# How Linux Got to be Linux
by Seth Kenlon
A unique trait of open source is that it's never truly EOL (End of
Life). The disc images mostly just remain online, and their licenses
don't expire, so it's relatively simple to go back and install an old
version of Linux in a virtual machine and get a very precise picture
of what progress Linux has made over the years.
We begin our journey with Slackware 1.01, posted to
`comp.os.linux.announce` well over 20 years ago.
## Slackware 1.01 (1993)
The best part about trying Slackware 1.01 is that there's a pre-made
image in Qemu's [2014
series](
http://www.qemu-advent-calendar.org/2014) of free images, so
you don't have to perform the install manually (don't get used to this
luxury).
$ qemu-kvm -m 16M -drive if=ide,format=qcow2,file=slackware.qcow2 \
-netdev user,id=slirp -device ne2k_isa,netdev=slirp \
-serial stdio -redir tcp:22122::22
Many things in 1993's version of Linux works just as you'd expect. All
the basic commands like `ls` and `cd` work, all the basic tools
(`gawk`, `cut`, `diff`, `perl`, and of course Volkerding's favourite
`elvis`) are present and accounted for, but some of the little things
surprised me. BASH courteously asks for confirmation when you try to
tab complete hundreds of files, and tools to inspect compressed files
(like `zless` and `zmore` and `zcat`) already existed. In more ways
than I'd expected, the system feels surprisingly modern.
What's missing is any notion of package management. All installs and
uninstalls are entirely manual, with no tracking.
Over all, Slackware 1.01 feels a lot like a fairly modern UNIX, or
more appropriately, it feels like modern UNIX might feel to a Linux
user. Most everything is familiar, but there are some differences here
and there. Not nearly as much a difference as you might expect from an
OS released in 1993!
## Debian 0.91 (1994)
To try Debian 0.91, I used the floppy disk images contained in
https://ibiblio.org/pub/historic-linux/distributions/debian-0.91/debian-0.91/dist,
posted in 1994.
The commands to boot:
$ gunzip bootdsk.gz basedsk1.gz basedsk2.gz
$ qemu-system-i386 -M pc -m 64 -boot order=ac,menu=on \
-drive file=bootdisk,if=floppy,format=raw \
-drive file=debian.raw,if=ide,format=raw \
-device ne2k_isa,netdev=slirp \
-serial msmouse -vga std \
-redir tcp:22122::22 \
-netdev user,id=slirp
The bootdisk for Debian 0.91 boots to a simple shell, with clear
instructions on the steps you're meant to take next.
The install process is surprisingly smooth. It works off of a menu
system with 7 steps from partitioning a hard drive and writing the
ext2 filesystem to it all the way through to copying the `basedsk`
images. This provided a minimal Debian install with many of the
familiar conventions any modern Linux user would expect from their OS.
Debian is now famous for its package management system, but there are
mere hints of that in this early release. The `dpkg` command exists,
but it's an interactive menu-based system; a sort of clunky
`aptitude`, with several layers of menu selections and,
unsurprisingly, a fraction of available packages.
Even so, you can sense the convenience factor in the design
concept. You download three floppy images and end up with a bootable
system, and then use a simple text menu to install more goodies. I
sincerely see why Debian made a splash.
## Jurix/S.u.S.E. (1996)
A pre-cursor to SUSE, Jurix shipped with binary `.tgz` packages
organised into directories resembling the structure of Slackware's
install packages. The installer itself is also similar to Slackware's
installer.
$ qemu-system-i386 -M pc -m 1024 -boot order=ac,menu=on \
-drive file=./jurix/install/install,if=floppy,format=raw \
-drive file=jurix.img,if=ide \
-drive file=pkg.raw,if=ide,format=raw \
-device ne2k_isa,netdev=slirp \
-serial msmouse -vga std \
-redir tcp:22122::22 \
-netdev user,id=slirp
Without specifically looking for the earliest instance, Jurix was the
first Linux distribution I found that really "felt" like it intended
the user to definitely use a GUI
environment. [XFree86](
http://www.xfree86.org/) is installed by
default, so if you didn't intend to use it, you had to opt out.
