History of Linux

Originally designed specifically for Intel-based personal computers, Linux started out as a
personal project of computer science student Linus Torvalds at the University of Helsinki.
At that time, students were making use of a program called Minix, which highlighted
different Unix features. Minix was created by Professor Andrew Tanenbaum and widely
distributed over the Internet to students around the world. Torvalds’s intention was to
create an effective PC version of Unix for Minix users. It was named Linux, and in 1991,
Torvalds released version 0.11. Linux was widely distributed over the Internet, and in the
following years, other programmers refined and added to it, incorporating most of the
applications and features now found in standard Unix systems.