View source for History of Linux

{{short description|none}} <!-- "none" is preferred when the title is sufficiently descriptive; see [[WP:SDNONE]] -->
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2023}}
{{Use American English|date=March 2023}}
{{Distinguish|Linux kernel version history}}

'''Linux''' began in 1991 as a personal project by [[Finland|Finnish]] student [[Linus Torvalds]] to create a new free operating system kernel. The resulting [[Linux kernel]] has been marked by constant growth throughout its history. Since the initial release of its [[source code]] in 1991, it has grown from a small number of [[C Programming Language|C]] files under a license prohibiting commercial distribution to the 4.15 version in 2018 with more than 23.3 million lines of source code, not counting comments,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.heise.de/ct/artikel/Die-Neuerungen-von-Linux-4-15-3900646.html?seite=9|title=Die Neuerungen von Linux 4.15|first=Thorsten|last=Leemhuis|website=c't|access-date=February 21, 2018|archive-date=February 21, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180221161818/https://www.heise.de/ct/artikel/Die-Neuerungen-von-Linux-4-15-3900646.html?seite=9|url-status=live}}</ref> under the [[GNU General Public License]] v2 with a syscall exception meaning anything that uses the kernel via system calls are not subject to the GNU GPL.<ref name=lf-pub-wwl1>{{cite web|url=http://www.linuxfoundation.org/publications/linux-foundation/who-writes-linux-2015|title=Linux Kernel Development: How Fast it is Going, Who is Doing It, What They are Doing, and Who is Sponsoring the Work|last1=Corbet|first1=Jonathan|last2=Kroah-Hartman|first2=Greg|last3=McPherson|first3=Amanda<!-- |date=February 2015 -->|version=January 2018|website= linuxfoundation.org|publisher= The Linux Foundation|access-date= 2015-03-15|format=lf_pub_whowriteslinux2015.pdf|quote=The kernel has grown steadily since its first release in 1991, when there were only about 10,000 lines of code. At almost 19 million lines (up from 17 million), the kernel is almost two million lines larger than it was at the time of the previous version of this paper.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150315045943/http://www.linuxfoundation.org/publications/linux-foundation/who-writes-linux-2015|archive-date=2015-03-15}}</ref>{{Rp|page=7}}<ref name="linuxlicense"/><ref name="torvalds2000-gplv2only"/>

==Events leading to creation==
[[File:Ken Thompson and Dennis Ritchie.jpg|right|thumb|Ken Thompson (left) and Dennis Ritchie (right), creators of the Unix operating system]]

After [[AT&T]] had dropped out of the [[Multics]] project, the [[Unix]] operating system was conceived and implemented by [[Ken Thompson]] and [[Dennis Ritchie]] (both of [[AT&T Bell Laboratories]]) in 1969 and first released in 1970. Later they rewrote it in a new programming language, [[C (programming language)|C]], to make it portable. The availability and portability of Unix caused it to be widely adopted, copied and modified by academic institutions and businesses.

In 1977, the [[Berkeley Software Distribution]] (BSD) was developed by the [[Computer Systems Research Group]] (CSRG) from [[University of California, Berkeley|UC Berkeley]], based on the [[Version 6 Unix|6th edition of Unix]] and [[UNIX/32V]] ([[Version 7 Unix|7th edition]]) from AT&T. Since BSD contained Unix code that AT&T owned, AT&T filed a lawsuit (''[[UNIX System Laboratories, Inc. v. Berkeley Software Design, Inc.|USL v. BSDi]]'') in the early 1990s against the University of California. This strongly limited the development and adoption of BSD.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.coe.berkeley.edu/labnotes/history_unix.html | title = Berkeley UNIX and the Birth of Open-Source Software | access-date = 2008-07-28 | archive-date = 2015-03-26 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150326125354/http://coe.berkeley.edu/labnotes/history_unix.html  }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://oreilly.com/catalog/opensources/book/kirkmck.html |title=Twenty Years of Berkeley Unix From AT&T-Owned to Freely Redistributable |author=Marshall Kirk McKusick  |date=March 29, 1999 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140219215202/http://oreilly.com/catalog/opensources/book/kirkmck.html |archive-date=2014-02-19 }}</ref>

[[Onyx Systems]] began selling early microcomputer-based Unix workstations in 1980. Later, [[Sun Microsystems]], founded as a spin-off of a student project at [[Stanford University]], also began selling Unix-based desktop workstations in 1982. While Sun workstations did not utilize commodity PC hardware like Linux was later developed for, it represented the first successful commercial attempt at distributing a primarily single-user microcomputer that ran a Unix operating system.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/the-cathedral/0596001088/ch01.html |title=The Cathedral and the Bazaar |first=S. Raymond |last=Eric |publisher=O'Reilly & Associates, Inc |location=Sebastopol, California |page=12 |isbn=0-596-00108-8 |date=October 1999 |access-date=July 21, 2022 |quote=In 1982, a group of Unix hackers from Stanford and Berkeley founded Sun Microsystems on the belief that Unix running on relatively inexpensive 68000-based hardware would prove a winning combination for a wide variety of applications. They were right, and their vision set the pattern for an entire industry. While still priced out of reach of most individuals, workstations were cheap for corporations and universities; networks of them (one to a user) rapidly replaced the older VAXes and other time-sharing systems |archive-date=July 18, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220718070144/https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/the-cathedral/0596001088/ch01.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-01-31-fi-39535-story.html |title=Sun Microsystems Is Blazing a Red-Hot Trail in Computers: $300-Million AT&T; Deal Moves Firm to Set Sights on IBM |first=Carla |last=Lazzareschi |work=Los Angeles Times |date=January 31, 1988 |access-date=July 21, 2022 |archive-date=July 21, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220721100144/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-01-31-fi-39535-story.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 1983, [[Richard Stallman]] started the [[GNU Project]] with the goal of creating a free UNIX-like operating system.<ref>[https://www.gnu.org/gnu/initial-announcement.html Initial Announcement] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090305002259/http://www.gnu.org/gnu/initial-announcement.html |date=March 5, 2009 }} of the [[GNU Project]], 1983</ref> As part of this work, he wrote the [[GNU General Public License]] (GPL). By the early 1990s, there was almost enough available software to create a full operating system. However, the GNU kernel, called [[GNU Hurd|Hurd]], failed to attract enough development effort, leaving GNU incomplete.{{citation needed|date=January 2016}}

In 1985, [[Intel]] released the [[80386]], the first [[x86|x86 microprocessor]] with a [[32-bit]] [[instruction set]] and a [[memory management unit]] with [[memory paging|paging]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://intel80386.com/|title=Intel Architecure Programming and Information|website=intel80386.com|access-date=April 7, 2014|archive-date=July 6, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170706215037/http://www.intel80386.com/|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1986, Maurice J. Bach, of AT&T Bell Labs, published ''The Design of the UNIX Operating System''.<ref>{{Citation |last=Bach |first=Maurice |title=The Design of the UNIX Operating System |publisher=Prentice Hall |year=1986 |bibcode=1986duos.book.....B |isbn=0-13-201799-7 |url=https://archive.org/details/designofunixoper00bach }}</ref> This definitive description principally covered the [[System V#SVR2|System V Release 2]] kernel, with some new features from [[System V#SVR3|Release 3]] and BSD.

