Amazing Facts About Linux You Should Know

Happy birthday Linux Kernel!!

If you do not know already, Linux has two birthdays each year.

On 25th August 1991, 21 years old Finnish computer science student Linus Torvalds sent a mail announcing that he was working on Linux project. On 5th October 1991, he released the first Linux Kernel. Needless to say this “little project” has changed the world of computing.

Over the years, Linux community has often been confused over which of the two days should be considered as the birthday of Linux. And thus we end up having two birthdays for Linux.

On this 24th birthday of Linux Kernel, I am going to list out some interesting facts about Linux that would certainly amaze you.

Some facts about Linux

• First Linux Kernel, version 0.01, had 10,239 lines of code (Source: Wikipedia)
• Linux Kernel version 4.1 has 19.5 million lines of code, mostly in C. (Source: Phoronix)
• First GUI that ran on Linux was X Window System. It ran on Linux Kernel version 0.95
• Today, over 80% of Linux contributions comes from developers paid by big enterprises. Intel tops the list of contributors. Microsoft too is also among the biggest contributors to Linux kernel. (Source: Information Week)
• MCC Interim Linux was the first Linux distribution available for public download in February 1992. It was based on command line.
• Created in 1993, Slackware is the oldest Linux distribution which is still in development.
• Linux kernel started using GPL license from version 0.12. Initial license forbade any commercial usage.
• On 15 August 1994, William R. Della Croce, Jr. filed for the trademark Linux, and then demanded royalties from Linux distributors. After court battles, Linus Torvalds got the trademark rights back in 1997.
• Linux is also a genuine washing powder brand in Switzerland.
• Linux runs on more than 97% of world’s top 500 supercomputers.
• Commercial Linux enterprise Red Hat is perhaps the first billion dollar open source company.
• Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer once called Linux cancer. This year, Microsoft reported having its own Linux distribution.