Let’s celebrate the birthday of Linux, the kernel of many operating systems and the heart of various technologies that we use directly and indirectly every day. We will tell 25 curiosities about the system, one for each year, come on?
25 years ago Linus Torvalds announced his project “nothing professional, just a hobby”, little did he know that after 1/4 of a century Linux would become what it is today. I prepared a special video to congratulate our beloved Linux, check it out:
To celebrate, I have separated here 25 curiosities about Linux that you probably didn’t know, let’s go to the list!
1 – The first version of the Linux Kernel was written by a 21 year old young man by a Finnish university student, Linus Benedict Torvalds.
2 – Currently, only 2% of the Linux code is written by Torvalds.
3 – A guy named William Della Croce Jr. He registered the name “Linux” and demanded royalties to use his name and brand. However, he agreed to return the brand to Linus later.
4 – There are over 300 Linux distributions currently active, with Debian (Ubuntu) being the «father» of the majority.
5 – The movie “Avatar” was developed using Linux machines and open programs.
6 – An unmodified version of the Linux Kernel is called «Vanilla».
7 – Linux is used to control the Large Hadron Collider.
8 – Google is responsible for 1.1% of the Linux code.
9 – The visual effects of Titanic that won an Oscar were made with machines running Linux.
10 – Linux is not a complete operating system, it is just the kernel.
11 – Most of the Linux code is written in the C language.
12 – The kernel code has more than 22 million lines.
13 – US military submarines use Linux.
14 – NASA uses Linux on the ISS (International Space Station)
15 – The rovers that explore the surface of Mars are controlled by Linux.
16 – Linux is the core of the operating system most used by end users, Android, with 1.5 billion users.
17 – Linux is used on servers of the main technology companies in the world such as Facebook, Google, Amazon, among others, including Microsoft.
18 – Intel, Red Hat, Linaro and IBM are the main contributors to the Linux Kernel.
19 – Linux is in 99% of the Supercomputers in the world.
20 – The “Tux” is the name of the Linux mascot Penguin and it was Linus Torvalds who gave the final word to define his appearance, “I want a penguin with a satisfied face after a banquet”.
21 – Apple tried to hire Linus Torvalds and he rejected it.
22 – The first commercial Linux distribution was Yggdrasil Linux / GNU / X.
23 – The oldest community distribution is Slackware, which is still active, but which is less popular than it once was.
24 – Kernel version names are usually a joke or something that doesn’t make much sense, you can see all the names here. For example, the name of version 4.7 RC is «Psychotic Stoned Sheep».
25 – Linux has more than 13 thousand programmers spread around the world, making it the largest collaborative software development project in history.
So, any curiosity that you didn’t know yet? Are there any other cool ones that are not on the list? Share your opinion with us and other readers of the blog through comments.
Until next time and 25 more years to come!
Source: Here, here, here, here and here.
