First Ever "Linux" Post
November 16, 2009
A while back, I stumbled across a reference to the first ever internet post announcing the availability of what would come to be known as the Linux kernel.
Just 18 years ago, Linus Benedict Torvalds posted notification of a "Free minix-like kernel sources for 386-AT" on the comp.os.minix newsgroup.
Here's the original post in its entirety.
The part that most caught my eye:
I can (well, almost) hear you asking yourselves "why?". Hurd will be out in a year (or two, or next month, who knows), and I've already got minix. This is a program for hackers by a hacker. I've enjouyed doing it, and somebody might enjoy looking at it and even modifying it for their own needs. It is still small enough to understand, use and modify, and I'm looking forward to any comments you might have.
GNU/Linux is the operating system that now runs a good chunk of the world's computers, including the one I'm typing on right now, the ones that host this website, the ones I use everyday at work, and an enormous portion of those at Google.