Linus Torvalds and the Linux Operating System: The Revolution in the World of Technology

Linus Torvalds and the Linux Operating System: The Revolution in the World of Technology

You must know Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, and Mark Zuckerberg. Everyone knows these people in the world of technology. Regardless of whether you are involved in technology or not, you are continually receiving services or using products from popular companies like Facebook, Apple, or Microsoft. But most of the people who are reading this article now do not know the man whose created technology has brought a revolution in the world, he is Linus Torvalds, the creator of the Linux operating system. Not only did he not do business with his creation, but he also did not make headlines with his company shares, he did not write another slavery story around the world, so he remained a brahmin to the whole world.

Why is it said that Linus Torvalds has revolutionized the world of technology? Let's start with that. The technology that people use the most around the globe is smartphones, and the operating system that runs the most share of smartphones is Android. Android is a modified version of the original Linux operating system that came on the market with the help of Google. This means that the Android phones we are using are basically running a modified version of Linux made by Linus Torvalds. Like other operating systems like Windows, Linux is also an operating system. Most of the servers in the world depend on Linux. The most popular operating system among cybersecurity experts and hackers is Linux. Can it still be said that Linus Torvalds revolutionized the world of technology?

Linus was born on December 28, 1969, in Helsinki, Finland. His full name is Linus Benedict Torvalds, but everyone knows him as Linus Torvalds. He is named after Nobel laureate scientist Linus Pauling. Linas was born into a family of journalists - father Nils Torvalds and mother Anna Torvalds were both journalists, and even grandfather Ale Torvalds was a famous journalist. When Linus was very young, his parents broke up, and Linus began living with his mother.

Linus Torvalds with sister Sara Torvalds. Image Source: itsfoss.com

Linas' grandfather, Leo (his mother's father), was a professor in the Faculty of Statistics at the University of Helsinki. His grandfather had a lot of influence on little Linus. He had a good command of physics and mathematics. In the mid-seventies, Leo bought the first personal computer, the Commodore Vic 20. This is Linus's first introduction to computers. While using Leo's computer, Linus started to like this world of computers. Then he started programming when he was only ten years old. He continues to do programming in assembly language. At one time, programming, mathematics, and physics became the meditative knowledge of Linus Torvalds. His father's interest in sports and various social activities did not touch Linas. He was very introverted from his childhood.

Linus enrolled in computer science at the University of Helsinki in 1988. But who knows what suddenly hit his head! A few days later, he left for the eleven-month training of the Finnish army. Study stopped. He also got the rank of second lieutenant while in the military. Then in 1990, he returned to the university and started studying. Linus owns a personal computer while studying computer science at university. But he could not be satisfied with the operating system used on his computer. He liked the UNIX operating system used in the university. And he had to use Microsoft Corporation's Disk Operating System (MS-DOS) on his own computer. So Linus thought he would create a UNIX-like operating system for his personal use.

Logo of Linux; Image Source: allvectorlogo.com

After months of tireless work, a new operating system was born. Linus did not intentionally match his name, Linus wanted his operating system to be called "Freaks," which is a combination of the three words "Free," "Freak" and "Unix." But his friend did not like the name. He left the file in a field called Linux on the university's FTP server. Since then, the name of the operating system has been Linux. He was then only twenty-one years old. 

Note :
[ Linux is not an operating system. Linux is the kernel of the operating system (Kernel is the lifeblood of the operating system). Ubuntu, Linux Mint, Debian are all Linux kernel-based operating systems. In the same way, Android is also a Linux kernel-based operating system. ]

In 1991, Linus posted a message on the Internet informing other computer users of his new operating system. He made the operating system entirely free for use, as well as the source code of the operating system. This helped Linus as well as other software developers to enrich Linux. Version 1.0 of the original Linux operating system, the Linux kernel, was released in 1994. As it is open-source, i.e., the source code is open, any person skilled in computer programming can add or modify it. 

For this reason, many more Linux distributions have been born in the world today using the source code of the original Linux kernel. Each distribution is a unique operating system. It is probably not possible to say the exact number of distributions of the Linux operating system in this world. However, Ubuntu, Fedora, Linux Mint, Kali Linux, etc. are notable. Many countries are also developing new operating systems for themselves using the Linux kernel.

Dennis Ritchie, the father of C programming, his friend Ken Thompson and their team, created the Unix operating system at Bell Laboratory. But to use this Unix operating system, the user had to buy it. Linus Torvalds created an operating system similar to the Unix operating system and made it open to the general public. Apple's Mac operating system is also but based on Dennis Richie's Unix operating system.

The popularity of Linux continued to grow in the late nineties. At this time, companies like Netscape, Oracle, Intel, Corel, etc. came forward to work with Linux. At that time, you had to use Linux by typing the command line in the terminal. There was no graphical user interface for general human use. Only computer experts could use it. In the new century, graphical user interfaces have been added to Linux. As a result, you don't have to be computer literate to use Linux. Any ordinary computer user can use Linux with ease.

Linus joined Transmeta Corporation, a maker of microprocessors in 1997, and worked there for six years. In 2005, he created the version control system 'Git,' which allows all software developers around the world to work together. Software developers can work together on the same project on this platform. Git has added a new dimension to the world of software development in this world. It's hard to find people who are working on software development but not using Git.

Git is a distributed version control system for tracking changes in source code during software development.

Linus Torvalds is not an entrepreneur, he is an engineer - Linus said this while talking about himself. He is an entirely introverted person, feels more comfortable talking on email than talking face to face with people. He didn't create the Linux operating system with all the people in the world in mind, he just wanted to create a new operating system for his own use. Git was created to manage this operating system again. But both have now become the wealth of the world. Linux or Git is no longer the personal property of a Finnish engineer named Linux Torvalds - millions of developers around the globe are enriching these two platforms every day.

In an interview with TED, Linus said if he was a dreamer,

I am not one of those people who dream of going there when they see the stars in the sky, the guy who repaired the holes in the path before I fell.

He is no longer repairing the hole in the road alone, with countless people in the world of technology working with him every day on the platforms he has created.