Happy 33rd birthday, Linux!

Guess time sure flies, because I remember it was not long ago since we celebrated the big three-oh of the kernel, but the date comes again: happy birthday, Linux!

Now, if you read the history part in Linux's Wikipedia page with a little more attention, you may not know which date exactly marks the true "day one" of the project, since there were some releases coming after this date and preliminary work preceeding it (including the groundwork by the GNU Project). However, I personally take August 25 to be the big day, because, if anything, it's the date of that famous announcement:

Hello everybody out there using minix -</p>

<p>I'm doing a (free) operating system (just a hobby, won't be big and professional like gnu) for 386(486) AT clones. This has been brewing since april, and is starting to get ready. I'd like any feedback on things people like/dislike in minix, as my OS resembles it somewhat (same physical layout of the file-system (due to practical reasons) among other things).</p>

<p>I've currently ported bash(1.08) and gcc(1.40), and things seem to work. This implies that I'll get something practical within a few months, and I'd like to know what features most people would want. Any suggestions are welcome, but I won't promise I'll implement them :-)</p>

<p>Linus (torvalds@kruuna.helsinki.fi)</p>

<p>PS. Yes - it's free of any minix code, and it has a multi-threaded fs. It is NOT portable (uses 386 task switching etc), and it probably never will support anything other than AT-harddisks, as that's all I have :-(. — The famous announcement that started it all.

Looking back, this announcement sounds really funny and shortsighted, like how it "won't be big and professional," or "probably never will support anything other than AT- harddisks." But again, who could guess at the time? It's been 33 years of magic, surprise and accomplishment.

Here's to 33 more, Linux!