Unix,Linux,andvarianthistory

Year Event
1957 BellLabsfoundtheyneededanoperatingsystemfortheircomputercenterthatat
thetimewasrunningvariousbatchjobs.TheBESYSoperatingsystemwas
createdatBellLabstodealwiththeseneeds.
1965 BellLabswasadoptingthirdgenerationcomputerequipmentanddecidedtojoin
forceswithGeneralElectricandMITtocreateMultics(MultiplexedInformation
andComputingService).
1969 ByApril1969,AT&TmadeadecisiontowithdrawMulticsandgowithGECOS.
WhenMulticswaswithdrawnKenThompsonandDennisRitchieneededto
rewriteanoperatingsysteminordertoplayspacetravelonanothersmaller
machine(aDECPDP7[ProgrammedDataProcessor4Kmemoryforuser
programs).TheresultwasasystemthatapunningcolleaguecalledUNICS
(UNiplexedInformationandComputingService)an'emasculatedMultics'.
1969 Summer1969Unixwasdeveloped.
1969 LinusTorvaldsisborn.
1971 FirsteditionofUnixreleased11/03/1971.Thefirsteditionofthe"Unix
PROGRAMMER'SMANUAL[by]K.Thompson[and]D.M.Ritchie."It
includesover60commandslike:b(compileBprogram)boot(rebootsystem)cat
(concatenatefiles)chdir(changeworkingdirectory)chmod(changeaccess
mode)chown(changeowner)cp(copyfile)ls(listdirectorycontents)mv
(moveorrenamefile)roff(runofftext)wc(getwordcount)who(whoisone
thesystem).Themainthingmissingwaspipes.
1972 SecondeditionofUnixreleasedDecember06,1972.
1972 RitchierewroteBandcalledthenewlanguageC.
1973 Unixhadbeeninstalledon16sites(allwithinAT&T/WesternElectric)itwas
publicallyunveiledataconferenceinOctober.
1973 ThirdeditionofUnixreleasedFebruary1973
1973 FortheditionofUnixreleasedNovember1973
1974 FiftheditionofUnixreleasedJune1974
1974 ThompsonwenttoUCBerkeleytoteachforayear,BillJoyarrivedasanew
graduatestudent.Frustratedwithed,Joydevelopedamorefeaturededitorem.
1975 SixtheditionofUnixreleasedMay1975
1975 Bourneshellisintroducedbeginsbeingaddedonto.
1977 1BSDreleasedlate1977
1978 2BSDreleasedmid1978
1979 SeventheditionofUnixreleasedJanuary1979
1979 3BSDreleasedlate1979
1979 SCOfoundedbyDougandLarryMichelsasUnixportingandconsulting
company.
1980 4.0BSDreleasedOctober1980
1982 SGIintroducesIRIX.
1983 AT&TreleasesitsfirstversionofSystemV.
1983 SCOdeliversitsfirstpackagedUnixsystemcalledSCOXenixSystemVforIntel
8086and8088processorbasedPCs.
1983 TheGNUprojectisfirstannouncedbyRichardStallmanSeptember27,1983.
1984 Ultrix1.0wasreleased.
1985 EightheditionofUnixreleasedFebruary1985
1985 TheGNUmanifestoispublishedintheMarch1985issueofDr.Dobb'sJournal.
TheGNUprojectstartsayearandahalflater.
1986 HPUX1.0released.
1986 NintheditionofUnixreleasedSeptember1986
1987 SunandAT&Tlaythegroundworkforbusinesscomputinginthenextdecade
withanalliancetodevelopUnixSystemVRelease4.
1988 HPUX2.0released.
1988 HPUX3.0released.
1989 SCOshipsSCOUnixSystemV/386,thefirstvolumecommercialproduct
licensedbyAT&TtousetheUnixSystemtrademark.
1989 HPUX7.0released.
1989 TentheditionofUnixreleasedOctober1989
1990 AIXshortforAdvancedInteractiveeXecutivewasfirstenteredintothemarketby
IBMFebruary1990.
1991 SununveilsSolaris2operatingenvironment,speciallytunedforsymmetric
multiprocessing.
1991 LinuxisintroducedbyLinusTorvalds,astudentinFinland.
1991 HPUX8.0released.
1991 BSD/386ALPHAFirstcodereleasedtopeopleoutsideBSDI12/xx/1991
1992 HPUX9.0released.
1993 NetBSD0.8released04/20/1993
1993 FreeBSD1.0releasedDecemberof1993
1994 RedHatLinuxisintroduced.
1994 Caldera,Incwasfoundedin1994byRansomLoveandBryanSparks.
1994 NetBSD1.0released10/26/1994
1995 FreeBSD2.0released01/xx/1995
1995 SCOacquiresUnixSystemssourcetechnologybusinessfromNovellCorporation
(whichhadacquireditfromAT&T'sUnixSystemLaboratories).SCOalso
acquiresUnixWare2operatingsystemfromNovell.
1995 HPUX10.0released.
1995 4.4BSDLiteRelease2thetruefinaldistributionfromtheCSRG06/xx/1995
1996 KDEisstartedtobedevelopedbyMatthiasEttrich
1997 HPUX11.0released.
1997 CalderashipsOpenLinuxStandard1.1May5,1997,thesecondofferingin
Caldera'sOpenLinuxproductline
1998 IRIX6.5thefifthgenerationofSGIUnixisreleasedJuly6,1998.
1998 SCOdeliversUnixWare7operatingsystem.
1998 SunSolaris7operatingsystemreleased.
1998 FreeBSD3.0released10/16/1998
2000 FreeBSD4.0released03/13/2000
2000 CalderaSystemsInc.announcesthatCalderaSystemshasenteredintoagreement
toacquiretheSCOServerSoftwareDivisionandtheProfessionalServices
Division.
2001 LinusTorvaldsreleasesversion2.4oftheLinuxKernelsourcecodeonJanuary
4th.
2001 MicrosoftfilesatrademarksuitagainstLindows.cominDecember.
2004 Lindowschangesit'snametoLinspireApril14,2004.
2004 ThefirstreleaseofUbuntuisreleasedOctober20,2004.
ComputerHistory