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.
Read more about this topic: Linux Distribution
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“Philosophy of science without history of science is empty; history of science without philosophy of science is blind.”
—Imre Lakatos (1922–1974)
“In front of these sinister facts, the first lesson of history is the good of evil. Good is a good doctor, but Bad is sometimes a better.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“All history attests that man has subjected woman to his will, used her as a means to promote his selfish gratification, to minister to his sensual pleasures, to be instrumental in promoting his comfort; but never has he desired to elevate her to that rank she was created to fill. He has done all he could to debase and enslave her mind; and now he looks triumphantly on the ruin he has wrought, and say, the being he has thus deeply injured is his inferior.”
—Sarah M. Grimke (1792–1873)