Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Linux Emerges
Linux was derived from Unix and was developed by the Finnish
software engineer Linus Torvalds. Torvalds was a student at the
time he developed Linux. This is not the only important software
topic that originated with a student. Facebook was also developed
by students.
Unix was developed at Bell Labs by Dennis Ritchie and Ken
Thomson in 1969. The power and utility of Unix led Richard Stall-
man in 1983 to consider the benefits of a free Unix system. This
led him to create the GNU project and the GNU General Public Li-
cense, which is the major license for open-source software, but not
the only one. (The unusual name of “GNU” means more or less
“GNU's not Unix.”)
An interesting feature of the GNU license is something called a
“copyleft” as opposed to a “copyright.” Essentially, this means that
users can pass along the code and deliverables to others and also
modify them but do not charge for the result.
In 1991, when Torvalds developed the Linux kernel, it was not
a full operating system. It also had its own custom license. Later,
when it was released under the GNU license, other features were
added and the product became known as GNU/Linux.
The name “Linux” had been rejected by Torvalds as being egot-
istical. A colleague working with him unilaterally started calling
the software “Linux” and this became well known, so Torvalds
eventually agreed. The earlier name was FreaX, which is not very
aesthetic.
As many readers know, the logo or symbol for Linux is a pen-
guin. The reason for this is not certain, but Torvalds was once bitten
by a penguin while visiting a zoo in Canberra, Australia.
Several people and organizations other than Torvalds attempted
to trademark the word “Linux.” This led to some litigation and
eventually Torvalds was awarded the trademark, which he donated
to the Linux Trademark Institute, which is a subsidiary of the Linux
Foundation.
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