Building on the efforts of yesterday's makers
Hard Work

"maddog" takes a quick look at some of the early pioneers of computing.
Recently, I spoke to a group of students at the University of São Paulo in Brazil. The occasion was the 40th anniversary of the university's offering a computer science degree, and my talk gave me a chance to reflect on computing history, how it came about, and how many people today have no idea of the work, effort, and plain brilliance of some of the early pioneers in computing.
It is easy to look back on the computing pioneers and say "Oh yes, of course" and to take their work and brilliance as natural fact, but when you put yourself in their place and try to imagine things that had never been done, it becomes a whole different story.
Many people have heard the story of Charles Babbage and how he tried to make a difference engine out of gears and cams back in the 19th century. A classic case of re-engineering, Babbage never completed any of his machines. But few people know that a couple of years later, a father and son team named Scheutz created a much simpler device of the same type and built two working machines. Soon after that, Martin Wiberg reworked the machine and build an even more successful difference engine.
[...]
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.

News
-
LibreOffice 25.2 Has Arrived
If you've been hoping for a release that offers more UI customizations, you're in for a treat.
-
TuxCare Has a Big AlmaLinux 9 Announcement in Store
TuxCare announced it has successfully completed a Security Technical Implementation Guide for AlmaLinux OS 9.
-
First Release Candidate for Linux Kernel 6.14 Now Available
Linus Torvalds has officially released the first release candidate for kernel 6.14 and it includes over 500,000 lines of modified code, making for a small release.
-
System76 Refreshes Meerkat Mini PC
If you're looking for a small form factor PC powered by Linux, System76 has exactly what you need in the Meerkat mini PC.
-
Gnome 48 Alpha Ready for Testing
The latest Gnome desktop alpha is now available with plenty of new features and improvements.
-
Wine 10 Includes Plenty to Excite Users
With its latest release, Wine has the usual crop of bug fixes and improvements, along with some exciting new features.
-
Linux Kernel 6.13 Offers Improvements for AMD/Apple Users
The latest Linux kernel is now available, and it includes plenty of improvements, especially for those who use AMD or Apple-based systems.
-
Gnome 48 Debuts New Audio Player
To date, the audio player found within the Gnome desktop has been meh at best, but with the upcoming release that all changes.
-
Plasma 6.3 Ready for Public Beta Testing
Plasma 6.3 will ship with KDE Gear 24.12.1 and KDE Frameworks 6.10, along with some new and exciting features.
-
Budgie 10.10 Scheduled for Q1 2025 with a Surprising Desktop Update
If Budgie is your desktop environment of choice, 2025 is going to be a great year for you.