
“Hello everyone 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.”
The message continued with, "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)."
The first release, version 0.01, was officially released in September of the same year and included just over 10 thousand lines of code. In comparison, the current Linux kernel has surpassed over 40 million lines of code.
Tom's Hardware:
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Linux is 34 years old today — Linus Torvalds meekly announced this free new OS in the comp.os.minix newsgroup on this day in 1991
On this day 34 years ago, an unknown computer science student from Finland announced that a new free operating system project was “starting to get ready.” Linus Benedict Torvalds elaborated by explaining that the OS was “just a hobby, [it] won’t be big and professional like GNU.” Of course, this was the first public outing for the colossal collaborative project that is now known as Linux.
Happy 34th birthday Linux! from r/linux
Above, you can see Torvalds’ first posting regarding Linux to the comp.os.minix newsgroup. The now famously caustic, cantankerous, curmudgeon seemed relatively mild, meek, and malleable in this historic Linux milestone posting.
Torvalds asked the Minix community about their thoughts on a free new OS being prepared for Intel 386 and 486 clones. He explained that he’d been brewing the project since April (a few months prior), and asked for direction. Specifically, he sought input about other Minix users’ likes and dislikes of that OS, in order to differentiate Linux. The now renowned developer then provided a rough summary of the development so far.
Neowin:
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Linux turns 34 years old, here's how it got started
The GNU/Linux kernel has turned 34 years old today. On this day in 1991, Linus Torvalds posted to a newsgroup on Usenet that he was already working on the kernel as a hobby.
Short post:
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On this Day In History – Linux Was Announced 34 Years Ago
On this day in 1991 a 21-year-old Finnish student announced his “just a hobby” operating system.
Microsoft LinkedIn:
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Linux Turns 34: The Open-Source Kernel Powering The Digital World
Thirty-four years ago today, what began as a Finnish student’s side project has grown into the backbone of modern computing. Today, Linux is everywhere—running smartphones, supercomputers, cloud platforms, and embedded devices—quietly powering the digital experiences of billions of people.