Linux at 30: How a student’s hobby became a key component in the business IT stack Linus Torvalds at the Open Source Summit, Lyon in 2019


August 25, 2021 marked thirty years of Linus Torvalds’ now-famous announcement on the comp.os.minix news group, where he shared plans to work on a free operating system for 386(486) AT clones as a “hobby.”
Nobody, least of all Torvalds, would have imagined that three decades later, his hobby OS would not just outgrow his personal computer, but go on to become the backbone of much of the modern IT world.
Rob Gibbon, Product Manager at Canonical, the makers of Ubuntu, has seen an explosion in the adoption of Linux over the years.
“From server deployments and consumer electronics like smartphones, televisions and smart speakers, to industrial applications like automobiles and elevators, you’ll find Linux enhancing the everyday lives of billions of humans worldwide – quite often in unseen ways,”.
But how did Linux become the phenomenon as we know it today?
August 25, 2021 marked thirty years of Linus Torvalds’ now-famous announcement on the comp.os.minix news group, where he shared plans to work on a free operating system for 386(486) AT clones as a “hobby.” Nobody, least of all Torvalds, would have imagined that three decades later, his hobby OS would…
Recent Posts
- AMD’s impressive free RX 9070 XT speed boosts confirmed in new benchmarks – and they make the GPU a better buy than Nvidia’s RX 5070 Ti
- Adding calendar events with a screenshot is AI at its finest
- Nobody wants 8GB GPUs from Nvidia and AMD – and this retailer just made that clear
- The 7 Best Kitchen Scales Reviewed by a Former Chocolatier (2025)
- What to expect at Samsung Galaxy Unpacked next week
Archives
- July 2025
- June 2025
- May 2025
- April 2025
- March 2025
- February 2025
- January 2025
- December 2024
- November 2024
- October 2024
- September 2024
- August 2024
- July 2024
- June 2024
- May 2024
- April 2024
- March 2024
- February 2024
- January 2024
- December 2023
- November 2023
- October 2023
- September 2023
- August 2023
- July 2023
- June 2023
- May 2023
- April 2023
- March 2023
- February 2023
- January 2023
- December 2022
- November 2022
- October 2022
- September 2022
- August 2022
- July 2022
- June 2022
- May 2022
- April 2022
- March 2022
- February 2022
- January 2022
- December 2021
- November 2021
- October 2021
- September 2021
- August 2021