In 1987, [[MINIX]], a Unix-like system intended for academic use, was released by [[Andrew S. Tanenbaum]] to exemplify the principles conveyed in his [[textbook]], ''[[Operating Systems: Design and Implementation]]''. While source code for the system was available, modification and redistribution were restricted. In addition, MINIX's [[16-bit]] design was not well adapted to the 32-bit features of the increasingly cheap and popular Intel 386 architecture for personal computers. In the early nineties a commercial UNIX operating system for Intel 386 PCs was too expensive for private users.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qaDpjlFpbfo|title=Linus Torvalds Introduces Linux 1.0|website=[[YouTube]]|date=September 14, 2009 |access-date=December 17, 2012|archive-date=September 26, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170926052733/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qaDpjlFpbfo|url-status=live}}:Video 0:50 min.</ref>

These factors and the lack of a widely adopted, [[Free software|free]] kernel provided the impetus for Torvalds' starting his project. He has stated that if either the [[GNU Hurd]] or [[386BSD]] kernels had been available at the time, he likely would not have written his own.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.dina.dk/~abraham/Linus_vs_Tanenbaum.html | title = Linus vs. Tanenbaum debate  | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121003060514/http://www.dina.dk/~abraham/Linus_vs_Tanenbaum.html | archive-date = 2012-10-03 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url = http://gondwanaland.com/meta/history/interview.html | title = The Choice of a GNU Generation - An Interview With Linus Torvalds | access-date = October 31, 2007 | archive-date = February 25, 2009 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090225212557/http://gondwanaland.com/meta/history/interview.html | url-status = live }}</ref>

==The creation of Linux==
[[Image:Linus Torvalds.jpeg|thumb|Linus Torvalds in 2002]]
In 1991, while studying [[computer science]] at [[University of Helsinki]], Linus Torvalds began a project that later became the [[Linux kernel]]. He wrote the program specifically for the hardware he was using and independent of an operating system because he wanted to use the functions of his new PC with an 80386 processor. Development was done on MINIX using the [[GNU Compiler Collection|GNU C Compiler]].

On 3 July 1991, in an effort to implement Unix [[system call]]s in his project, Linus Torvalds attempted to obtain a digital copy of the [[POSIX]] standards [[Software documentation|documentation]] with a request to the ''comp.os.minix'' [[Usenet newsgroup|newsgroup]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Torvalds |first1=Linus |last2=Diamond |first2=David |date=2001 |title=Just for Fun: The Story of an Accidental Revolutionary |location=[[New York City]] |publisher=[[HarperCollins]] |pages=78–80 |isbn=0-06-662073-2}}</ref> He was not successful in finding the POSIX documentation, so Torvalds initially resorted to determining system calls from [[SunOS]] documentation owned by the university for use in operating its [[Sun Microsystems]] server. He also learned some system calls from Tanenbaum's MINIX text that was a part of the Unix course.

As Torvalds wrote in his book ''[[Just for Fun (book)|Just for Fun]]'',<ref name="fun">{{cite book|last1=Torvalds|first1=Linus|last2=Diamond|first2=David|title=Just For Fun - The Story Of An Accidental Revolutionary|date=2001|publisher=HarperBusiness|location=New York|page=[https://archive.org/details/justforfun00linu/page/84 84]|isbn=0-06-662072-4|url=https://archive.org/details/justforfun00linu/page/84}}</ref> he eventually ended up writing an operating system kernel. On 25 August 1991, he (at age {{age|1969|12|28|1991|08|25}}) announced this system in another posting to the ''comp.os.minix'' newsgroup:<ref name="groups.google.com">{{cite web|url = https://groups.google.com/group/comp.os.minix/msg/b813d52cbc5a044b|title = comp.os.minix|access-date = 2009-09-06|last = Torvalds|first = Linus Benedict|date = August 1991|archive-date = May 9, 2013|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130509134305/http://groups.google.com/group/comp.os.minix/msg/b813d52cbc5a044b|url-status = live}}</ref>

{{blockquote|
Hello everybody 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. 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).

I've currently ported [[Bash (Unix shell)|bash(1.08)]] and [[GNU Compiler Collection|gcc(1.40)]], and things seem to work. This implies that I'll get something practical within a few months, and I'd like to know what features most people would want. Any suggestions are welcome, but I won't promise I'll implement them :-)

Linus (torvalds@kruuna.helsinki.fi)

PS. Yes - it's free of any minix code, and it has a multi-threaded fs. It is NOT portable<!--originally "protable"--> (uses 386 task switching etc), and it probably never will support anything other than AT-harddisks, as that's all I have :-(.|Linus Torvalds<ref name="Torvalds_Ankuendigung">Torvalds, Linus: ''[https://groups.google.com/group/comp.os.minix/msg/b813d52cbc5a044b?dmode=source What would you like to see most in minix?] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130515090124/http://groups.google.com/group/comp.os.minix/msg/b813d52cbc5a044b?dmode=source |date=May 15, 2013 }}'' [[Usenet]] group comp.os.minix, 25 August 1991.</ref>}}

According to Torvalds, Linux began to gain importance in 1992 after the [[X Window System]] was ported to Linux by [[Orest Zborowski]], which allowed Linux to support a [[GUI]] for the first time.<ref name=fun />

==Naming==
[[Image:Linux 0 12.jpg|thumb|[[Floppy disk]]s holding a very early version of Linux]]
Linus Torvalds had wanted to call his invention Freax, a [[portmanteau]] of "free", "freak", and "x" (as an allusion to Unix). During the start of his work on the system, he stored the files under the name "Freax" for about half of a year. Torvalds had already considered the name "Linux", but initially dismissed it as too egotistical.<ref name="fun" />

In order to facilitate development, the files were uploaded to the [[File Transfer Protocol|FTP server]] (ftp.funet.fi) of [[FUNET]] in September 1991. Ari Lemmke at [[Helsinki University of Technology]] (HUT), who was one of the volunteer administrators for the FTP server at the time, did not think that "Freax" was a good name. Therefore, he named the project "Linux" on the server without consulting Torvalds.<ref name="fun" /> Later, however, Torvalds consented to "Linux".

To demonstrate how the word "Linux" should be pronounced ({{IPA|[ˈliːnɵks]}}), Torvalds included an audio guide ({{Audio|Linus-linux.ogg|listen}}) with the kernel source code.<ref name="Pronounce">{{cite web|url = https://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/SillySounds|title = Index of /pub/linux/kernel/SillySounds|access-date = 2009-08-03|last = Torvalds|first = Linus|date = March 1994|archive-date = October 8, 2009|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20091008074754/http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/SillySounds/|url-status = live}}</ref>

==Linux under the GNU GPL==
Torvalds first published the Linux kernel under its own licence,<ref>{{cite book|editor-last1=Heiskanen|editor-first1=Jukka|editor-last2=Mäntylä|editor-first2=Jorma|last=Silvonen|first=Jussi|title=MarxIT: Informaatiokapitalismin kriittistä tarkastelua|year=2003|publisher=The Finnish Karl Marx Society|location=Helsinki|isbn=952-99110-0-9|page=120|chapter=Linux ja vapaat ohjelmat: haaste informaatiokapitalismille?|language=fi}}</ref> which had a restriction on commercial activity.

The software to use with the [[kernel (operating system)|kernel]] was software developed as part of the GNU project licensed under the GNU General Public License, a free software license. The first release of the Linux kernel, Linux 0.01, included a binary of GNU's Bash shell.<ref name="Linux001">Torvalds, Linus: ''[https://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/Historic/old-versions/RELNOTES-0.01 Notes for linux release 0.01] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161210011254/https://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/Historic/old-versions/RELNOTES-0.01 |date=December 10, 2016 }}'' kernel.org, 1991.</ref>

In the "Notes for linux release 0.01", Torvalds lists the GNU software that is required to run Linux:<ref name="Linux001"/>

{{blockquote|Sadly, a kernel by itself gets you nowhere. To get a working system you need a shell, compilers, a library etc. These are separate parts and may be under a stricter (or even looser) copyright. Most of the tools used with linux are [[GNU|GNU software]] and are under the GNU [[copyleft]]. These tools aren't in the distribution - ask me (or GNU) for more info.<ref name="Linux001"/>}}

