Hai all
Can i get the first version of linux. I am new to linux and want to give it a shape from start.
If u want to use linux then go for a new version coz they support Graphical User Interface with X windows. If u want to learn the basics of an operating system (Linux) then go for the old version. First version of linux was written for Intel 386 processor which is so simple compared with today’s linux kernel 2.6. Here r some prerequisites before learning Linux kernel.
1. U should be able to understand the system architecture. ( I started with Intel 8086 16 bit processor then I moved to Intel 386 processor this was the Intel's first 32bit microprocessor, now i am going with Intel Pentium 4 i686)
2. U should be able to understand Assembly language. (It is a old language (Machine Dependent). some parts of the linux kernel is written in assembly language, parts like Boot sector cannot be even expressed in C language.)
3. U should be able to understand C language. ( Most of the linux kernel is written in C language)
Microsoft
IBM contacted Bill Gates to license his Basic interpreter for IBM pc designed in 1980's. They also asked for an operating system. Gates bought "DOS" from Seattle Computer Products for $50,000. He hired Tim Paterson as his employee who actually wrote DOS to make some changes for IBM. Then he changed DOS to MS-DOS
Intel was the first company to make microprocessor even though IBM released first personal computer it used Intel’s 8088 microprocessor. so Intel had a wide market, Gates made an agreement between Intel to create operating system for their processor, every computer that shipped with Intel microprocessor had Microsoft operating system by default, in this way Microsoft spread world wide. Bill Gates has a excellent knowledge in Business. Following r the quotes from Linus Torvalds
"If I ever met Bill Gates, there wouldn't be much of a meeting point. I couldn't tell him about business, and he couldn't tell me about technology."
--Linus Torvalds
Linux History.
Linux was created by a young Finnish student named Linus Benedict Torvalds who was studying computer science at the university of Helinski. Linus had a Intel 386 based computer and was using MINIX (mini UNIX) operating system, written by Andrew s Tanenbaum. This operating system came with the source code. After some time Linus decided to write his own operating system for his personal use, naturally he coded his operating system for 386 processor which he had at home, so the first version of linux was released for 386 processor.
Minix & Andrew S. Tanenbaum
Professor Andy Tanenbaum, a fairly well respected and a famous computer scientist was teaching a course on operating systems and was using unix version 6. when unix became an intellectual propoerty they forbid teaching about the unix internals. so Tanenbaum wrote a unix clone that was free from unix code and named it as "minix". Then Tanenbaum wrote a book named "Operating Systems: Design and Implementations" this book contained minix source code. Within couple of months if its release minix had it own usenet group comp.os.minix. Many people started to improve minix kernel but Tanenbaum prohbited adding new code to the minix kernel because he wanted to keep minix simple so that students can learn it in the duration of a semester. so Linus decided to write his own operating system which was to became Linux. Tanenbaum along with Gregory j. sharp created a distributed operating system knowm as Amoeba.
Tanenbaum has also written few books for more information visit
www.cs.vu.nl/~ast/
What i have given is very small history of linux u can find more things on the Net. If u find something wrong, correct it