1991 年的十月，当初网际网路还不像现在这么普遍，上网的人大部分都隶属于一些研究机构，或者是大学里面的学生、教授，1991年10月5日, 上午11时53分，有一个名为 Linus Torvalds 的年轻芬兰大学生在 comp.os.minix 这个新闻群组上发表了这样一个帖子，它标志着linux的诞生了：
Do you pine for the nice days of minix-1.1, when men were men and wrote
their own device drivers? Are you without a nice project and just dying
to cut your teeth on a OS you can try to modify for your needs? Are you
finding it frustrating when everything works on minix? No more all-
nighters to get a nifty program working? Then this post might be just
for you :-)
As I mentioned a month(?) ago, I'm working on a free version of a
minix-lookalike for AT-386 computers. It has finally reached the stage
where it's even usable (though may not be depending on what you want),
and I am willing to put out the sources for wider distribution. It is
just version 0.02 (+1 (very small) patch already), but I've successfully
run bash/gcc/gnu-make/gnu-sed/compress etc under it.
Sources for this pet project of mine can be found at nic.funet.fi
(128.214.6.100) in the directory /pub/OS/Linux. The directory also
contains some README-file and a couple of binaries to work under linux
(bash, update and gcc, what more can you ask for :-). Full kernel
source is provided, as no minix code has been used. Library sources are
only partially free, so that cannot be distributed currently. The
system is able to compile "as-is" and has been known to work. Heh.
Sources to the binaries (bash and gcc) can be found at the same place in
/pub/gnu.
ALERT! WARNING! NOTE! These sources still need minix-386 to be compiled
(and gcc-1.40, possibly 1.37.1, haven't tested), and you need minix to
set it up if you want to run it, so it is not yet a standalone system
for those of you without minix. I'm working on it. You also need to be
something of a hacker to set it up (?), so for those hoping for an
alternative to minix-386, please ignore me. It is currently meant for
hackers interested in operating systems and 386's with access to minix.
The system needs an AT-compatible harddisk (IDE is fine) and EGA/VGA. If
you are still interested, please ftp the README/RELNOTES, and/or mail me
for additional info.
I can (well, almost) hear you asking yourselves "why?". Hurd will be
out in a year (or two, or next month, who knows), and I've already got
minix. This is a program for hackers by a hacker. I've enjouyed doing
it, and somebody might enjoy looking at it and even modifying it for
their own needs. It is still small enough to understand, use and
modify, and I'm looking forward to any comments you might have.
I'm also interested in hearing from anybody who has written any of the
utilities/library functions for minix. If your efforts are freely
distributable (under copyright or even public domain), I'd like to hear
from you, so I can add them to the system. I'm using Earl Chews estdio
right now (thanks for a nice and working system Earl), and similar works
will be very wellcome. Your (C)'s will of course be left intact. Drop me
a line if you are willing to let me use your code.
Linus
PS. to PHIL NELSON! I'm unable to get through to you, and keep getting
"forward error - strawberry unknown domain" or something.
这个 Linus 的兴趣（hobby）就是 Linux 核心程式 0.02 版的原始码，当初还是个大学生的 Linus 大概完全没想到当初被他视为个人兴趣的程式，在几年以後会有超过千万个使用者，由他自己带头开发的作业系统现在已经在世界各地受到普遍的欢迎，还被视为是软体业巨人微软公司大力促销的 NT 系统最大的竞争对手。
Linux 是一套 Unix-like 的作业系统，是 Unix 的一种，它控制整个系统基本服务的核心程式 (kernel) 是由 Linus 带头开发出来的，「Linux」这个名称便是以「Linus's Minix」来命名，Linus 选择用「大众公有版权」 (GPL)的方式来发行这份程式，这个版权允许任何人以任何形式与散 Linux 的原始程式，换句话说，Linux 实际上是「免费的」，使用者在网路上就可以抓到 Linux 的原始程式码，随心所欲的与更改 Linux 的原始程式，在网际网路的日渐盛行以及 Linux 开放自由的版权之下，吸引了无数电脑高手投入开发、改善 Linux 的核心程式，使得 Linux 的功能日见强大，所以今日我们可以在网路上免费下载 Linux 使用，或者花很少的一点费用就可以取得 Linux 光碟，这都是因为 Linux 是 GPL 版权的缘故。
除了核心程式以外，一个作业系统还需要其他的系统程式跟应用程式才有实用性，Linux 系统中常用的系统程式大部份是美国自由软体基金会 (Free Software Foundation) 开发出来的软体，而且也有不少机构或个人为 Linux 开发应用程式，这些程式一样大多都是自由软体，任何人都可以免费的在网路上取得，不过自行去取得这些程式再一一安装非常不便，於是有些公司或团体就会去搜集、整合 Linux 上的程式，把「核心-系统程式-应用程式」总合起来构成一个完整的作业系统，让一般使用者可以简便的安装完整个系统，这就是所谓的「安装套件」(distribution)，我们一般讲的 Linux 系统便是针对这些安装套件而言，同样是 Linux 系统，却分成不同公司、机构整合出来的不同安装套件，这就是大家常常在网路上看到 Linux 有那么多「种」的原因。
Linux 具有 Unix 系统的程式介面跟操作方式，也继承了 Unix 稳定有效率的特点。网路上安装 Linux 的主机连续运做一年以上而不曾当机、不必关机是稀松平常的事，不过 Linux 却不像一般 Unix 要负担庞大的版权费用，也不需要在专属的昂贵硬体上才可以使用；Linux 可以在一般的 i386 PC 上执行，效能又高，自然而然的接收了过去几十年来在 Unix 上累积的程式资源跟使用者，加上 GPL 的版权允许大家自由散 Linux 的原始码，并针对自己的需求修改程式，使得 Linux 在目前已经成为非常受人欢迎的一个多人多工、免费、稳定、效率高、可以在包括 i386、Sparc、Alpha、Mips、PPC 等众多不同电脑系统平台上执行的作业系统