In 1992, he suggested releasing the kernel under the GNU General Public License. He first announced this decision in the release notes of version 0.12.<ref>{{cite web |url = https://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/Historic/old-versions/RELNOTES-0.12 |title = RELEASE NOTES FOR LINUX v0.12 |first = Linus |last = Torvalds |author-link = Linus Torvalds |date = 1992-01-05 |access-date = 2007-07-23 |publisher = Linux Kernel Archives |quote = The Linux copyright will change: I've had a couple of requests to make it compatible with the GNU copyleft, removing the "you may not distribute it for money" condition. I agree. I propose that the copyright be changed so that it confirms to GNU - pending approval of the persons who have helped write code. I assume this is going to be no problem for anybody: If you have grievances ("I wrote that code assuming the copyright would stay the same") mail me. Otherwise The GNU copyleft takes effect as of the first of February. If you do not know the gist of the GNU copyright - read it. |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110721105526/https://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/Historic/old-versions/RELNOTES-0.12 |archive-date = 21 July 2011}}</ref> In the middle of December 1992 he published version 0.99 using the GNU GPL.<ref name="gpl_version">''[https://cdn.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/Historic/v0.99/linux-0.99.tar.Z z-archive of Linux version 0.99] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190628164424/https://cdn.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/Historic/v0.99/linux-0.99.tar.Z |date=June 28, 2019 }}'', kernel.org, December 1992</ref> Linux and GNU developers worked to integrate GNU components with Linux to make a fully functional and free operating system.<ref name="Overview of GNU">{{cite web |url=https://www.gnu.org/gnu/gnu-history.html |title=Overview of the GNU System - GNU Project - Free Software Foundation (FSF) |publisher=Gnu.org |access-date=2012-04-06 |archive-date=February 28, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090228140819/http://www.gnu.org/gnu/gnu-history.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Torvalds has stated, "making Linux GPLed was definitely the best thing I ever did."<ref name="Yamagata_Interview">Hiroo Yamagata: [http://www.tlug.jp/docs/linus.html ''The Pragmatist of Free Software'', Linus Torvalds Interview] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070826212454/http://www.tlug.jp/docs/linus.html |date=2007-08-26 }}, 30 September 1997</ref>

Around 2000, Torvalds clarified that the Linux kernel uses the GPLv2 license, without the common "or later clause".<ref name="linuxlicense">{{cite web |url=https://git.kernel.org/cgit/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux-stable.git/tree/COPYING |quote=''Also note that the only valid version of the GPL as far as the kernel is concerned is _this_ particular version of the license (ie v2, not v2.2 or v3.x or whatever), unless explicitly otherwise stated.'' |access-date=13 August 2013 |publisher=kernel.org |first=Linus |last=Torvalds |title=COPYING |archive-date=December 17, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151217084047/https://git.kernel.org/cgit/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux-stable.git/tree/COPYING |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="torvalds2000-gplv2only">{{cite web |url=http://lkml.iu.edu/hypermail/linux/kernel/0009.1/0096.html |title=Linux-2.4.0-test8 |author=Linus Torvalds |author-link=Linus Torvalds |date=2000-09-08 |access-date=2015-11-21 |publisher=lkml.iu.edu |quote=''The only one of any note that I'd like to point out directly is the clarification in the COPYING file, making it clear that it's only _that_particular version of the GPL that is valid for the kernel. This should not come as any surprise, as that's the same license that has been there since 0.12 or so, but I thought I'd make that explicit'' |archive-date=May 15, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200515235654/http://lkml.iu.edu/hypermail/linux/kernel/0009.1/0096.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

After years of draft discussions, the GPLv3 was released in 2007; however, Torvalds and the majority of kernel developers decided against adopting the new license.<ref name="kerneldevelopers2006">{{cite web |url=https://lwn.net/Articles/200422/ |title=Kernel developers' position on GPLv3 - The Dangers and Problems with GPLv3 |author=James E.J. Bottomley |author2=Mauro Carvalho Chehab |author3=Thomas Gleixner |author4=Christoph Hellwig |author5=Dave Jones |author6=Greg Kroah-Hartman |author7=Tony Luck |author8=Andrew Morton |author9=Trond Myklebust |author10=David Woodhouse |date=15 September 2006 |publisher=[[LWN.net]] |access-date=2015-03-11 |quote="The current version (Discussion Draft 2) of GPLv3 on first reading fails the necessity test of section 1 on the grounds that there's no substantial and identified problem with GPLv2 that it is trying to solve. However, a deeper reading reveals several other problems with the current FSF draft: 5.1 DRM Clauses [...] 5.2 Additional Restrictions Clause [...] 5.3 Patents Provisions [...]since the FSF is proposing to shift all of its projects to GPLv3 and apply pressure to every other GPL licensed project to move, we foresee the release of GPLv3 portends the [[Balkanisation]] of the entire Open Source Universe upon which we rely." |archive-date=January 18, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210118015213/https://lwn.net/Articles/200422/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="torvaldsgpl">{{cite web |url=https://www.internetnews.com/developer/torvalds-still-keen-on-gplv2/ |title=Torvalds Still Keen On GPLv2 |quote=''"In some ways, Linux was the project that really made the split clear between what the FSF is pushing which is very different from what open source and Linux has always been about, which is more of a technical superiority instead of a – this religious belief in freedom," Torvalds told Zemlin. So, the GPL Version 3 reflects the FSF's goals and the GPL Version 2 pretty closely matches what I think a license should do and so right now, Version 2 is where the kernel is."'' |date=2008-01-08 |first=Sean Michael |last=Kerner |publisher=internetnews.com |access-date=2015-02-12 |archive-date=February 12, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150212130610/http://www.internetnews.com/dev-news/article.php/3720371/Torvalds+Still+Keen+On+GPLv2.htm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PaKIZ7gJlRU Linus Torvalds says GPL v3 violates everything that GPLv2 stood for] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180508034417/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PaKIZ7gJlRU |date=May 8, 2018 }} [[Debian Conference|DebConf]] 2014, [[Portland, Oregon]] (accessed 11 March 2015)</ref>

==GNU/Linux naming controversy==
{{Further|GNU/Linux naming controversy}}
The designation "Linux" was initially used by Torvalds only for the Linux kernel. The kernel was, however, frequently used together with other software, especially that of the GNU project. This quickly became the most popular adoption of GNU software. In June 1994 in GNU's Bulletin, Linux was referred to as a "free UNIX clone", and the [[Debian]] project began calling its product ''Debian GNU/Linux''. In May 1996, Richard Stallman published the editor [[Emacs]] 19.31, in which the type of system was renamed from Linux to Lignux. This spelling was intended to refer specifically to the combination of GNU and Linux, but this was soon abandoned in favor of "GNU/Linux".<ref name="faif2">{{cite book |last1=Williams |first1=Sam |last2=Stallman |first2=Richard M. |date=2010 |title=Free as in Freedom 2.0 |url=https://static.fsf.org/nosvn/faif-2.0.pdf |publisher=GNU Press |page=151 |isbn=978-0-9831592-1-6 |archive-date=January 3, 2015 |access-date=September 5, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150103152231/https://static.fsf.org/nosvn/faif-2.0.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

This name garnered varying reactions. The GNU and Debian projects use the name, although most people simply use the term "Linux" to refer to the combination.<ref name="OSWeekly">{{cite web|url = http://www.osweekly.com/index.php?option=com_content&Itemid=&task=view&id=2242|title = The "GNU/Linux" and "Linux" Controversy|access-date = 26 October 2008|last = Govind|first = Puru|date=May 2006|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090225043053/http://www.osweekly.com/index.php?option=com_content&Itemid=&task=view&id=2242 |archive-date = 25 February 2009}}</ref>

==Official mascot==
[[Image:Tux.svg|100px|thumb|[[Tux (mascot)|Tux]] ]]
Torvalds announced in 1996 that there would be a mascot for Linux, a penguin. This was because when they were about to select the mascot, Torvalds mentioned he was bitten by a [[little penguin]] (''Eudyptula minor'') on a visit to the [[National Zoo & Aquarium]] in Canberra, Australia. <!-- the quote used here was kind of shitty (in readability; if you want to mention this, it would be best to paraphrase) --> [[Larry Ewing]] provided the original draft of today's well known mascot based on this description. The name [[Tux (mascot)|Tux]] was suggested by James Hughes as derivative of ''Torvalds' UniX'', along with being short for ''tuxedo'', a type of suit with color similar to that of a penguin.<ref name="fun" />{{Rp|138}}

==New development==

===Linux Community===
The largest part of the work on Linux is performed by the community: the thousands of programmers around the world that use Linux and send their suggested improvements to the maintainers. Various companies have also helped not only with the development of the kernels, but also with the writing of the body of auxiliary software, which is distributed with Linux. As of February 2015, over 80% of Linux kernel developers are paid.<ref name=lf-pub-wwl1 />{{Rp|page=11}}

It is released both by organized projects such as Debian, and by projects connected directly with companies such as [[Fedora Linux|Fedora]] and [[openSUSE]]. The members of the respective projects meet at various conferences and fairs, in order to exchange ideas. One of the largest of these fairs is the [[LinuxTag]] in Germany, where about 10,000 people assemble annually to discuss Linux and the projects associated with it.{{citation needed|date=January 2016}}

===Open Source Development Lab and Linux Foundation===
[[Open Source Development Labs|The Open Source Development Lab (OSDL)]] was created in the year 2000, and is an independent nonprofit organization which pursues the goal of optimizing Linux for employment in data centers and in the carrier range. It served as sponsored working premises for Linus Torvalds and also for Andrew Morton (until the middle of 2006 when Morton transferred to Google). Torvalds worked full-time on behalf of OSDL, developing the Linux kernels.

