Linus Torvalds Confirms the Date of the First Linux Release
Linux is two weeks younger than we thought!
Linus Torvalds, the creator of the Linux kernel, has finally discovered the date of its first release: September 17, 1991. Twenty-five years later, to the day, Torvalds posted this message on his Google+ page:
Today is the 25th anniversary of the Linux-0.01 release, I do believe.
Normally the Linux anniversary is counted from the announcement email, which was August 25, because that was the actual public statement of intent. The 0.01 code drop happened a couple of weeks later and wasn't publicly announced.
Earlier during an interview with Linux Pro Magazine, Torvalds said he was not sure about the actual Linux anniversary day, because there was possibly more than one date. Although August 25 is the date he announced the project he was working on, Torvalds said he never announced the first release publicly and simply uploaded it to an FTP server and emailed those who were interested in it.
Since then, he said, he lost all those email communications, so he didn’t remember exactly when the first version of Linux was released. The only way to find out, he said, was to look at the timestamp on the first release. That’s exactly what he seems to have done: The makefile of the first release is stamped September 17, 1991.
However, that doesn’t change the official birthday of Linux. Torvalds settled that matter during a keynote discussion at LinuxCon North America (Toronto) when he said August 25 is the official date to use as a birthday.
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
Juno Computers Launches Another Linux Laptop
If you're looking for a powerhouse laptop that runs Ubuntu, the Juno Computers Neptune 17 v6 should be on your radar.
-
ZorinOS 17.1 Released, Includes Improved Windows App Support
If you need or desire to run Windows applications on Linux, there's one distribution intent on making that easier for you and its new release further improves that feature.
-
Linux Market Share Surpasses 4% for the First Time
Look out Windows and macOS, Linux is on the rise and has even topped ChromeOS to become the fourth most widely used OS around the globe.
-
KDE’s Plasma 6 Officially Available
KDE’s Plasma 6.0 "Megarelease" has happened, and it's brimming with new features, polish, and performance.
-
Latest Version of Tails Unleashed
Tails 6.0 is based on Debian 12 and includes GNOME 43.
-
KDE Announces New Slimbook V with Plenty of Power and KDE’s Plasma 6
If you're a fan of KDE Plasma, you'll be thrilled to hear they've announced a new Slimbook with an AMD CPU and the latest version of KDE Plasma desktop.
-
Monthly Sponsorship Includes Early Access to elementary OS 8
If you want to get a glimpse of what's in the pipeline for elementary OS 8, just set up a monthly sponsorship to help fund its continued existence.
-
DebConf24 to be Held in South Korea
Busan will be the location of the latest DebConf running July 28 through August 4
-
Fedora Unleashes Atomic Desktops
Fedora has combined its solid distribution with rpm-ostree system to make it possible to deliver a new family of Fedora spins, called Fedora Atomic Desktops.
-
Bootloader Vulnerability Affects Nearly All Linux Distributions
The developers of shim have released a version to fix numerous security flaws, including one that could enable remote control execution of malicious code under certain circumstances.