Linux

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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

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195

What was Linux like in the 90s (lemmy.dbzer0.com)

submitted 3 days ago by SpiceDealer@lemmy.dbzer0.com to c/linux@lemmy.ml

180 comments fedilink hide all child comments

I really wish that I was born early so I've could witness the early years of Linux. What was it like being there when a kernel was released that would power multiple OSes and, best of all, for free?

I want know about everything: software, hardware, games, early community, etc.

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[–] wewbull@feddit.uk 49 points 2 days ago (2 children)

You spent a few evenings downloading a hundred or so 1.44MB floppy imges over a 56kbps modem. You then booted the installer off one of those floppies, selected what software you wanted installed and started feeding your machine the stack of floppies one by one.

Once that was complete you needed to install the Linux boot loader "LiLo" to allow you the boot it (or your other OS) at power on.

All of that would get you to the point where you had a text mode login prompt. To get anything more you needed to gather together a lot of detailed information about your hardware and start configuring software to tell it about it. For example, to get XFree86 running you needed to know

what graphics chip you had
how much memory it had
which clock generator it used
which RAMDAC was on the board
what video timings your monitor supported
the polarity of the sync signals for each graphics mode

This level of detail was needed with every little thing

how many heads and cylinders do your hard drives have
which ports and irqs did your soundcard use
was it sound blaster compatible or some other protocol
what speeds did your modem support
does it need any special setup codes
what protocol did your ISP use over the phone line
what was the procedure to setup an tear down a network link over it

The advent of PCI and USB made things a lot better. Now things were discoverable, and software could auto-configure itself a lot of the time because there were standard ways to ask for information about what was connected.

[–] tehn00bi@lemmy.world 9 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Jesus Christ. Glad I got to ride of the backs of the giants before me. Live CD’s were so much fun back around 2001.

[–] wewbull@feddit.uk 4 points 1 day ago

I've put on a bit of weight since then, but I wouldn't say that I'm giant.

[–] Quazatron@lemmy.world 7 points 1 day ago

You brought back traumatic memories I had successfully repressed.