ABSTRACT
Linus Torvalds as a Minix-like Operating System started the Linux kernel project in 1991 for his 386. (Linus had originally wanted to name the project Freax, but the now-familiar name is the one that stuck.) The first official release of Linux 1.0 was in March 1994, but it supported only single-processor i386 machines. Just a year later, Linux 1.2 was released (March 1995) and was the first version with support for different hardware platforms (specifically: Alpha, Sparc, and Mips), but still only single-processor models. Linux 2.0 arrived in June of 1996 and also included support for a number of new architectures, but more importantly brought Linux into the world of multi-processor machines (SMP). After 2.0, subsequent major releases have been somewhat slower in coming (Linux 2.2 in January 1999 and 2.4 in January 2001), each revision expanding Linux’s support for new hardware and system types as well as boosting scalability. (Linux 2.4 was also notable in being the release that really broke Linux into the desktop space with kernel support for ISA Plug-and-Play, USB, PC Card support, and other additions.) Linux 2.6, released 12/17/03, stands not only to build on these features, but also to be another “major leap” with improved support for both significantly larger systems and significantly smaller ones (PDAs and other devices.)