this post was submitted on 18 Sep 2024
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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
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Nor does Forth (which used to be a common choice for "first thing to bootstrap on this new chip architecture we have no real OS for yet"). Alas, they're just not popular languages these days.
Forth is fun but not really suitable for large, long-lasting projects with huge developer communities. Linux isn't being bootstrapped, it's already here and has been around for decades and it's huge. And, I think bootstrapping-by-poking-around on a new architecture has stopped being important. Today, you have compiler and OS's targeted to the new architecture under simulation long before there is any hardware, with excellent debugging tools available in the simulator.