Today is no ordinary day, at least for those of us who use the great free operating system, and we could also include all those who, in one way or another, use free software applications on a daily basis. It is because on this day in 1991, Linus Torvalds posted his now-famous message in the comp.os.minix newsgroup , in which he asked for help from anyone interested in participating in a project he was starting.
This project, according to Torvalds, was primarily a hobby and not intended to be professional, unlike the GNU tools of the time . But life is full of surprises, and young Linus's project grew into what we know today. Therefore, we won't repeat the Finn's initial message, nor will we dwell on the heated discussions he had with Andrew Tanenbaum (creator of Minix). Those interested can consult the archive.
On the contrary, this is just a reminder of how important free software has been and will always be, with increasing participation from governments around the world , from those with limited resources to those at the forefront of economic development. Although the desktop world is still dominated by Windows, that dominance is no longer so overwhelming, and there is room for Linux to grow . And when it comes to servers, our operating system is the clear leader.
Beyond this, what is interesting is that in these 25 years Linux has been able to lead the world of free software, helping it to grow and occupy the prominent place it has today in the world of technology, where the world's leading companies always work on open projects and promote them.
For all this and much more, today we have a reason to thank everyone who has made this great platform what it is - according to the Linux Foundation, more than 13.500 developers from more than 1.300 companies - and to celebrate with them all the 25 years of Linux.