Free minix-like kernel sources for 386-AT

Linus Benedict Torvalds

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Oct 5, 1991, 1:41:06 AM10/5/91

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Do you pine for the nice days of minix-1.1, when men were men and wrote
their own device drivers? Are you without a nice project and just dying
to cut your teeth on a OS you can try to modify for your needs? Are you
finding it frustrating when everything works on minix? No more all-
nighters to get a nifty program working? Then this post might be just
for you :-)

As I mentioned a month(?) ago, I'm working on a free version of a
minix-lookalike for AT-386 computers. It has finally reached the stage
where it's even usable (though may not be depending on what you want),
and I am willing to put out the sources for wider distribution. It is
just version 0.02 (+1 (very small) patch already), but I've successfully
run bash/gcc/gnu-make/gnu-sed/compress etc under it.

Sources for this pet project of mine can be found at nic.funet.fi
(128.214.6.100) in the directory /pub/OS/Linux. The directory also
contains some README-file and a couple of binaries to work under linux
(bash, update and gcc, what more can you ask for :-). Full kernel
source is provided, as no minix code has been used. Library sources are
only partially free, so that cannot be distributed currently. The
system is able to compile "as-is" and has been known to work. Heh.
Sources to the binaries (bash and gcc) can be found at the same place in
/pub/gnu.

ALERT! WARNING! NOTE! These sources still need minix-386 to be compiled
(and gcc-1.40, possibly 1.37.1, haven't tested), and you need minix to
set it up if you want to run it, so it is not yet a standalone system
for those of you without minix. I'm working on it. You also need to be
something of a hacker to set it up (?), so for those hoping for an
alternative to minix-386, please ignore me. It is currently meant for
hackers interested in operating systems and 386's with access to minix.

The system needs an AT-compatible harddisk (IDE is fine) and EGA/VGA. If
you are still interested, please ftp the README/RELNOTES, and/or mail me
for additional info.

I can (well, almost) hear you asking yourselves "why?". Hurd will be
out in a year (or two, or next month, who knows), and I've already got
minix. This is a program for hackers by a hacker. I've enjouyed doing
it, and somebody might enjoy looking at it and even modifying it for
their own needs. It is still small enough to understand, use and
modify, and I'm looking forward to any comments you might have.

I'm also interested in hearing from anybody who has written any of the
utilities/library functions for minix. If your efforts are freely
distributable (under copyright or even public domain), I'd like to hear
from you, so I can add them to the system. I'm using Earl Chews estdio
right now (thanks for a nice and working system Earl), and similar works
will be very wellcome. Your (C)'s will of course be left intact. Drop me
a line if you are willing to let me use your code.

Linus

PS. to PHIL NELSON! I'm unable to get through to you, and keep getting
"forward error - strawberry unknown domain" or something.

awu...@gmail.com

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Dec 20, 2004, 11:28:45 PM12/20/04

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your creation will be called linux... i am the prophet

George Eapen

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Jan 5, 2005, 4:41:13 PM1/5/05

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.

kron...@gmail.com

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Jan 10, 2005, 1:38:24 AM1/10/05

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Wow.

<3

Grant Harris

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Jan 10, 2005, 2:35:08 AM1/10/05

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Your creation has truly benefitted the computing world, good work.

progr...@gmail.com

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Jan 10, 2005, 3:35:47 AM1/10/05

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Mr. Torvalds, You have been slashdotted.. On behalf of every geek in
the world, We love you.

Martijn van Buul

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Jan 10, 2005, 3:39:27 AM1/10/05

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It occurred to me that progr...@gmail.com wrote in comp.os.minix:
> We love you.

Well.... I really wouldn't go that far...

--
Martijn van Buul - pi...@dohd.org - http://www.stack.nl/~martijnb/
Geek code: G-- - Visit OuterSpace: mud.stack.nl 3333
The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new
discoveries, is not 'Eureka!' (I found it!) but 'That's funny ...' Isaac Asimov

refr...@gmail.com

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Jan 10, 2005, 2:26:58 PM1/10/05

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I would.
We love you.
and www.refrozen.com is an amazing site.