On 22 January 2007, OSDL and the [[Free Standards Group]] merged to form [[The Linux Foundation]], narrowing their respective focuses to that of promoting [[Linux]] in competition with [[Microsoft Windows]].<ref name=lf-pr2007>{{cite press release
| title=New Linux Foundation Launches – Merger of Open Source Development Labs and Free Standards Group
| publisher=The Linux Foundation
| date=January 22, 2007
| url=http://linux-foundation.org/weblogs/press/2007/01/21/new-linux-foundation-launches-%e2%80%93-merger-of-open-source-development-labs-and-free-standards-group/
| access-date=2008-03-26
| quote="Computing is entering a world dominated by two platforms: Linux and Windows."
| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070702180852/http://www.linux-foundation.org/wordpress/?p=286
| archive-date=2007-07-02

}}</ref><ref name=prnw-lf2007>{{cite press release
 |author       = <!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->
 |title        = New Linux Foundation Launches - Merger of Open Source Development Labs and Free Standards Group
 |url          = http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/new-linux-foundation-launches---merger-of-open-source-development-labs-and-free-standards-group-53652117.html
 |location     = SAN FRANCISCO and BEAVERTON, Ore.
 |publisher    = PR Newswire Association LLC.
 |agency       = Linux Foundation
 |date         = 2007-01-22
 |access-date  = 2015-03-15
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20150402110206/http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/new-linux-foundation-launches---merger-of-open-source-development-labs-and-free-standards-group-53652117.html
 |archive-date = 2015-04-02
 
}}</ref>  As of 2015, Torvalds remains with the Linux Foundation as a Fellow.<ref>{{cite web
 |url          = http://www.linuxfoundation.org/about/leadership#torvalds
 |title        = Linux Foundation Leadership
 |date         = 2015
 |website      = linuxfoundation.org
 |publisher    = The Linux Foundation
 |access-date  = 2015-03-15
 |archive-date = December 7, 2015
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20151207165505/http://www.linuxfoundation.org/about/leadership#torvalds
 |url-status   = live
}}</ref>

===Companies===
Despite being freely available, companies profit from Linux. These companies, many of which are also members of the Linux Foundation, invest substantial resources into the advancement and development of Linux, in order to make it suited for various application areas. This includes hardware donations for driver developers, cash donations for people who develop Linux software, and the employment of Linux programmers at the company. Some examples are [[Dell]], [[IBM]], and [[Hewlett-Packard]], which validate, use and sell Linux on their own servers, and [[Red Hat]] (now part of IBM) and [[SUSE S.A.|SUSE]], which maintain their own enterprise distributions. Likewise, Digia supports Linux by the development and LGPL licensing of the [[Qt (software)|Qt toolkit]], which makes the development of [[KDE]] possible, and by employing some of the X and KDE developers.

===Desktop environments===
[[KDE]] was the first advanced desktop environment (version 1.0 released in July 1998), but it was controversial due to the then-proprietary [[Qt (software)|Qt toolkit]] used.<ref name=KDEvGNOME2007>[[Bruce Byfield|Byfield B]]. (2007). [http://www.datamation.com/osrc/article.php/3671906/KDE-vs-GNOME-Is-One-Better.htm KDE vs. GNOME: Is One Better?] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304051808/http://www.datamation.com/osrc/article.php/3671906/KDE-vs-GNOME-Is-One-Better.htm |date=2016-03-04 }}. ''[[Datamation]]''.</ref> [[GNOME]] was developed as an alternative due to licensing questions.<ref name=KDEvGNOME2007/> The two use a different underlying toolkit and thus involve different programming, and are sponsored by two different groups, German nonprofit [[KDE e.V.]] and the United States nonprofit [[GNOME Foundation]].

As of April 2007, one journalist estimated that KDE had 65% of market share versus 26% for GNOME.<ref name=KDEvGNOME2007/> In January 2008, [[KDE Software Compilation 4|KDE 4]] was released prematurely with bugs, driving some users to GNOME.<ref name=UserRevolt>Byfield B. (2011). [http://www.datamation.com/osrc/article.php/3928841/Will-GNOME-30-Repeat-the-User-Revolt-of-KDE-40.htm Will GNOME 3.0 Repeat the User Revolt of KDE 4.0?] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304052107/http://www.datamation.com/osrc/article.php/3928841/Will-GNOME-30-Repeat-the-User-Revolt-of-KDE-40.htm |date=March 4, 2016 }}. ''Datamation''.</ref> [[GNOME 3]], released in April 2011, was called an "unholy mess" by Linus Torvalds due to its controversial [[Controversy over GNOME 3|design changes]].<ref>[https://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/08/05/linus_slams_gnome_three/ Linus Torvalds dubs GNOME 3 'unholy mess'] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170810092252/https://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/08/05/linus_slams_gnome_three/ |date=August 10, 2017 }}. ''The Register''.</ref>

Dissatisfaction with GNOME 3 led to a fork, [[Cinnamon (desktop environment)|Cinnamon]], which is developed primarily by [[Linux Mint]] developer Clement LeFebvre. This restores the more traditional desktop environment with marginal improvements.

The relatively well-funded distribution, [[Ubuntu]], designed (and released in June 2011) another user interface called [[Unity (user interface)|Unity]] which is radically different from the conventional desktop environment and has been criticized as having various flaws<ref>[http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2011/03/unity/ What's wrong with Unity & how we can fix it] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140805030423/http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2011/03/unity |date=August 5, 2014 }}. ''OMG Ubuntu''.</ref> and lacking configurability.<ref>[http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2011/11/ubuntu-desktop-designers-clarify-on-configurability Ubuntu Desktop Designers: 'Unity Should Be Configurable'] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140808054213/http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2011/11/ubuntu-desktop-designers-clarify-on-configurability |date=August 8, 2014 }}. ''OMG Ubuntu''.</ref> The motivation was a single desktop environment for desktops and tablets,{{Citation needed|date=April 2013}} although as of November 2012 Unity has yet to be used widely in tablets. However, the smartphone and [[Ubuntu Touch|tablet version of Ubuntu]] and its Unity interface was unveiled by [[Canonical (company)|Canonical Ltd]] in January 2013. In April 2017, [[Canonical (company)|Canonical]] canceled the [[Ubuntu Touch|phone-based Ubuntu Touch]] project entirely in order to focus on [[Internet of things|IoT]] projects such as [[Ubuntu (operating system)|Ubuntu Core]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://blog.ubuntu.com/2017/04/05/growing-ubuntu-for-cloud-and-iot-rather-than-phone-and-convergence|title=Growing Ubuntu for cloud and IoT, rather than phone and convergence|access-date=September 5, 2018|archive-date=September 6, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180906060125/https://blog.ubuntu.com/2017/04/05/growing-ubuntu-for-cloud-and-iot-rather-than-phone-and-convergence|url-status=live}}</ref> In April 2017, Canonical dropped Unity and began to use [[GNOME]] for the [[Ubuntu version history|Ubuntu releases from 17.10 onward.]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theregister.co.uk/2018/04/27/ubuntu_1804/|title=Leave it to Beaver: Unity is long gone and you're on your GNOME|first=Scott|last=Gilbertson|date=2018-04-27|website=The Register}}</ref>

