Linux Distribution - History

History

Linux distributions began to appear very soon after the Linux kernel spread beyond its original developers. Distribution developers provided all the libraries and executables that were necessary in order to install the system. Early distributions included:

• H J Lu's "Boot-root" a two disk pair with the kernel and the absolute minimal tools to get started
• MCC Interim Linux, which was made available to the public for download on the FTP server of University of Manchester in February 1992
• TAMU, created by individuals at Texas A&M University about the same time
• SLS (Softlanding Linux System)
• Yggdrasil Linux/GNU/X, the first CD-ROM based Linux distribution

SLS was not well maintained, so Patrick Volkerding released a distribution based on SLS, which he called Slackware, released in 1993. This is the oldest distribution still in active development.

Users were attracted to Linux distributions as alternatives to the DOS and Microsoft Windows operating systems on the PC, Mac OS on the Apple Macintosh, and proprietary versions of Unix. Most early adopters were familiar with Unix from work or school. They embraced Linux for its stability, low (if any) cost, and availability of the source code for most or all of the software included.

Originally, the distributions were simply a convenience, but today, they have become the usual choice even for Unix or Linux experts. To date, Linux has proven more popular in the server market, primarily for Web and database servers (see also LAMP), and in embedded devices market than in the desktop market.