Martijn van Buul

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Jan 10, 2005, 2:34:22 PM1/10/05

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It occurred to me that refr...@gmail.com wrote in comp.os.minix:

> and www.refrozen.com is an amazing site.

And you're a cheapskate. Cause it's the worst "Coming soon!" site I've ever
seen.

m1r...@gmail.com

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Jan 10, 2005, 3:43:40 PM1/10/05

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Woot!

Message has been deleted

SamBu...@gmail.com

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Jan 10, 2005, 4:31:23 PM1/10/05

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linus is a badass

Ben Long

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Jan 10, 2005, 4:57:01 PM1/10/05

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Is this still a valid offer?

Antonio Varni

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Jan 10, 2005, 7:13:50 PM1/10/05

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Bah! Nobody's gonna run your hacked together pet project. The world's
gonna stay running minix forever!

james

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Jan 12, 2005, 8:06:04 AM1/12/05

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ha.

refr...@gmail.com

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Jan 12, 2005, 9:30:53 PM1/12/05

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haha.
sorry lol.
It's back now :P :P I was just usenet-spamming anyways, slashdotted
sites get lots of hits :P

fub...@gmail.com

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Mar 19, 2005, 11:01:05 AM3/19/05

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:-M

Moses

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May 29, 2011, 11:30:51 PM5/29/11

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Thank you Linus.

:-P

blue dragon

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Jun 5, 2011, 3:11:33 PM6/5/11

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the legendary message on how the linux kernel was made...i heard that
version 0.01 is still out there somewhere onan old ftp server
available for download...

Tonton Th

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Jun 5, 2011, 7:26:20 PM6/5/11

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On 06/05/2011 09:11 PM, blue dragon wrote:

> the legendary message on how the linux kernel was made...i heard that
> version 0.01 is still out there somewhere onan old ftp server
> available for download...

ftp://ftp.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/Historic/

--
Je cherche un nouveau travail...
http://tboudet.free.fr/cv-thierry-boudet.pdf
http://sigfood.dinorama.fr/

Simon Tümmler

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Jun 16, 2011, 12:46:45 PM6/16/11

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On Mon, 06 Jun 2011 01:26:20 +0200, Tonton Th wrote:

> On 06/05/2011 09:11 PM, blue dragon wrote:
>
>> the legendary message on how the linux kernel was made...i heard that
>> version 0.01 is still out there somewhere onan old ftp server available
>> for download...
>
> ftp://ftp.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/Historic/

But you can't compile it easily! You'd need the patched GCC version.

farsheed...@gmail.com

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Oct 25, 2011, 7:01:20 PM10/25/11

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You ROCK man!

thomas...@gmail.com

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Feb 12, 2013, 2:54:57 PM2/12/13

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This is incredible to read this after so many years have passed.

We lived a fantastic century...

Le samedi 5 octobre 1991 17:53:28 UTC+2, Linus Benedict Torvalds a écrit :

ret...@gmail.com

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Feb 24, 2013, 6:40:24 AM2/24/13

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How things have changed.

Linux is now in ftp://nic.funet.fi/pub/linux/ instead of ftp://nic.funet.fi/pub/os/linux/

No more subdirectory!!

siddharth...@gmail.com

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Sep 28, 2013, 6:46:10 AM9/28/13

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So this is how the world's greatest, sophisticated , powerful,reliable, open-source operating system started out hmmm.............

maykol...@gmail.com

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Aug 12, 2014, 10:13:56 AM8/12/14

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Here im, posting for eternity

dhru...@gmail.com

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Aug 16, 2014, 8:16:47 PM8/16/14

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my post for eternity!!

s...@amritahyd.org

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Mar 13, 2015, 3:07:10 AM3/13/15

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nice post......................

s...@amritahyd.org

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Mar 13, 2015, 3:07:38 AM3/13/15

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very nice post...............