=="Linux is obsolete"==
{{Main article|Tanenbaum–Torvalds debate}}
In 1992, Andrew S. Tanenbaum, recognized computer scientist and author of the Minix microkernel system, wrote a Usenet article on the newsgroup comp.os.minix with the title "Linux is obsolete",<ref>{{Cite newsgroup | author = A. S. Tanenbaum | title = LINUX is obsolete | date = 29 January 1992 | newsgroup = comp.os.minix | message-id = 12595@star.cs.vu.nl | url = https://groups.google.com/group/comp.os.minix/browse_thread/thread/c25870d7a41696d2/f447530d082cd95d?tvc=2 | access-date = 2008-07-16 | archive-date = May 26, 2013 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130526014635/http://groups.google.com/group/comp.os.minix/browse_thread/thread/c25870d7a41696d2/f447530d082cd95d?tvc=2 | url-status = live }}</ref> which marked the beginning of a famous debate about the structure of the then-recent Linux kernel. Among the most significant criticisms were that:
* The kernel was [[monolithic kernel|monolithic]] and thus old-fashioned.
* The lack of portability, due to the use of exclusive features of the Intel 386 processor. "Writing a new operating system that is closely tied to any particular piece of hardware, especially a weird one like the Intel line, is basically wrong."<ref>{{Cite newsgroup | author = A. S. Tanenbaum | title = Re: LINUX is obsolete | date = 30 January 1992 | newsgroup = comp.os.minix | message-id = 12615@star.cs.vu.nl | url = https://groups.google.com/group/comp.os.minix/browse_thread/thread/c25870d7a41696d2/625c4a78723eeef5?#625c4a78723eeef5 | access-date = 2008-07-16 | archive-date = May 30, 2013 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130530035433/http://groups.google.com/group/comp.os.minix/browse_thread/thread/c25870d7a41696d2/625c4a78723eeef5#625c4a78723eeef5 | url-status = live }}</ref>
* There was no strict control of the source code by any individual person.<ref name="Tanenbaum05Feb92">{{cite web|url = http://www.educ.umu.se/~bjorn/mhonarc-files/obsolete/msg00088.html|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090605091222/http://www.educ.umu.se/~bjorn/mhonarc-files/obsolete/msg00088.html|archive-date = 2009-06-05|title = Re: Unhappy campers|access-date = 2008-10-19|last = Tanenbaum|first = Andy|date=February 1992}}</ref>
* Linux employed a set of features which were useless (Tanenbaum believed that multithreaded [[file system]]s were simply a "performance hack").<ref name="Tanenbaum_Usenet">Andrew Tanenbaum, Linus Torvalds and others: ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20100503140306/http://www.educ.umu.se/~bjorn/mhonarc-files/obsolete/msg00009.html Linux is obsolete]'' Usenet post, 29 January 1992</ref>

Tanenbaum's prediction that Linux would become outdated within a few years and replaced by GNU Hurd (which he considered to be more modern) proved incorrect. Linux has been ported to all major platforms and its open development model has led to an exemplary pace of development. In contrast, GNU Hurd has not yet reached the level of stability that would allow it to be used on a production server.<ref name="Hurd_Project">''[https://www.gnu.org/software/hurd/hurd.html#status The GNU Hurd Project] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140419172946/http://www.gnu.org/software/hurd/hurd.html#status |date=April 19, 2014 }}''</ref> His dismissal of the Intel line of 386 processors as 'weird' has also proven short-sighted, as the x86 series of processors and the Intel Corporation would later become near ubiquitous in [[personal computers]] and [[Server (computing)|servers]].

In his unpublished book ''[[Samizdat (book)|Samizdat]]'', [[Kenneth Brown (author)|Kenneth Brown]] claims that Torvalds illegally copied code from MINIX. In May 2004, these claims were refuted by Tanenbaum, the author of MINIX:<ref name="ast_brown">{{cite web
 | url = http://www.cs.vu.nl/~ast/brown/
 | title = Some Notes on the "Who wrote Linux" Kerfuffle, Release 1.5
 | last = Tanenbaum
 | first = Andrew S.
 | author-link = Andrew S. Tanenbaum
 | date = 2004-05-20
 | access-date = 2015-03-15
 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121122193927/http://www.cs.vu.nl/~ast/brown
 | archive-date = 2012-11-22
 
 | quote = [Linus] didn't write CTSS and he didn't write MULTICS and didn't write UNIX and he didn't write MINIX, but he did write Linux. I think Brown owes a number of us an apology.
 }}</ref>

{{blockquote|
[Brown] wanted to go on about the ownership issue, but he was also trying to avoid telling me what his real purpose was, so he didn't phrase his questions very well. Finally he asked me if I thought Linus wrote Linux. I said that to the best of my knowledge, Linus wrote the whole kernel himself, but after it was released, other people began improving the kernel, which was very primitive initially, and adding new software to the system—essentially the same development model as MINIX. Then he began to focus on this, with questions like: "Didn't he steal pieces of MINIX without permission." I told him that MINIX had clearly had a huge influence on Linux in many ways, from the layout of the file system to the names in the source tree, but I didn't think Linus had used any of my code.}}

The book's claims, methodology and references were seriously questioned and in the end it was never released and was delisted from the distributor's site.

==Microsoft competition and collaboration==
Although Torvalds has said that Microsoft's feeling threatened by Linux in the past was of no consequence to him, the Microsoft and Linux camps had a number of antagonistic interactions between 1997 and 2001. This became quite clear for the first time in 1998, when the first [[Halloween document]] was brought to light by [[Eric S. Raymond]]. This was a short essay by a Microsoft developer that sought to lay out the threats posed to Microsoft by free software and identified strategies to counter these perceived threats.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Open Source Initiative: Halloween Document 1 |url=https://www.gnu.org/software/fsfe/projects/ms-vs-eu/halloween1.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191013022358/https://www.gnu.org/software/fsfe/projects/ms-vs-eu/halloween1.html |archive-date=2019-10-13 |access-date=2021-09-05 |website=www.gnu.org}}</ref> It went on to include a comparison between [[Windows NT Server]] and Linux called "Linux Myths" on Microsoft's website in October 1999.<ref>{{Cite web |date=1999-10-05 |title=Microsoft Clarifies Linux Myths - Slashdot |url=https://linux.slashdot.org/story/99/10/05/1714254/microsoft-clarifies-linux-myths |access-date=2024-05-27 |website=linux.slashdot.org |language=en}}</ref>

Competition entered a new phase in the beginning of 2004, when [[Microsoft]] published results from customer case studies evaluating the use of Windows vs. Linux under the name "Get the Facts" on its own web page. Based on inquiries, research analysts, and some Microsoft sponsored investigations, the case studies claimed that enterprise use of Linux on servers compared unfavorably to the use of Windows in terms of reliability, security, and [[total cost of ownership]].<ref>{{cite web| title = Get the Facts| publisher = Microsoft| year = 2004| url = http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserversystem/facts/default.mspx| access-date = 2006-11-24| archive-date = April 23, 2006| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060423101042/http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserversystem/facts/default.mspx| url-status = live}}</ref>

In response, commercial Linux distributors produced their own studies, surveys and testimonials to counter Microsoft's campaign. [[Novell]]'s web-based campaign at the end of 2004 was entitled "Unbending the truth" and sought to outline the advantages as well as dispelling the widely publicized legal liabilities of Linux deployment (particularly in light of the [[#SCO|''SCO v IBM'' case]]). Novell particularly referenced the Microsoft studies in many points. IBM also published a series of studies under the title "The Linux at IBM competitive advantage" to again parry Microsoft's campaign. Red Hat had a campaign called "Truth Happens" aimed at letting the performance of the product speak for itself, rather than advertising the product by studies.{{Citation needed|date=December 2007}}

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In the autumn of 2006, [[Microsoft-Novell agreement|Novell and Microsoft announced an agreement]] to co-operate on software interoperability and patent protection.<ref>{{cite web| title = Open Letter to Community from Novell| publisher = Novell| year = 2006| url = http://www.novell.com/linux/microsoft/community_open_letter.html| access-date = 2007-03-23| archive-date = November 25, 2006| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20061125065846/http://www.novell.com/linux/microsoft/community_open_letter.html| url-status = live}}</ref> This included an agreement that customers of either Novell or Microsoft may not be sued by the other company for patent infringement. This patent protection was also expanded to non-commercial free software developers<!-- non-commercial free software developers? -->. The last part was criticized because it only included non-commercial free software developers.