An example `/usr/lib/X11/XF86Config` (this later became `Xorg.conf`)
file was provided, and that got me 90% of the way to a GUI, but
fine-tuning `vsync`, `hsync`, and `ramdac` colourmap overrides took me
an entire weekend until I finally gave up.
Installing new packages on Jurix was simple; find a `.tgz` on your
sources drive, and run a routine `tar` command:
$ su -c 'tar xzvf foo.tgz -C /'
The package get unzipped and unarchived to the root partition, and
ready to use. I did this with several packages I hadn't installed to
begin with, and found it easy, fast, and reliable.
## SuSE 5.1 (1998)
I installed SuSE 5.1 from a InfoMagic CD ROM purchased from
a software store in Maryland in 1998.
$ qemu-system-i386 -M pc-0.10 -m 64 -boot order=ad,menu=on \
-drive file=floppy.raw,if=floppy,format=raw \
-cdrom /dev/sr0 -drive file=suse5.raw,if=ide,format=raw \
-vga cirrus -serial msmouse
The install process was convoluted compared to those that came
before. YaST volleyed configuration files and settings between a
floppy disk and the boot CD ROM, requiring several reboots and a few
re-starts as I tried to understand the sequence expected from me. Once
I'd failed the process twice, I got used to the way YaST worked, and
the third time was smooth and very much a hint at the Linux user
experience to come in later years.
A GUI environment was my main goal for SuSE 5.1. The configuration
process was familiar, with a few very nice graphical tools (including
a very good `XF86Setup` frontend) to help test and debug mouse and
monitor problems. It took less than an hour to get a GUI up and
running, and most of the delay was caused by my own research on what
resolutions and colour depths Qemu's virtualised video card could
handle.
Included desktops were `fvwm`, `fvwm2`, and `ctwm`. I used `fvwm`, and
it worked as expected. I even discovered `tkDesk`, a dock and file
manager combo pack that is surprisingly similar to Ubuntu's `Unity`
launcher bar.
The experience was, over all, very pleasant, and in terms of getting a
successful desktop up and running, SuSE 5.1 was a rousing success.
## Red Hat 6.0 (1999)
The next install disc I happened to have lying around was Red Hat
6.0. That's not RHEL 6.0; just Red Hat 6.0. This was a desktop
distribution sold in stores, before RHEL or Fedora existed. The disc I
used was purchased in June 1999.
$ qemu-system-i386 -M pc-0.10 -m 512 -boot order=ad,menu=on \
-drive file=redhat6.raw,if=ide,format=raw \
-serial msmouse -netdev user,id=slirp \
-vga cirrus -cdrom /dev/sr0
The installation was fully guided and remarkably fast. You never have
to leave the safety of the install process, whether choosing what
packages to install (grouped together in **Workstation**, **Server**,
and **Custom** groups), partitioning a drive, or kicking off the
install.
Red Hat 6 included an `xf86config` application to step you through X
configuration, although it strangely allowed some mouse emulation
options that X later claimed were invalid. It beat editing the
Xf86Config file, but getting X correct was still clearly not a simple
task.
The desktop bundled with Red Hat 6 was, as it still is, Gnome, but the
window manager was a very early
[Enlightenment](
http://enlightenment.org) (which also provided the
main sound daemon). `Xdm` and `gdm` were both provided as login
managers so that normal users could log in without having the
permission to start or kill X itself, which is particularly important
on multi-user systems.
Certain staple applications are missing; `gedit` didn't exist yet,
there's no grand unified office application, and there was no package
manager to speak of. `GnoRPM`, a GUI interface for RPM installation,
review, and removal, was the closest to a `yum` or `PackageKit`
experience it had, and `gnotepad+` is the GUI text editor (Emacs
notwithstanding, obviously).
