In the beginning: Linux circa 1991
Apr 19, 2011, 09:14 (1 Talkback[s])
(Other stories by Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols)
[ Thanks to Steven J.
Vaughan-Nichols for this link. ]
"Who knew what it would turn into? No one did. I certainly
didn't. I came to Linux later, although I was already using Minix
and a host of other Unix systems including AIX, SCO Unix System
V/386, Solaris, and BSD Unix. These Unix operating system variants
continue to live on in one form or another, but Linux outshines
"The only real challenger in popularity to Linux from the Unix
family already existed in 1991 as well, but I'll bet most of you
won't be able to guess what it was.
"Remember this now folks, I may use it another Linux quiz down
the road. The answer is NeXTStep. You should know it as the direct
ancestor of the Mac OS X family.
"The real question isn't how Linux got its start. That's easy
enough to find out. The real question has always been why did Linux
flourish so, while all the others moved into niches?"