GoKawiilLinux Marks 35 Years Since Linus Torvalds' Original Usenet Announcement
On August 25, 1991, Finnish student Linus Torvalds posted to a Usenet group that he was building a free operating system for 386/486 machines, calling it just a hobby project unlikely to rival GNU. Thirty-five years later, that hobby has grown into the dominant force in computing, powering most major websites, cloud platforms, and all of the world's fastest supercomputers.
GoKawiil's interpretation of the reporting above, not reported fact.
Linux's trajectory from a student side project to critical global infrastructure illustrates how open-source collaboration can outpace commercial software development over time. Its dominance across servers, cloud computing, and mobile devices (via Android) underscores how foundational open technology has become to the modern internet economy.
- Torvalds initially had no idea Linux would become globally significant.
- Some developers who joined in the early 1990s still contribute to Linux today.
- Linux now powers most major websites, cloud platforms, and all top 500 supercomputers.
Raspberry Pi 5 Single-Board Computer — Nothing celebrates 35 years of Linux like running it yourself on a tiny board you can hold in your hand. The Raspberry Pi 5 boots Linux distributions and makes a great tinkering machine for the kind of hobby project Torvalds started with.
See Raspberry Pi 5 Single-Board Computer on Amazon → Affiliate link — we may earn a commission on purchases, at no extra cost to you. Product picked by AI based on this article; it is not a tested recommendation.Source: zdnet.com — Steven Vaughan-Nichols, 2026-08-25
Published there as: “'Just a hobby, won't be big': Linus Torvalds introduced Linux 35 years ago - and almost called it Freax”
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