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Linux

Start develop
1991
Developer
Linux Torvalds
Language
C

1990s - Free OS era​

GNU/Linux distribution​

Linus Torvalds used and appreciated Minix, but his design deviated from the Minix architecture in significant ways, most notably by employing a monolithic kernel instead of a microkernel.

When Linus Torvalds first started writing his Linux operating system kernel (1991), he was working on a machine running MINIX, and adopted its file system layout. This soon proved problematic, since MINIX restricted filename lengths to 14 characters (30 in later versions), it limited partitions to 64 megabytes, and the file system was designed for teaching purposes, not performance. The Extended file system (ext; April 1992) was developed to replace MINIX's, but it was only with the second version of this, ext2, that Linux obtained a commercial-grade file system. As of 1994, the MINIX file system was "scarcely in use" among Linux users.

On 17 September 1991, Torvalds prepared version 0.01 of Linux and put on the "ftp.funet.fi" – FTP server of the Finnish University and Research Network (FUNET). It was not even executable since its code still needed Minix for compilation and play.

It was originally authored in 1991 by Linus Torvalds for his i386-based PC, and it was soon adopted as the kernel for the GNU operating system, which was written to be a free (libre) replacement for UNIX.

After that, despite the limited functionality of the early versions, Linux rapidly gained developers and users. Many people contributed code to the project, including some developers from the MINIX community. At the time, the GNU Project had created many of the components required for its free UNIX replacement, the GNU operating system, but its own kernel, GNU Hurd, was incomplete. For this reason it soon adopted the Linux kernel as well.

Debian (Stable)​

Community-supported Debian Project, which was established by Ian Murdock in 1993. The Debian Stable branch is the most popular edition for personal computers and servers. Debian is also the basis for many other distributions, most notably Ubuntu.

But the most popular Linux distro in the world (see distros rank) is MX Linux.

MX Linux​

MX Linux, a desktop-oriented Linux distribution based on Debian's "Stable" branch, is a cooperative venture between the antiX and former MEPIS Linux communities.

  • OS Type: Linux
  • Based on: Debian (Stable), antiX
  • Origin: Greece
  • Architecture: armhf, i686, x86_64
  • Desktop: KDE Plasma, Xfce, Fluxbox
  • Category: Desktop, From RAM, Live Medium, Raspberry Pi
  • Status: Active
  • Popularity: 1 (3,091 hits per day)