In July 2009, Microsoft submitted 22,000 lines of source code to the Linux kernel under the GPLV2 license in order to better support being a guest for [[Windows Virtual PC]]/[[Hyper-V]], which were subsequently accepted. Although this has been referred to as "a historic move" and as a possible bellwether of an improvement in Microsoft's corporate attitudes toward Linux and open-source software, the decision was not altogether altruistic, as it promised to lead to significant competitive advantages for Microsoft and avoided legal action against Microsoft. Microsoft was actually compelled to make the code contribution when [[Vyatta]] principal engineer and Linux contributor [[Stephen Hemminger]] discovered that Microsoft had incorporated a Hyper-V network driver, with GPL-licensed open source components, statically linked to closed-source binaries in contravention of the GPL licence. Microsoft contributed the drivers to rectify the licence violation, although the company attempted to portray it as a charitable act, rather than one to avoid legal action against it. In the past Microsoft had termed Linux a "cancer" and "communist".<ref>{{cite web
 |url          = http://www.networkworld.com/news/2009/072009-microsoft-linux-source-code.html?hpg1=bn
 |title        = Microsoft stuns Linux world, submits source code to kernel
 |author       = John Fontana
 |author-link   = Network World online magazine
 |access-date   = 2009-07-20
 |quote        = In an historic move, Microsoft Monday submitted driver source code for inclusion in the Linux kernel under a GPLv2 license. [...] Greg Kroah-Hartman, the Linux driver project lead and a Novell fellow, said he accepted 22,000 lines of Microsoft's code at 9 a.m.PST Monday. Kroah-Hartman said the Microsoft code will be available as part of the next Linux public tree release in the next 24 hours. The code will become part of the 2.6.30.1 stable release. [...] ''Then the whole world will be able to look at the code,'' he said.
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20091202051356/http://www.networkworld.com/news/2009/072009-microsoft-linux-source-code.html?hpg1=bn
 |archive-date = 2009-12-02
 
}}
</ref><ref name="Paul20Jul09">{{cite web|url = https://arstechnica.com/microsoft/news/2009/07/microsoft-aims-at-vm-market-with-linux-kernel-code-offering.ars|title = Microsoft aims at VM market with Linux kernel code offering|access-date = 2009-07-22|last = Paul|first = Ryan|date = July 2009|archive-date = January 6, 2012|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120106065541/http://arstechnica.com/microsoft/news/2009/07/microsoft-aims-at-vm-market-with-linux-kernel-code-offering.ars|url-status = live}}</ref><ref name="Holwerda23Jul09">{{cite web|url = http://www.osnews.com/story/21882/Microsoft_s_Linux_Kernel_Code_Drop_Result_of_GPL_Violation|title = Microsoft's Linux Kernel Code Drop Result of GPL Violation|access-date = 2009-07-23|last = Holwerda|first = Thom|date=July 2009}}</ref><ref name="MicrosoftPressRelease20Jul09">{{cite web|url = http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/features/2009/Jul09/07-20LinuxQA.mspx|title = Microsoft Contributes Linux Drivers to Linux Community|access-date = 2009-07-23|last = Microsoft|website = [[Microsoft]]|author-link = Microsoft|date = July 2009|archive-date = July 22, 2009|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090722123347/http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/features/2009/Jul09/07-20LinuxQA.mspx|url-status = live}}</ref><ref name="FSMJuly09">{{cite web|url = http://www.freesoftwaremagazine.com/columns/yes_linus_microsoft_hating_disease_and_its_pandemic|title = Yes Linus, Microsoft hating is a disease. And it's a pandemic|access-date = 2009-08-01|last = Richmond|first = Gary|date = August 2009|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090729064923/http://www.freesoftwaremagazine.com/columns/yes_linus_microsoft_hating_disease_and_its_pandemic|archive-date = 2009-07-29}}</ref>

By 2011, Microsoft had become the 17th largest contributor to the Linux kernel.<ref name="Paul04Apr12">{{cite news|url = https://arstechnica.com/business/news/2012/04/linux-kernel-in-2011-15-million-total-lines-of-code-and-microsoft-is-a-top-contributor.ars|title = Linux kernel in 2011: 15 million total lines of code and Microsoft is a top contributor|access-date = 6 April 2012|last = Paul|first = Ryan|date = 4 April 2012|work = [[Ars Technica]]|archive-date = May 7, 2012|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120507235914/http://arstechnica.com/business/news/2012/04/linux-kernel-in-2011-15-million-total-lines-of-code-and-microsoft-is-a-top-contributor.ars|url-status = live}}</ref> As of February 2015, Microsoft was no longer among the top 30 contributing sponsor companies.<ref name=lf-pub-wwl1 />{{rp|10–12}}

The [[Windows Azure]] project was announced in 2008 and renamed to [[Microsoft Azure]]. It incorporates [[Linux]] as part of its suite of server-based software applications. In August 2018, [[SUSE S.A.|SUSE]] created a [[Linux kernel]] specifically tailored to the [[cloud computing]] applications under the [[Microsoft Azure|Microsoft Azure project]] umbrella. Speaking about the kernel port, a Microsoft representative said "The new Azure-tuned kernel allows those customers to quickly take advantage of new Azure services such as Accelerated Networking with SR-IOV."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theregister.co.uk/2018/08/20/suse_and_microsoft_azure/|title=SUSE and Microsoft give enterprise Linux an Azure tune-up|website=[[The Register]]|access-date=September 5, 2018|archive-date=September 6, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180906014053/https://www.theregister.co.uk/2018/08/20/suse_and_microsoft_azure/|url-status=live}}</ref>

In recent years, Torvalds has expressed a neutral to friendly attitude towards Microsoft following the company's new embrace of open source software and collaboration with the Linux community. "The whole anti-Microsoft thing was sometimes funny as a joke, but not really." said Torvalds in an interview with ZDNet. "Today, they're actually much friendlier. I talk to Microsoft engineers at various conferences, and I feel like, yes, they have changed, and the engineers are happy. And they're like really happy working on Linux. So I completely dismissed all the anti-Microsoft stuff."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.zdnet.com/article/linus-torvalds-isnt-worried-about-microsoft-taking-over-linux/|title=Linus Torvalds isn't worried about Microsoft taking over Linux|last=Vaughan-Nichols|first=Steven J.|website=ZDNet|language=en|access-date=2020-02-18|archive-date=February 20, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200220003819/https://www.zdnet.com/article/linus-torvalds-isnt-worried-about-microsoft-taking-over-linux/|url-status=live}}</ref>

In May 2023, Microsoft publicly released their [[Azure Linux]] distribution.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theregister.com/2023/05/26/microsoft_azure_linux_container/|title=Microsoft's Azure Linux distro is now generally available • The Register|language=en|access-date=2023-06-04|archive-date=June 4, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230604023910/https://www.theregister.com/2023/05/26/microsoft_azure_linux_container/|url-status=live}}></ref>

==SCO==
{{Main article|SCO–Linux disputes}}
In March 2003, the [[SCO Group]] accused IBM of violating their copyright on UNIX by transferring code from UNIX to Linux. SCO claims ownership of the copyrights on UNIX and a lawsuit was filed against IBM. Red Hat has counter-sued and SCO has since filed other related lawsuits. At the same time as their lawsuit, SCO began selling Linux licenses to users who did not want to risk a possible complaint on the part of SCO. Since [[Novell]] also claimed the copyrights to UNIX, it filed suit against SCO.

