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!

Windows 7 Gets a Thumbs Up from Linus Torvalds

Didn't even dream such a day would dawn, did you ? Now here is the father of Linux posing before a Windows 7 stall in Japan with a thumbs up sign.

Linus Torvalds poses before a Windows 7 stall


The story behind the picture
The occasion was a Linux Symposium held in Japan in which Linus Torvalds was an attendee. Microsoft knowing about the Linux Symposium erected a Windows 7 promotion booth right across the venue.

During the break, when Linus Torvalds was dragged to the Windows 7 booth by a few of his buddies, he chose to pose as seen in the picture.

If you are wondering, No! Linus didn't buy a copy of Windows 7.

Source of News : Engadget
Photo Credits : Chris @ Japan Linux Symposium

Linus Torvalds ditches KDE 4 for GNOME

Linus Torvalds says he has ditched KDE for good and is now sleeping with its arch rival GNOME. Oh well, rhetoric apart, he says the move over to GNOME happened because in KDE 4, he found it quite bothersome that he couldn't get his Right mouse button to access the right menu he wanted. In short, he ran into usability issues while using KDE 4.0.

In an interview given to Rodney Gedda of "Computer World" - Australia, he had this to say, and I quote :

I used to be a KDE user. I thought KDE 4.0 was such a disaster I switched to GNOME. I hate the fact that my right button doesn't do what I want it to do. But the whole "break everything" model is painful for users and they can choose to use something else.

I realise the reason for the 4.0 release, but I think they did it badly. They did so may changes it was a half-baked release. It may turn out to be the right decision in the end and I will re-try KDE, but I suspect I'm not the only person they lost.

I am sure the GNOME camp must be rejoicing in having won over a high profile Linux user to their side. This when a few years back, Linus Torvalds had gone on record severely criticizing GNOME for over simplifying the user interface.

Linus Torvalds was in Australia to attend the annual linux.conf.au organised by Linux Australia. While he was rather critical of KDE 4 in its current form, he did say it was a good thing for Nokia to release Qt as LGPL. Among other things, he also gives his views on Microsoft Windows 7 advising Microsoft to release sooner and decouple the operating system from the applications. A really interesting interview.