The Linux Experiment

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00:00 Intro 00:37 Sponsor: 100$ free credit for your Linux or gaming server 01:37 Tux got fat 02:18 Minix Creator did NOT like Linux 03:07 Linux was first to implement crucial stuff 03:52 Linux wasn't always under the GPL 04:32 Linux is the biggest software project in the world 05:07 Linux was almost called something else 05:51 Why is Tux Tux? 06:36 Linux has terrible codenames 07:16 Torvalds almost lost the trademark 08:00 Linux isn't just a kernel 08:24 Torvalds could have abandoned Linux 09:06 The other project Torvalds created 09:54 Linux runs Hollywood 10:35 Linux runs space 11:17 No science without Linux 12:07 Sponsor: Get a PC that runs Linux perfectly 12:56 Support the channel

Linux is known for being relatively lean and not using too much disk space, but compared to its first version, it's positively bloated. The first Linux release used only 65kilobytes of disk space. Today, a compiled kernel uses 5 to 10 megabytes, which is about 153 times heavier than the original release.

Linux was initially created as a Minix clone. The creator of Minix, Andrew Tanenbaum said, a few years later, that Linux was obsolete, and that GNU Hurd would supplant it soon enough.

https://www.oreilly.com/openbook/opensources/book/appa.html

Linux has also been first to ever support the x86 64 bit architecture, and Linux was also the first to have USB 3.0 drivers added.

The Linux kernel was also initially released under a custom license created by Linus Torvalds, which imposed restrictions on commercial use of his project, and on redistributing it. Fortunately for all of use, this didn't last long, and with version 0.99 in 1992, the kernel moves to the GNU GPL.

https://web.archive.org/web/20070826212454/http://www.tlug.jp/docs/linus.html

The Linux kernel is also the biggest software project in the world, with the biggest number of contributors and companies involved in its development.

The first name Torvalds landed on was Freax, for Free Unix. But as things happened, hosting that Freax kernel was initially done by Ari Lemmke, a member of the staff for Helsinki's university, and this person created a directory called Linux, because that was Torvalds's working name.

In terms of mascot, and the name of that mascot is Tux, not because penguins wear tuxedos naturally, but because it stands for Torvalds Unix. Why a penguin, though? It's because Torvalds was bitten by a penguin.

But the linux kernel also has codenames. For example, version 3.14 was called "shuffling zombie juror", version 4.3 was "blurry fish butt", and version 6.0 is "hurr durr I'm a ninja sloth".

https://handwiki.org/wiki/List_of_Linux_kernel_names

But also, the Linux name was almost lost to a trademark dispute. In 1995, someone named William R. Della Croce Junior, the most evil sounding name I ever heard, filed for a trademark on Linux. He then proceeded to send letters to various Linux distributors asking for 10% royalties, as the ultimate one person patent troll.

Steve Jobs offered Torvalds a job around the year 2000, with a sizeable salary, and a good position in the organization. The pitch was "work on Unix for the biggest user base". The only condition was that he abandoned Linux and stopped working on it altogether.

https://www.theverge.com/2012/3/22/2893581/linus-torvalds-linux-founder-turned-down-steve-jobs-offer

But Torvalds isn't just the creator of the Linux kernel. He also created Git.

Linux is basically running the film industry and Hollywood. The first movie to use Linux was Titanic in 1997, rendered using OpenSUSE, but it didn't stop there. Avatar's effects were rendered on Linux server farms. lord of the Rings? Linux. I Robot? Linux.

Linux also runs the space industry. And also, in the supercomputer world, Linux is the ONLY option. Out of the fastest 500 supercomputers, Linux runs 100% of them, or at least it did in early 2023.