Facts About the Linux Kernel

Exactly 16 years ago, on March 1994, Linux kernel version 1.0.0 was humbly released for the world to tinker with. To celebrate the historic moment, I have collected some really interesting facts about the Linux kernel. So if you are a Linux fan, grab a beer and read on.

1. A 21 year-old Finnish college student created the Linux kernel as a hobby. (Do you know him?)
2. An asteroid was named after the creator of the Linux kernel.
3. Thousands of developers/programmers scattered all around the world are continuously contributing to the development of the Linux kernel.
4. The Linux kernel's official mascot is a penguin named Tux.
5. According to a study funded by the European Union, the estimated cost to redevelop the most recent kernel versions would be at $1.14 billion USD.
6. As of today, only 2% of the Linux kernel has been written by Linus Torvalds.
7. The Linux kernel is written in the version of the C programming language.
8. Linux is now one of the most widely ported operating system kernels, running on a diverse range of systems from handheld computers to mainframe servers.
9. Linux kernel 1.0.0 was released with 176,250 lines of code. The latest Linux kernel has over 10 million lines of code.
10. Microsoft Windows and the Linux kernel can run simultaneously in parallel on the same machine using a software called Cooperative Linux (coLinux).
11. At first, Torvalds wanted to call the kernel he developed Freax (a combination of "free", "freak", and the letter X to indicate that it is a Unix-like system), but his friend Ari Lemmke, who administered the FTP server where the kernel was first hosted for downloading, named Torvalds' directory linux.
12. A guy name William Della Croce, Jr. trademarked the name Linux and eventually demanded royalties for its use. He later agreed to assign the trademark to Torvalds.
13. The Linux kernel can be found on more than 87% of systems on the world's Top 500 supercomputers.
14. A "vanilla kernel" is not an ice cream flavor but an unmodified version of the Linux kernel.
15. The Linux Kernel is not in any way related to the army rank called ‘Colonel’. (hehe)

Cheers!

Features in Linux kernels 2.6.28 and 2.6.29

Linux kernel has in recent times seen numerous advances. And the latest versions of the Linux kernel namely 2.6.28 and 2.6.29 have some fabulous features in-built into them.

Topping over 10 million lines of code, the current day Linux kernel is no push over and is forming a serious threat to its competition.

Some of the features that are there in the more recent Linux kernels are as follows:

• New file systems - Linux kernel supports a new file system called Ext4. Ext4 supports large number of files of greater size and deeper directory structures. Another file system which is still in experimental mode but is soon going to be a choice for Linux users is the Btrfs file system which competes with ZFS in features.


• Better memory management for the Linux kernel graphics stack.


• Boot tracer - This is a feature in built into the new kernels, which will allow the developers to find possible ways in which they can further reduce the time taken for the Linux kernel to completely boot up.


• Freezer - This new feature helps you to easily migrate your operating system to a new host.


• Improved virtual memory scalability


• Disk improvements - Such as better support for solid state devices, improvements for ATA hard disks and so on. For instance, Linux kernel now provides protection against sudden jolts and shocks in ATA hard disks.