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Unix was Created
Dennis Ritchie and Ken Thompson created the Unix operating system. Unix was made for programmers to be a convenient platform to develop software and were given the ability to manipulate files on many different devices. -
Unix is Released to the Public
After being rewritten in C, the first version of Unix is released internally at ATT and distributed to academic institutions and universities. It was very expensive to get a license and those with licenses only received the source code. This lead to there being many different public releases of Unix being in use such as Version 5 and Version 6 being largely different from each other (especially after the development of a more modular code base). -
GNU Project Begins
Richard Stallman started working on a free software-mass collaboration project in 1984 (announced in 1983). It is based on Unix, but gives everyone the right to use it, copy and distribute it, study, and even modify it. The goal was to have a free operating system so that everyone could get the usefulness that Unix gave without the price tag. -
Free Software Foundation (FSF) is Founded
In 1985, Richard Stallman establishes the FSF to support his GNU project to promote software freedom. He was pushing Copyleft (a type of open-source license that requires modified versions of the program to be released as well, under the same terms as the original) and moving forward with his support of free software for all. -
AT&T Licenses Unix
With the release of Version 7 of Unix, ATT included a license that prohibited any study of the source code. They were moving into 'protecting' the software as a trade secret. In return, universities stopped teaching and studying Unix given that they couldn't look into the source code. -
Linux is in Development
Linus Torvalds, a Finnish student, created aa free operating system kernel that would eventually become Linux. He was looking to use functions on his new PC independent of an operating system. He used MINIX (another Unix-based OS with the goal of being open-source) and continued to try and implement Unix system calls into his project. He didn't succeed with that but did end up writing an OS kernel and posted about it on a MINIX news group. -
Linux 0.12 is Released
Torvalds first published Linux under its own license but the software used with the kernel was developed as a part of the GNU making it a free software license. He used the GNU to create a shell, compilers, a library, and other things that you need to create a full OS out of the kernel. He released version 0.12 under the GNU General Public License which integrated GNU components with Linux to make it a fully functional (and fully free) operating system. -
Linux 1.0 Released
Torvalds decides that the kernel is well-rounded and mature enough to be released. Linux version 1.0 was released and with the the commerical Linux distributors (Red Hat and SUSE) also published their Linux version 1.0. It was now stable enough for general-purpose use and support a single-processor. -
Linux Grows in Popularity
Along with the release of Linux version 2.0, the Operating System was seeing more and more use by the public. Being open-source and highly adaptable, it found uses in servers as well as the programmer community. This update pushed it further as well giving the Linux OS the capability to handle multiple processors in a single system and more hardware compatibility. -
IBM Supports Linux
In a push to show their dedication to open source communities, IBM would make an announcement that they supported Linux and were interested in doing future works with it. They published a collection of patches and additions to the Linux 2.2.13 kernel in the end of 1999, as well as making other moves to push for open licensing and collaboration within the programming communities. -
Linux on the Desktop
More supported forms of Linux came out like RedHat, SuSE, and Mandrake. These were published by other programmers and developers with their own twists on the base OS. Throughout the years, people would use these other than the base Linux code because they were easier to learn with. They gained potential as new desktop operating systems with many people using them as their main OS. Though, Windows will almost always dominate the space of desktop Operating Systems. -
Oracle and Others Adopt Linux
Oracle is a large corporation that focuses on IT and other products and services for businesses. Oracle designed their own Linux based operating system known as 'Oracle Linux'. It is still free to download and use but has the support of a large company like Oracle that the base code for Linux doesn't. This form of Linux is actually more heavily based on the RedHat Enterprise Linux source code than the original. -
Android Uses Linux
Android released their new operating system in 2008 with the launch of their first commercial android device, the HTC Dream, that would be based on the Linux kernel and other open-source software. They created this modified version of Linux to fit with the needs of a mobile/touch-screen device while Linux on its own is refined for a PC system. The fact that they are very similar means that you can run apps that are for Android OS on almost any variant of the Linux OS. -
Linux Powers Cloud Infrastructure
Linux made leaps in the professional cloud industry. Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud, and Microsoft Azure all use Linux for their server infrastructure. Azure supports Linux workloads in many different distributions such as RedHat, SUSE, and even Oracle Linux. Google Cloud uses Linux to provide easier migration of applications and information and support for the open-source structure and community. AWS uses Linux for customers that need something for a general purpose workload. -
Linux Powers Most Supercomputers
Due to the easily modifiable and free code given by Linux, it is the perfect fit for most supercomputers. Being able to change what you need within the OS makes it easy to improve performance and solve security issues. The Aurora and Supercomputer Fugaku both use different versions of Linux- SUSE and RedHat respectively- but almost all of the top 500 supercomputers use some form of Linux. Linux is used in these systems but also heavily used by the general public for their personal systems.