Legends of operating system development
Doghouse – OS Development

Thinking about the history of Linux, maddog sheds light on why there are so many different flavors of operating systems.
Perhaps because I had been reminiscing about the 30 years of Linux kernel development, or perhaps because of a recent discussion over whether the GNU project or the Linux kernel was the most significant part of the system that most people call "Linux," I began pondering how many people think about software creation as if it were being done today instead of how it was done 40 or 50 (or more) years ago. This kind of thinking often creates "urban legends" about software that are passed on from person to person.
Take the conspiracy theory about how system companies created all these different operating systems to "lock in their customers." I have been in the computer field for over 50 years and participated in many engineering meetings about new functionality. Not one time did I ever hear customer lock-in as a reason for creating new functionality.
If you remember (or maybe you were not around then, so just trust me on this), computers had relatively small amounts of memory (even mainframes) measured in kilobytes (not gigabytes or even megabytes) and slow, single-core CPUs with slow disk drives.
[...]
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
-
AUR Repository Still Under DDoS Attack
Arch User Repository continues to be under a DDoS attack that has been going on for two weeks.
-
RingReaper Malware Poses Danger to Linux Systems
A new kind of malware exploits modern Linux kernels for I/O operations.
-
Happy Birthday, Linux
On August 25, Linux officially turns 34.
-
VirtualBox 7.2 Has Arrived
With early support for Linux kernel 6.17 and other new additions, VirtualBox 7.2 is a must-update for users.
-
Linux Mint 22.2 Beta Available for Testing
Some interesting new additions and improvements are coming to Linux Mint. Check out the Linux Mint 22.2 Beta to give it a test run.
-
Debian 13.0 Officially Released
After two years of development, the latest iteration of Debian is now available with plenty of under-the-hood improvements.
-
Upcoming Changes for MXLinux
MXLinux 25 has plenty in store to please all types of users.
-
A New Linux AI Assistant in Town
Newelle, a Linux AI assistant, works with different LLMs and includes document parsing and profiles.
-
Linux Kernel 6.16 Released with Minor Fixes
The latest Linux kernel doesn't really include any big-ticket features, just a lot of lines of code.
-
EU Sovereign Tech Fund Gains Traction
OpenForum Europe recently released a report regarding a sovereign tech fund with backing from several significant entities.