Linux turns 30

Something happened back in 1991 that dramatically changed the future of computing. Linus Torvalds, a Finnish-American software engineer, released the Linux kernel and the second version of the GNU General Public License (GPLv2). A good portion of the technology we use today would not be what it is had this not happened.

It all started on August 25^th of that year when Torvalds announced in a usenet post that he was working on a free OS and that it would be ready within a few months. He also said it “won’t be big and professional like gnu,” but that wasn’t exactly how things turned out!

The GPL

The beauty of the Gnu GPL was that, instead of restricting what users can do with the Linux kernel, it maximized their rights. Richard Stallman, GNU founder, referred to these rights as the “four freedoms.” They include the freedom to run, copy, study/improve and distribute. This was akin to turning the function of a license inside out.

As Joe Brockmeier of Red Hat explains: “In short, this means that if you are given a GPL’ed program, you can run it without restriction. You can copy it for a friend, you can tinker with it and improve it, and you can distribute those changes.”

The GPL does have one important rule, however. As Brockmeier puts it, “the GPL insists that the same rights that you received under the GPL be passed on to those you distribute the work to.” This restriction ensures the continued openness through all “generations” of Linux.

Torvald’s enlightened idea has led in these last 30 years to levels of innovation and improvement that had not previously been possible. Linux can be trimmed or stretched to fill just about any role that someone imagines for it. The GPL has led not only to more than 500 distributions of Linux, but also to a wide range of Android devices and powerful supercomputers and to a rover named Perseverance that made it to Mars in February – powered by Linux.

How to celebrate

Birthdays always seem to come with more “punch” when they’re divisible by 10. So, with Linux turning three decades old, how can you celebrate? Let’s see …

You can download a “Happy 30th, Linux” graphic from the Linux Foundation.

You can sit back, appreciate and maybe even write a little memoir about how Linux has changed your life and your career.

You can count your shell’s aliases with a command like this:

$ alias | wc -l
75

Alternately, you can grab any of these 30 aliases that appeal to you:

alias ?='apropos'
alias ByCPU='ps aux --sort -%cpu'
alias ByCPUusage="ps aux | sort -nk 3"
alias ByMem='ps aux --sort -%mem'
alias ByMEMusage="ps aux | sort -nk 4"
alias ByPID='ps aux | sort -nk 2'
alias ByUser="ps aux | sort -k 1"
alias c="clear"
alias ck_iptables="sudo iptables -S"
alias cmds="history | awk "''{print $4}''' | sort | uniq -c | sort -nr'
alias count_args="f(){ echo You entered "$#" arguments; unset -f f; }; f"
alias countm='tree -iLf 1'
alias cp2all="find /home -maxdepth 1 -type d | grep -v lost+found | tail -n +2 | sudo xargs -n 1 cp -pv"
alias cp2dirs="echo /home/nemo /home/lola /home/shs | sudo xargs -n 1 cp -pv"
alias dec2oct="f(){ echo "obase=8; ibase=10; $1" | bc; unset -f f; }; f"
alias df-k='df -k | grep -v snap'
alias df-Th="df -Th | grep -v snap"
alias dirsBySize="du -kx | egrep -v "./.+/" | sort -n"
alias egrep='egrep --color=auto'
alias extip='curl ipinfo.io/ip'
alias fgrep='fgrep --color=auto'
alias genIDs="rig -c 1000 > IDs"
alias grep='grep --color=auto'
alias h="history"
alias h10='history | tail -10'
alias SSn='ss -ltupn'
alias SS='ss -ltup'
alias SxS='pr -mt '
alias TopCPU='ps aux --sort -%cpu | head -11'
alias TopMem='ps aux --sort -%mem | head -11'

You can also just relax and try a Linux Cocktail using crystalmixer’s recipe.

30 years!

Wow. I started with Linux when it was still just a toddler and have never once resented my choice. Linux is not just a solid operating system. It’s not just a free operating system. It’s not just a kernel and a pile of powerful commands. It’s a unique and very powerful force that has enabled amazing levels of innovation and has inspired collaboration like nothing before or since.