Title: Uncovering the Forgotten History of Linux Distros: The Pioneers That Paved the Way for Modern Tech

Introduction:

Linux is one of the most popular operating systems in the world, known for its reliability, affordability, and flexibility. It is present in devices ranging from smartphones, servers, and even in cars. However, few remember the forgotten history of early Linux distros, the pioneers that paved the way and made the open-source movement a reality. This article will highlight some of the early Linux distros that contributed to the development of today’s modern tech.

Section 1: The first Linux distribution

In 1992, a Finnish computer science student named Linus Torvalds developed a free, open-source operating system called Linux. It was modeled after the UNIX operating system and distributed as source code for other programmers to use, adapt or modify. However, it was not until 1993 that the first Linux distribution, Slackware, was released by Patrick Volkerding. It pioneered the concept of packaging and distributing Linux software in a user-friendly manner.

Section 2: The emergence of Debian

In 1993, Ian Murdoch created Debian, another popular Linux distribution that built on the foundations of Slackware. It was different due to its decentralized, community-driven approach. As time passed, Debian grew to include thousands of software packages and proved to be reliable for servers and desktops alike. The Ubuntu distribution, which hit the market in 2004, was based on Debian and has further popularized the open-source operating system as a desktop operating system.

Section 3: The rise of Red Hat

In 1994, the Red Hat distribution was born as a side project of Bob Young and Marc Ewing. It was initially named “Red Hat Linux” and differentiated itself from other distributions through its focus on enterprise-class support and easy-to-use installation. Red Hat played a significant role in the enterprise Linux industry for years before transitioning to a subscription-based model that included support services.

Section 4: Mandrake Linux

In 1998, Gaël Duval started the creation of the Mandrake distribution. It was easy to use, had a GUI installer, and automatically detected and configured much of the hardware. It became known for its extensive user customization options and was the first distribution to provide a graphical management tool, Mandrake Control Center. In 2005, Mandriva (renamed following a merger) became the first company to release a pre-installed Linux desktop computer.

Conclusion:

These early Linux distributions paved the way and marked the beginning of the open-source movement, which has now reached every corner of the technology world. Their contribution to the development of Linux and modern tech cannot be overstated. These forgotten heroes played a significant role in the development of the open-source operating system and laid the foundation for an entire ecosystem of innovation for future generations.

If you haven’t noticed, if you’re looking for a Linux distribution, you’re spoiled for choice. Sites like DistroWatch list hundreds of different Linux distros on the site. But where did they all come from?

Since Linux is just a kernel, as Richard Stallman is fond of pointing out, it’s not really that useful by itself, and regardless of how you feel about the GNU/Linux naming controversy, it really is a misnomer to call Linux an operating system. As a kernel, it just does basic things like storing files on a hard drive or accessing a network. It requires utilities to make it useful.

In the early ’90s, some people had the bright idea to start packaging utilities with the Linux kernel to create distributions that essentially allowed programmers to run Unix, which was an operating system that they were familiar with on expensive computers from DEC and Sun, on cheap PCs.

The earliest known distribution was by HJ Lu in early 1992. It consisted of two floppies: a “boot” disk to boot the system and a “root” disk that contained the filesystem, and from which it actually ran. The concept was similar to today’s “live” distros that run off a CD or a thumb drive.

The next major variant was the MCC Interim Linux, created by Owen Le Blanc of Manchester University’s Manchester Computing Centre in England. This spanned several floppy disks, but had the advantage of being able to be installed on a hard drive. Or at least, without having to edit the master boot record with a hex editor the way HJ Lu’s “boot-root” distro did. It came with a number of utilities that most Linux users would recognize: the Bash shell, various GNU utilities, and Elvis, a VI-like editor.

One thing it didn’t include was X, so it was text-only. Another distribution that came out of Texas A&M University did, though as LWN put it, “the method they used to configure it occasionally allowed the magic smoke to escape from your monitor.”

The first true live CD distro was called Yggdrasil, which was one of the first distros to become available on a CD. One major advantage was that it configured itself automatically. The beta cost $60 and the finished version cost $99, which might seem a bit pricey. Real Unix systems such as Solaris or BSDi at the time cost upwards of $1,000, so it was a bargain.

The other major version of the time was SLS Linux, or the Softlanding Linux Distro. It was popular until some changes made it rather buggy. Patrick Volkerding made some changes of his own and released it as Slackware, which is still available today.

Another offshoot of SLS was called Debian, developed by Ian Murdoch. The name came from the combination of the names of both his and his girlfriend (now wife), Deborah. It’s still going strong as well, and is the basis for Ubuntu.

A few other names started around the same time and are well-known names, such as Red Hat or SUSE. Others have faded away, like MCC Interim Linux and Yggdrasil. Distros may come and go, but the flexibility of Linux and the ability to create new distributions means that they will continue to appear for a long time.

Photo Credit: Shermozle/Wikipedia

David Delony is a writer for Make Tech Easier

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