In early 2007, SCO filed the specific details of a purported copyright infringement. Despite previous claims that SCO was the rightful copyright holder of 1 million lines of code, they specified only 326 lines of code, most of which were uncopyrightable.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.groklaw.net/articlebasic.php?story=20070308014847709 |title=Report from the Courthouse March 7 - Part 1 (IBM's Motion for DJ on 10th CC) |last=Jones |first=Pamela |author-link=Pamela Jones |date=8 March 2007 |publisher=[[Groklaw]] |access-date=24 March 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110807034144/http://www.groklaw.net/articlebasic.php?story=20070308014847709 |archive-date=7 August 2011  }}</ref> In August 2007, the court in [[SCO v. Novell|the Novell case]] ruled that SCO did not actually hold the Unix copyrights, to begin with,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20070810165237718 |title=Court Rules: Novell owns the UNIX and UnixWare copyrights! Novell has right to waive! |last=Jones |first=Pamela |author-link=Pamela Jones |date=10 August 2007 |publisher=[[Groklaw]] |access-date=12 August 2007 |archive-date=September 6, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080906194258/http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20070810165237718 |url-status=live }}</ref> though the [[Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals]] ruled in August 2009 that the question of who held the copyright properly remained for a jury to answer.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.linuxjournal.com/content/sco-will-try-again |title=SCO Will Try Again |last=Ryan |first=Justin |date=26 August 2009 |work=[[Linux Journal]] |publisher=Belltown Media, Inc. |access-date=30 August 2009 |archive-date=August 8, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200808194313/https://www.linuxjournal.com/content/sco-will-try-again |url-status=live }}</ref> The jury case was decided on 30 March 2010 in Novell's favour.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_14786202 |title=Jury says Novell owns Unix copyrights |last=Harvey |first=Tom |date=30 March 2010 |work=[[The Salt Lake Tribune]] |publisher=[[MediaNews Group]] |access-date=30 March 2010 |archive-date=April 29, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210429204259/https://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_14786202/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

SCO has since filed for [[bankruptcy]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.news.com/8301-13580_3-9778778-39.html|title=SCO Group files for bankruptcy protection|date=2007-09-14|access-date=2008-01-14|publisher=CNet News.com|archive-date=2008-10-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081008001547/http://www.news.com/8301-13580_3-9778778-39.html}}</ref>

==Trademark rights==
In 1994 and 1995, several people from different countries attempted to register the name "Linux" as a trademark. Thereupon requests for royalty payments were issued to several Linux companies, a step with which many developers and users of Linux did not agree. Linus Torvalds clamped down on these companies with help from Linux International and was granted the trademark to the name, which he transferred to Linux International. Protection of the trademark was later administered by a dedicated foundation, the non-profit [[Linux Mark Institute]]. In 2000, Linus Torvalds specified the basic rules for the assignment of the licenses. This means that anyone who offers a product or a service with the name ''Linux'' must possess a license for it, which can be obtained through a unique purchase.

In June 2005, a new controversy developed over the use of royalties generated from the use of the Linux trademark. The Linux Mark Institute, which represents Linus Torvalds' rights, announced a price increase from 500 to 5,000 dollars for the use of the name. This step was justified as being needed to cover the rising costs of trademark protection.

In response to this increase, the community became displeased, which is why Linus Torvalds made an announcement on 21 August 2005, in order to dissolve the misunderstandings. In an e-mail he described the current situation as well as the background in detail and also dealt with the question of who had to pay license costs:

{{blockquote|[...] And let's repeat: somebody who doesn't want to protect that name would never do this. You can call anything "MyLinux", but the downside is that you may have somebody else who did protect himself come along and send you a cease-and-desist letter. Or, if the name ends up showing up in a trademark search that LMI needs to do every once in a while just to protect the trademark (another legal requirement for trademarks), LMI itself might have to send you a cease-and-desist-or-sublicense it letter.

At which point you either rename it to something else, or you sublicense it. See? It's all about whether you need the protection or not, not about whether LMI wants the money or not.

[...] Finally, just to make it clear: not only do I not get a cent of the trademark money, but even LMI (who actually administers the mark) has so far historically always lost money on it. That's not a way to sustain a trademark, so they're trying to at least become self-sufficient, but so far I can tell that lawyers fees to give that protection that commercial companies want have been higher than the license fees. Even pro bono lawyers charge for the time of their costs and paralegals etc.|Linus Torvalds<ref name="Torvalds_Markenrechte">Linus Torvalds: ''[http://marc.info/?l=linux-kernel&m=112458521702385&w=2 Linus trademarks Linux?!!] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130816081234/http://marc.info/?l=linux-kernel&m=112458521702385&w=2 |date=August 16, 2013 }}'' from the linux-Kernel mailing list, 21 August 2005</ref>}}

The Linux Mark Institute has since begun to offer a free, perpetual worldwide sublicense.<ref>{{cite web
 | url = http://www.linuxmark.org/
 | title = Linux Mark Institute
 | access-date = 2008-02-24
 | quote = LMI has restructured its sublicensing program. Our new sublicense agreement is: Free — approved sublicense holders pay no fees; Perpetual — sublicense terminates only in breach of the agreement or when your organization ceases to use its mark; Worldwide — one sublicense covers your use of the mark anywhere in the world
 | archive-date = February 13, 2008
 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080213024227/http://www.linuxmark.org/
 | url-status = live
 }}</ref>

