Happy birthday linux – “just a hobby, won’t be big and professional”

Sit3-Shine.7

What would you like to see most in minix? – comp.os.minix.

Linus Benedict Torvalds  
Aug 26 1991, 2:12 am

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(1.08) and 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 (torva…@kruuna.helsinki.fi)

PS.  Yes – it’s free of any minix code, and it has a multi-threaded fs. 
It is NOT protable (uses 386 task switching etc), and it probably never 
will support anything other than AT-harddisks, as that’s all I have :-(.

When people ask us “why do open-source anything” they usually do not know how ubiquitous linux is and all the wonderful things that have happened because of it – with it. It’s everywhere, runs almost everything and it’s invisible. Linux started out as “just a hobby, won’t be big and professional”… just like a lot open-source hardware projects now 🙂


Have an amazing project to share? The Electronics Show and Tell is every Wednesday at 7:30pm ET! To join, head over to YouTube and check out the show’s live chat and our Discord!

Join us every Wednesday night at 8pm ET for Ask an Engineer!

Join over 38,000+ makers on Adafruit’s Discord channels and be part of the community! http://adafru.it/discord

CircuitPython – The easiest way to program microcontrollers – CircuitPython.org


New Products – Adafruit Industries – Makers, hackers, artists, designers and engineers! — New Products 11/15/2024 Featuring Adafruit bq25185 USB / DC / Solar Charger with 3.3V Buck Board! (Video)

Python for Microcontrollers – Adafruit Daily — Python on Microcontrollers Newsletter: A New Arduino MicroPython Package Manager, How-Tos and Much More! #CircuitPython #Python #micropython @ThePSF @Raspberry_Pi

EYE on NPI – Adafruit Daily — EYE on NPI Maxim’s Himalaya uSLIC Step-Down Power Module #EyeOnNPI @maximintegrated @digikey

Adafruit IoT Monthly — The 2024 Recap Issue!

Maker Business – Adafruit Daily — Apple to build another chip at TSMC Arizona

Electronics – Adafruit Daily — SMT Tip – Stop moving around!

Get the only spam-free daily newsletter about wearables, running a "maker business", electronic tips and more! Subscribe at AdafruitDaily.com !


1 Comment

  1. Continental airlines uses a redhat distro for their onboard entertainment system and runs stuff off of SD cards(according to the reboot screen)

Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.