Over all, though, the desktop is intuitive. Unlike later
implementations of Gnome, this early version featured a panel at the
bottom of the screen, with an application menu and launcher icons and
virtual desktop control in a central location. I can't imagine a user
of another OS at the time finding this environment foreign.
Red Hat 6 was a strong entry for Linux, which was obviously moving
seriously toward being a proper desktop OS.
## Mandrake 8.0 (2001)
Mandrake 8.0 was released in 2001, so it would have been compared to,
for instance, Apple OS 9.2 and Windows ME.
I fell back on fairly old emulated tech to be safe:
$ qemu-system-i386 -M pc-0.10 -m 2048 \
-boot order=ad,menu=on \
-drive file=mandrake8.qcow2 -usb \
-net nic,model=rtl8139 -netdev user,id=slirp \
-vga cirrus -cdrom mandrake-8.0-i386.iso
I'd thought the Red Hat installation process had been nice, but
Mandrake's was amazing. It was friendly, it gave the user a chance to
test configurations before continuing, it was easy, and fast, and it
worked almost like magic. I didn't even have to import my `XF86Config`
file, because Mandrake's installer got it right.
Using the Mandrake desktop is a lot like using any given desktop of
the time, actually. I was a little surprised at just how similar the
experience was. I feel certain that if I'd somehow stumbled into
Mandrake Linux at this time, it actually wouldn't have been beyond my
ability, even as a young and not very technical user. The interfaces
are intuitive, the documentation helpful, and the package management
quite natural, for a time when it still wasn't yet the mental default
for people to just go to a website and download an installer for
whatever software they wanted.
## Fedora 1 (2003)
In 2003, the new **Fedora Core** distribution was released. It was
based on Red Hat, and was meant to carry on the banner of desktop
Linux once Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) became the flagship product
of the company.
Nothing particularly special is required to boot the old Fedora Core 1
disc:
$ qemu-system-i386 -M pc -m 2048 -boot order=ac,menu=on \
-drive file=fedora1.qcow2 -usb \
-net nic,model='rtl8139' -netdev user \
-vga cirrus -cdrom fedora-1-i386-cd1.iso
Installing Fedora Core is simple and familiar; it uses the same
installer as Fedora and Red Hat for the next 9 years. It's a graphical
interface that's easy to use and easy to understand.
The Fedora Core experience is largely indistinguishable from Red Hat 6
or 7. The Gnome desktop is polished, there are all the signature
configuration helper applications, and the presentation is clean and
professional.
A **Start Here** icon on the desktop guides the user toward three
locations: an Applications folder, the Preferences panel, and System
Settings. A red hat icon marks the applications menu, and the lower
Gnome panel holds all the latest Linux application launchers,
including Open Office and the Mozilla browser.
## The Future
By the early 2000s, it's clear that Linux has well and truly hit its
stride. The desktop is more polished than ever, the applications
available want for nothing, the installation is easier and more
efficient than other operating systems. In fact, from the early 2000s
onward, the relationship between the user and the system is firmly
established and remains basically unchanged even today. There are some
changes, and of course several updates and improvements and a
staggering number of innovation.
Project names come and go; Mandrake became Mandriva and then
[Mageia](
http://mageia.org), Fedora Core became just
[Fedora](
http://fedoraproject.org), [Ubuntu](
http://ubuntu.com) popped
up from [Debian](
http://debian.org) and made "Linux" a household term,
Valve has made [SteamOS](
http://store.steampowered.com/steamos) the
official basis for its gaming platform, and
[Slackware](
http://slackware.com) quietly continues to this day!
Whether you're new to Linux, or whether you're such an old hand that
most of these screenshots have been more biographical than historical,
it's good to be able to look back at how one of the largest open
source projects in the world has developed. More importantly, it's
exciting to think of where it's headed and how we can all be a part
of that, starting now, and for years to come.