==Chronology==
{{See also|Linux adoption}}
* 1991: The Linux kernel is publicly announced on 25 August by the 21-year-old Finnish student Linus Benedict Torvalds.<ref name="groups.google.com" /> Version 0.01 is released publicly on 17 September.<ref>Torvalds, Linus (17 September 2021) [http://lkml.iu.edu/hypermail/linux/kernel/2109.2/03485.html 30 years since the Linux 0.01 release] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210920212913/http://lkml.iu.edu/hypermail/linux/kernel/2109.2/03485.html |date=September 20, 2021 }}</ref>
* 1992: The Linux kernel is relicensed under the GNU GPL. The first [[Linux distribution]]s are created.
* 1993: Over 100 developers work on the Linux kernel. With their assistance the kernel is adapted to the GNU environment, which creates a large spectrum of application types for Linux. The oldest currently existing Linux distribution, [[Slackware]], is released for the first time. Later in the same year, the [[Debian]] project is established. Today it is the largest community distribution.
* 1994: Torvalds judges all components of the kernel to be fully matured: he releases version 1.0 of Linux. The [[XFree86]] project contributes a [[graphical user interface]] (GUI). Commercial Linux distribution makers [[Red Hat]] and [[SUSE Linux|SUSE]] publish version 1.0 of their Linux distributions.
* 1995: Linux is ported to the [[DEC Alpha]] and to the [[Sun SPARC]]. Over the following years it is ported to an ever-greater number of platforms.
* 1996: Version 2.0 of the Linux kernel is released. The kernel can now serve several processors at the same time using [[symmetric multiprocessing]] (SMP), and thereby becomes a serious alternative for many companies.
* 1998: Many major companies such as IBM, [[Compaq]] and [[Oracle Corporation|Oracle]] announce their support for Linux. ''[[The Cathedral and the Bazaar]]'' is first published as an essay (later as a book), resulting in [[Netscape Communications Corporation|Netscape]] publicly releasing the source code to its [[Netscape Communicator]] web browser suite. Netscape's actions and crediting of the essay<ref name=fts-1>{{cite book
| title = Open Sources: Voices from the Open Source Revolution
| chapter = Freeing the Source: The Story of Mozilla
| author = Jim Hamerly and Tom Paquin with Susan Walton
| edition = 1st
| date = January 1999
| publisher = O'Reilly
| isbn = 1-56592-582-3
| url = https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781565925823
| quote = Frank had done his homework, citing Eric Raymond's paper, "The Cathedral and the Bazaar," and talking to people in departments throughout the organization—from engineering to marketing to management.
}}</ref> brings Linux's open source development model to the attention of the popular technical press. In addition a group of programmers begins developing the graphical user interface [[KDE]]. Linux first appears on the [[TOP500]] list of fastest supercomputers.<ref name=top500>[https://www.zdnet.com/article/linux-totally-dominates-supercomputers/ Linux totally dominates supercomputers] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171114211600/http://www.zdnet.com/article/linux-totally-dominates-supercomputers/ |date=November 14, 2017 }} ZDNet. 2017.</ref> The [[ARM architecture family|ARM]] port (initiated in 1994<ref>{{cite web |last1=Andrews |first1=Jeremy |title=Interview: Russell King |url=https://kerneltrap.com/article.php?sid=340 |website=Kernel Trap |access-date=1 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020204211046/https://kerneltrap.com/article.php?sid=340 |archive-date=4 February 2002}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=King |first1=Russell |title=The History of ARM Linux |url=https://www.arm.linux.org.uk/docs/history.php |website=ARM Linux |access-date=1 August 2022 |archive-date=May 16, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220516013131/https://www.arm.linux.org.uk/docs/history.php |url-status=live }}</ref>) is merged.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Torvalds |first1=Linus |title=The History of Linux in GIT |website=[[GitHub]] |url=https://github.com/davidbau/make-full-linux-history/blob/a1dc5c83ee1176faa2dad842bfc1706fdea1e495/history-dave-annotated.log#L6042 |quote=The 2.1.80 release also contains some initial ARM support}}</ref>
* 1998: [[David Bader (computer scientist)|David A. Bader]] invents the first Linux-based supercomputer using commodity parts.<ref name=fernbach>{{cite web | url= https://www.computer.org/press-room/2021-news/david-bader-to-receive-2021-ieee-cs-sidney-fernbach-award | title= David Bader Selected to Receive the 2021 IEEE Computer Society Sidney Fernbach Award | publisher= IEEE Computer Society | date= September 22, 2021 | accessdate= 2023-10-12 | archive-date= November 11, 2023 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20231111091943/https://www.computer.org/press-room/2021-news/david-bader-to-receive-2021-ieee-cs-sidney-fernbach-award | url-status= live }}</ref>
* 1999: A group of developers begin work on the graphical environment [[GNOME]], destined to become a free replacement for KDE, which at the time, depended on the then proprietary [[Qt (software)|Qt toolkit]]. During the year IBM announces an extensive project for the support of Linux. Version 2.2 of the Linux kernel is released.
* 2000: Dell announces that it is now the No. 2 provider of Linux-based systems worldwide and the first major manufacturer to offer Linux across its full product line.<ref>Dell, Michael (15 August 2000), [http://www.dell.com/downloads/global/corporate/speeches/msd/2000_08_15_msd_linux.pdf Remarks Putting Linux on the Fast Track] - Keynote at the LinuxWorld Expo, San Jose, California, retrieved 2 February 2014 {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130515151618/http://www.dell.com/downloads/global/corporate/speeches/msd/2000_08_15_msd_linux.pdf |date=May 15, 2013 }}</ref>
* 2001: Version 2.4 of the Linux kernel is released.
* 2002: The media reports that "Microsoft killed Dell Linux"<ref>Orlowski, Andrew (19 March 2002), [https://www.theregister.co.uk/2002/03/19/microsoft_killed_dell_linux_states/ Microsoft 'killed Dell Linux' – States] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170717220530/http://www.theregister.co.uk/2002/03/19/microsoft_killed_dell_linux_states/ |date=July 17, 2017 }}, [[The Register]], retrieved 3 February 2014</ref>
* 2003: Version 2.6 of the Linux kernel is released.
* 2004: The XFree86 team splits up and joins with the existing X standards body to form the [[X.Org Foundation]], which results in a substantially faster development of the [[X.Org Server|X server]] for Linux.
* 2005: The project [[openSUSE]] begins a free distribution from Novell's community. Also the project [[OpenOffice.org]] introduces version 2.0 that then started supporting [[OASIS (organization)|OASIS]] [[OpenDocument]] standards.
* 2006: Oracle releases its [[Oracle Linux|own distribution of Red Hat Enterprise Linux]]. Novell and [[Microsoft]] announce cooperation for a better interoperability and mutual patent protection.
* 2007: Dell starts distributing laptops with [[Ubuntu]] pre-installed on them.
* 2009: Red Hat's [[market capitalization]] equals Sun's, interpreted as a symbolic moment for the "Linux-based economy".<ref name=cnet-2009>{{cite web|url=http://news.cnet.com/8301-13505_3-10146879-16.html|title=Red Hat set to surpass Sun in market capitalization|first=Matt|last=Asay|date=21 January 2009|website=[[CNET News]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140221230519/http://news.cnet.com/8301-13505_3-10146879-16.html|archive-date=2014-02-21|access-date=2014-02-16|df=dmy-all}}</ref>
* 2011: Version 3.0 of the Linux kernel is released.
* 2012: The aggregate Linux server market revenue exceeds that of the rest of the Unix market.<ref name=at-2013-10>{{cite web|url=https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2013/10/linux-is-king-nix-of-the-data-center-but-unix-may-live-on-forever/|title=Linux is king *nix of the data center—but Unix may live on forever|first=Jon|last=Brodkin|website=[[Ars Technica]]|date=28 June 2019|access-date=June 14, 2017|archive-date=December 2, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171202215826/https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2013/10/linux-is-king-nix-of-the-data-center-but-unix-may-live-on-forever/|url-status=live}}</ref>
* 2013: Google's Linux-based [[Android (operating system)|Android]] claims 75% of the [[smartphone]] market share, in terms of the number of phones shipped.<ref name=zdnet-2013-05>{{cite web |last=Whittaker |first=Zack |url=https://www.zdnet.com/article/android-accounts-for-75-percent-market-share-windows-phone-leapfrogs-blackberry/ |title=Android accounts for 75 percent market share; Windows Phone leapfrogs BlackBerry |publisher=ZDNet |date=2013-05-16 |access-date=2014-02-16 |archive-date=November 29, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129095053/http://www.zdnet.com/android-accounts-for-75-percent-market-share-windows-phone-leapfrogs-blackberry-7000015496/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
* 2014: Ubuntu claims 22,000,000 users.<ref name="Sneddon12Mar14">{{cite news|url = http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2014/03/ubuntu-phones-priced-at-200-400-dollars|title = Ubuntu Phones to Cost $200 to $400 — Can they be a Success at this Price?|access-date = 15 March 2014|last = Sneddon|first = Joey-Elijah|date = 12 March 2014|work = OMG Ubuntu|archive-date = November 13, 2017|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20171113042849/http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2014/03/ubuntu-phones-priced-at-200-400-dollars|url-status = live}}</ref>
* 2015: Version 4.0 of the Linux kernel is released.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://kernelnewbies.org/Linux_4.0|title=Linux_4.0 - Linux Kernel Newbies|website=kernelnewbies.org|access-date=January 19, 2017|archive-date=April 17, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170417083546/https://kernelnewbies.org/Linux_4.0|url-status=live}}</ref>
* 2017: All of [[TOP500]] list of fastest supercomputers run Linux.<ref name=top500/>
* 2019: Version 5.0 of the Linux kernel is released.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2019/03/linux-kernel-5-0-released-this-is-whats-new|title=Linux Kernel 5.0 Released, This is What's New|date=2019-03-04|website=OMG! Ubuntu!|language=en-US|access-date=2019-03-14|archive-date=March 16, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190316235259/https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2019/03/linux-kernel-5-0-released-this-is-whats-new|url-status=live}}</ref>
* 2022: Version 6.0 of the Linux kernel is released.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2022/10/linux-kernel-6-released-new-features|title=Linux Kernel 6.0 Released, This is What's New|date=2022-10-03|website=OMG! Ubuntu!|language=en-US|access-date=2022-10-14}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Linux|Free and open-source software}}
* [[History of free and open-source software]]
* [[Linux kernel version history]]

==References==
{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}

==External links==
* [https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~awb/linux.history.html LINUX's History by Linus Torvalds]
* [http://www.ragibhasan.com/linux/ History of Linux by Ragib Hasan]
* [http://kernelnewbies.org/LinuxChanges Changes done in each Linux kernel release (since version 2.5.1)]
* {{cite magazine |last=Kemp |first=Juliet |issue=12 |date=January 2015 |title=Unix, Linux and how we got where we are today |url=https://www.linuxvoice.com/issues/012/unix12.pdf |magazine=Linux Voice |access-date=2018-09-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170909053425/https://www.linuxvoice.com/issues/012/unix12.pdf |archive-date=2017-09-09  }}

{{Linux}}
{{FLOSS}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:History Of Linux}}
[[Category:Linux]]
[[Category:Linux kernel|*]]
[[Category:History of software|Linux kernel]]
[[Category:History of free and open-source software|Linux]]
[[Category:Linus Torvalds]]