Re: Off Topic, Linus Torvalds.
On Thu, 30 Apr 1998, Michael Beattie wrote:
> I have recently read a magazine about linux, and it mentioned the world's
> first "knowing" of linux; A 1991 post to comp.os.minix from Linus
> Torvalds. Would anyone have any idea if this is available, or even if it
> was saved? Or even where I could start to look for it?
>
> Sheesh.. I ask TOO much.. :)
I have a file I got somewhere that may have what you need in it.
I'm including the first 100 lines or so, if anyone wants it all
please mail me. It runs about 500 lines.
I'll send it sometime next week.
--David
To: Linux-Activists@BLOOM-PICAYUNE.MIT.EDU
From: torvalds@klaava.Helsinki.FI (Linus Benedict Torvalds)
Subject: Birthday (was Re: Uptime found. Thanks to all)
Date: 31 Jul 92 22:15:20 GMT
In article <1992Jul30.211132.20101@cc.umontreal.ca> duperval@ERE.UMontreal.CA (Duperval Laurent) writes:
>
>P.S. BTW, noone answered yet: when is Linux's birthday? Let's have a
>party!
I couldn't for the life of me remember when it all happened, and I don't
keep a diary, so I can't give you any exact dates for when linux "was
born". But I did start to wonder, so I started ftp'ing around for
archives of the comp.os.minix group (where I announced it), and this is
what I came up with (with some editing).
This is just a sentimental journey into some of the first posts
concerning linux, so you can happily press 'n' now if you actually
thought you'd get anything technical.
> From: torvalds@klaava.Helsinki.FI (Linus Benedict Torvalds)
> Newsgroups: comp.os.minix
> Subject: Gcc-1.40 and a posix-question
> Message-ID: <1991Jul3.100050.9886@klaava.Helsinki.FI>
> Date: 3 Jul 91 10:00:50 GMT
>
> Hello netlanders,
>
> Due to a project I'm working on (in minix), I'm interested in the posix
> standard definition. Could somebody please point me to a (preferably)
> machine-readable format of the latest posix rules? Ftp-sites would be
> nice.
The project was obviously linux, so by July 3rd I had started to think
about actual user-level things: some of the device drivers were ready,
and the harddisk actually worked. Not too much else.
> As an aside for all using gcc on minix - [ deleted ]
Just a success-report on porting gcc-1.40 to minix using the 1.37
version made by Alan W Black & co.
> Linus Torvalds torvalds@kruuna.helsinki.fi
>
> PS. Could someone please try to finger me from overseas, as I've
> installed a "changing .plan" (made by your's truly), and I'm not certain
> it works from outside? It should report a new .plan every time.
So I was clueless - had just learned about named pipes. Sue me. This
part of the post got a lot more response than the actual POSIX query,
but the query did lure out arl from the woodwork, and we mailed around
for a bit, resulting in the Linux subdirectory on nic.funet.fi.
Then, almost two months later, I actually had something working: I made
sources for version 0.01 available on nic sometimes around this time.
0.01 sources weren't actually runnable: they were just a token gesture
to arl who had probably started to despair about ever getting anything.
This next post must have been from just a couple of weeks before that
release.
> From: torvalds@klaava.Helsinki.FI (Linus Benedict Torvalds)
> Newsgroups: comp.os.minix
> Subject: What would you like to see most in minix?
> Summary: small poll for my new operating system
> Message-ID: <1991Aug25.205708.9541@klaava.Helsinki.FI>
> Date: 25 Aug 91 20:57:08 GMT
> Organization: University of Helsinki
>
>
> Hello everybody out there using minix -
>
> I'm doing a (free) operating system (just a hobby, won't be big and
> professional like gnu) for 386(486) AT clones. This has been brewing
> since april, and is starting to get ready. I'd like any feedback on
> things people like/dislike in minix, as my OS resembles it somewhat
> (same physical layout of the file-system (due to practical reasons)
> among other things).
>
> I've currently ported bash(1.08) and gcc(1.40), and things seem to work.
> This implies that I'll get something practical within a few months, and
> I'd like to know what features most people would want. Any suggestions
> are welcome, but I won't promise I'll implement them :-)
>
> Linus (torvalds@kruuna.helsinki.fi)
>
> PS. Yes - it's free of any minix code, and it has a multi-threaded fs.
> It is NOT protable (uses 386 task switching etc), and it probably never
> will support anything other than AT-harddisks, as that's all I have :-(.
Judging from the post, 0.01 wasn't actually out yet, but it's close. I'd
guess the first version went out in the middle of September -91. I got
some responses to this (most by mail, which I haven't saved), and I even
got a few mails asking to be beta-testers for linux.
After that just a few general answers to quesions on the net:
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