歷史背景
1991 年的十月，當初網際網路還不像現在這么普遍，上網的人大部分都隸屬於一些研究機構，或者是大學裡面的學生、教授，1991年10月5日, 上午11時53分，有一個名為 Linus Torvalds 的年輕芬蘭大學生在 comp.os.minix 這個新聞群組上發表了這樣一個帖子，它標誌著linux的誕生了：
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 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.
這個 Linus 的興趣（hobby）就是 Linux 核心程式 0.02 版的原始碼，當初還是個大學生的 Linus 大概完全沒想到當初被他視為個人興趣的程式，在幾年以後會有超過千萬個使用者，由他自己帶頭開發的作業系統現在已經在世界各地受到普遍的歡迎，還被視為是軟體業巨人微軟公司大力促銷的 NT 系統最大的競爭對手。
介紹
Linux 是一套 Unix-like 的作業系統，是 Unix 的一種，它控制整個系統基本服務的核心程式 (kernel) 是由 Linus 帶頭開發出來的，「Linux」這個名稱便是以「Linus's Minix」來命名，Linus 選擇用「大眾公有著作權」 (GPL)的方式來發行這份程式，這個著作權允許任何人以任何形式與散 Linux 的原始程式，換句話說，Linux 實際上是「免費的」，使用者在網路上就可以抓到 Linux 的原始程式碼，隨心所欲的與更改 Linux 的原始程式，在網際網路的日漸盛行以及 Linux 開放自由的著作權之下，吸引了無數電腦高手投入開發、改善 Linux 的核心程式，使得 Linux 的功能日見強大，所以今日我們可以在網路上免費下載 Linux 使用，或者花很少的一點費用就可以取得 Linux 光碟，這都是因為 Linux 是 GPL 著作權的緣故。
Linux組成
除了核心程式以外，一個作業系統還需要其他的系統程式跟套用程式才有實用性，Linux 系統中常用的系統程式大部份是美國自由軟體基金會 (Free Software Foundation) 開發出來的軟體，而且也有不少機構或個人為 Linux 開發套用程式，這些程式一樣大多都是自由軟體，任何人都可以免費的在網路上取得，不過自行去取得這些程式再一一安裝非常不便，於是有些公司或團體就會去蒐集、整合 Linux 上的程式，把「核心-系統程式-套用程式」總合起來構成一個完整的作業系統，讓一般使用者可以簡便的安裝完整個系統，這就是所謂的「安裝套件」(distribution)，我們一般講的 Linux 系統便是針對這些安裝套件而言，同樣是 Linux 系統，卻分成不同公司、機構整合出來的不同安裝套件，這就是大家常常在網路上看到 Linux 有那么多「種」的原因。
主要優點
Linux 具有 Unix 系統的程式介面跟操作方式，也繼承了 Unix 穩定有效率的特點。網路上安裝 Linux 的主機連續運做一年以上而不曾宕機、不必關機是稀鬆平常的事，不過 Linux 卻不像一般 Unix 要負擔龐大的著作權費用，也不需要在專屬的昂貴硬體上才可以使用；Linux 可以在一般的 i386 PC 上執行，效能又高，自然而然的接收了過去幾十年來在 Unix 上累積的程式資源跟使用者，加上 GPL 的著作權允許大家自由散 Linux 的原始碼，並針對自己的需求修改程式，使得 Linux 在目前已經成為非常受人歡迎的一個多人多工、免費、穩定、效率高、可以在包括 i386、Sparc、Alpha、Mips、PPC 等眾多不同電腦系統平台上執行的作業系統
