| [pending revision] | [pending revision] |
Content deleted Content added
re-order words to be clearer (I don't think I changed the meaning) |
→History: Merged similar sections into a larger Antecedents section |
||
Line 38:
==History==
{{main|History of Linux}}
=== Antecedents ===
{{double image|right|AndrewTanenbaum2.png|130|Linus Torvalds cropped.jpeg|150|[[Andrew S. Tanenbaum]] (left), author of the [[MINIX]] operating system, and [[Linus Torvalds]] (right), principal author of the [[Linux kernel]]}}▼
====Unix====
The [[Unix]] operating system was conceived and implemented in 1969 at [[AT&T]]'s Bell Laboratories in the United States by [[Ken Thompson]], [[Dennis Ritchie]], [[Douglas McIlroy]], and [[Joe Ossanna]]. It was first released in 1971 and was initially entirely written in [[assembly language]], a common practice at the time. Later, in a key pioneering approach in 1973, Unix was re-written in the programming language [[C (programming language)|C]] by [[Dennis Ritchie]] (with exceptions to the kernel and I/O). The availability of an operating system written in a high-level language allowed easier [[porting|portability]] to different computer platforms. With a legal glitch forcing AT&T to license the operating system's source code to anyone who asked,<ref name="faqs.org">{{cite web|url=http://www.faqs.org/docs/artu/ch02s01.html |title=Origins and History of Unix, 1969–1995 |publisher=Faqs.org |accessdate=9 November 2010}}</ref> Unix quickly grew and became widely adopted by academic institutions and businesses. In 1984, AT&T divested itself of Bell Labs. Free of the legal glitch requiring free licensing, Bell Labs began selling Unix as a [[Proprietary software|proprietary]] product.
====GNU====
[[Image:Richard Matthew Stallman cropped.jpeg|upright|thumb|[[Richard Stallman]], founder of the [[GNU project]]]]
The [[GNU Project]], started in 1983 by [[Richard Stallman]], had the goal of creating a "complete Unix-compatible software system" composed entirely of [[free software]]. Work began in 1984.<ref name="gnu_announce">{{cite web|url=http://www.gnu.org/gnu/initial-announcement.html |title=About the GNU Project – Initial Announcement |publisher=Gnu.org |date=23 June 2008 |accessdate=9 March 2009}}</ref> Later, in 1985, Stallman started the [[Free Software Foundation]] and wrote the [[GNU General Public License]] (GNU GPL) in 1989. By the early 1990s, many of the programs required in an operating system (such as libraries, [[compiler]]s, [[text editor]]s, a [[Unix shell]], and a [[windowing system]]) were completed, although low-level elements such as [[device driver]]s, [[daemon (computer software)|daemons]], and the [[kernel (computer science)|kernel]] were stalled and incomplete.<ref name="gnu history">{{cite web|url=http://www.gnu.org/gnu/gnu-history.html |title=Overview of the GNU System |publisher=Gnu.org |accessdate=9 March 2009}}</ref> Linus Torvalds has said that if the [[GNU kernel]] had been available at the time (1991), he would not have decided to write his own.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.dina.dk/~abraham/Linus_vs_Tanenbaum.html | title = Linus vs. Tanenbaum debate }}</ref>
====BSD====
Although not released until 1992 due to [[Berkeley Software Distribution#Net/2 and legal troubles|legal complications]], development of [[386BSD]], from which [[NetBSD]] and [[FreeBSD]] descended, predated that of Linux. [[Linus Torvalds]] has said that if 386BSD had been available at the time, he probably would not have created Linux.<ref name="meta">{{cite web|url=http://gondwanaland.com/meta/history/interview.html|title=The Choice of a GNU Generation – An Interview With Linus Torvalds|last=Linksvayer|first=Mike|year=1993|work=Meta magazine|accessdate=20 January 2009}}</ref>
====MINIX====
▲{{double image|right|AndrewTanenbaum2.png|130|Linus Torvalds cropped.jpeg|150|[[Andrew S. Tanenbaum]] (left), author of the [[MINIX]] operating system, and [[Linus Torvalds]] (right), principal author of the [[Linux kernel]]}}
[[MINIX]] is an inexpensive minimal [[Unix-like]] operating system, designed for education in computer science, written by [[Andrew S. Tanenbaum]]. Starting with [[MINIX 3|version 3]] in 2005, MINIX became [[free software|free]] and was redesigned for "serious" use.
| |||