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Linus Torvalds was born
Linus Torvalds was born in Helsinki, Finland. He grew up around a family that consisted of journalists and well educated people. These people in Torvalds life later influenced the path that he would soon take. His grandfather who was a professor of statistics at the University of Helsinki is said to have had a big influence on him. -
His First Computer
(No specific month and day) His first contact with a computer was his grandfather's Commodore Vic 20. In 1987, he used all of his money to purchase his own computer, a Sinclair QL. This one of the first home computers with a 32-bit architecture. He was soon disappointed with its lack of customization. This set the mentality of him wanting to make something better. -
Torvalds Education
(No specific day and month) In 1988 Linus decided to attend the University of Helsinki. He was already a well rounded programmer by then, of course it made sense for him to get his degree in Computer Science. -
The Important Language
(No specific month and day) In 1990 Linus took a class in 'C'. It is an essential programming language that would later progress to become an essential to the Linux operating system. -
The Year That Started It All
During early 1991 Linus had bought another computer with better specs.The computer ran MS-DOS, however, he was still not convinced that it was what he wanted in an operating system. In August he decided to announce that he was going to begin working on his own operating system and asked others for input. -
The First Version
After hard work and being isolated from everything, Linus was able to actually create an operating system which was version 0.01. The next month of October he released version 0.02 that was considered the first "official" version. This operating system became known as Linux. -
Open Source
During this time Linus had more experience with his programming abilities. He decided to release Linux under the GNU GPL which is a general public license that allows for freedom by the users. Linux was now officially open source. He says, "It was definitely the best thing he ever did." -
Slackware Linux Version 1.0
This version of Linux is an important milestone for Torvalds considering that it is the oldest version of Linux and it is still getting updates to this day. -
The Iconic Tux
(No specific month or day) This might not seem like that big of a deal, but it is. The iconic Tux penguin created by Larry Ewing became the logo that symbolizes Linux. -
Red Hat Enterprise
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) was made for commercial use in businesses. It is one of the most well known Linux distributions in the life time of Linux. -
Ubuntu Linux Distribution
Ubuntu is probably the most popular Linux distribution. It was released with the intention to have an easier user interface that everyone can easily install and use. -
The Creation of GIT
Linux was using BitKeeper to maintain the development of its kernel, when it was no longer free in 2005. Linus decided to make his own version control system for Linux. This became known as GIT. -
Linux Netbook
This was important because at the moment most personal computers were sold with Windows installed. Asus released the first Linux based netbook. It had Xandros Linux pre-installed. This was a milestone for Linux, but it was not very successful. -
Chrome OS
Google decided to do what Linux did and release a netbook with their own operating system. Google created Chrome OS that is influenced by the Linux kernel. It became an instant success when it was released. -
1 Billion Dollars!
(No specific month and day) In 2010 Red Hat became a 1 billion dollar open source company. This was important because no one believed that free software was ever going to be able to make profit. This proved everyone wrong. -
The Iconic NVIDIA Moment
If you do not know this moment, do you really know who Linus Torvalds is? This is an iconic moment that shows what kind of person Linus is, he is not afraid of anyone, he expressed his anger freely towards NVIDIA for not supporting Linux. This moment lead to NVIDIA providing better support for Linux systems.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYWzMvlj2RQ -
Linux in the Phone Industry
(No specific month and day) In 2013, Ubuntu was getting into the phone industry, although it did not meet funding criteria it was still going to be released in the market. The phone was later released, it was a big deal for a Linux phone to be released, but once again, it was not a big success. -
Sources Used for this Timeline
"Linus Torvalds: A Very Brief and Completely Unauthorized Biography." Linus Torvalds biography by The Linux Information Project. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Mar. 2017.
"Red Hat Enterprise Linux Release Dates." Red Hat Enterprise Linux Release Dates. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Mar. 2017.
"Linux History." History of Linux, Who Invented Linux, How Was Linux Invented. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Mar. 2017.