s...@amritahyd.org

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Mar 13, 2015, 3:37:55 AM3/13/15

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nice post........................

svzu...@gmail.com

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Mar 18, 2015, 5:33:59 PM3/18/15

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Thank you for this gift, Linus. :D

ram prakash

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Jun 7, 2015, 11:00:15 AM6/7/15

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Totton... I'm not able to connect the ftp server.... Help me to download prophets version

Eric

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Jun 7, 2015, 12:40:05 PM6/7/15

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On 2015-06-07, ram prakash <randomaccess...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Totton... I'm not able to connect the ftp server.... Help me to download
> prophets version

Answering a message from 2011, is its author still reading here? Who
knows? And you could at least get his name right - Tonton, not Totton.

Anyway, I assume you mean this link

ftp://ftp.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/Historic/

which worked for me today - paste it into a browser, click on a file to
download it - assuming you really want a 24-year old version of Linux,
even if it is the first one!

BTW, the only occurrence of the word "prophet" anywhere in the thread is
a joke, not a person with a version!

Eric
--
ms fnd in a lbry

ram prakash

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Jun 7, 2015, 11:12:39 PM6/7/15

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Thks Eric.... Now it's working good..

terri...@gmail.com

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Jan 10, 2005, 1:15:07 AM1/10/05

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Thanks for **EVERYTHING** Linus
Do ya like talk radio bro? Check out < http://tinyurl.com/43kmw >
Talk Radio with edge.

Hello Slashdotters!

romap...@gmail.com

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Aug 20, 2015, 4:21:38 PM8/20/15

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Linux still is a hobby?

romap...@gmail.com

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Aug 20, 2015, 4:24:23 PM8/20/15

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Linus Torvalds, please, answer me

yge...@gmail.com

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Dec 17, 2015, 3:37:25 PM12/17/15

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5 Ekim 1991 Cumartesi 08:41:06 UTC+3 tarihinde Linus Benedict Torvalds yazdı:

really big effort , thanks linus for starting this
thanks other dear kernel hackers and developers ( a lot of people ) for improving efforts..

unix.com @ygemici

dsiva...@gmail.com

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May 12, 2016, 7:20:05 PM5/12/16

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I can't believe it's been 25 years now. Linux rocks!

antoinet...@gmail.com

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Jun 6, 2016, 8:03:27 AM6/6/16

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25 years and we still don't have a lot of support for it. We still love you Linus.

Krunal Shah

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Aug 1, 2016, 1:48:02 PM8/1/16

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Good Linus Torvalds for this work.

and thank you so much for making the code of kernel available to all.

bernard.ro...@gmail.com

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Sep 20, 2016, 8:07:33 PM9/20/16

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And Hurd is still not done.

Krunalkumar Shah

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Nov 8, 2016, 3:43:05 AM11/8/16

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not Linux but it must be linix.

mtm...@gmail.com

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Nov 24, 2016, 4:22:38 AM11/24/16

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This is history right here.

biswaji...@gmail.com

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Feb 22, 2017, 1:14:49 PM2/22/17

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Thanks a lot for bringing out the geek in all of us.

gnu...@163.com

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Mar 15, 2017, 3:52:42 AM3/15/17

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在 1991年10月5日星期六 UTC+8下午1:41:06，Linus Benedict Torvalds写道：

good

edwin.ri...@gmail.com

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Nov 28, 2017, 2:48:33 PM11/28/17

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From here and we can reach every corner of the world..........
Linux わせかいいち

luiso...@gmail.com

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Jan 22, 2018, 7:40:00 PM1/22/18

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Thank you for your creation! You set me free from the win ecosystem! Been enjoying your creation for the past decades! You are a Digital god!
--- End of Message ---

Message has been deleted

leni...@gmail.com

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Aug 28, 2018, 8:03:28 PM8/28/18

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Can't believe Google hosts this!!! Awesome!! Everyone loves Linus, Thank you for your significant contribution to society!!!

rizki...@gmail.com

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Oct 29, 2018, 6:05:59 AM10/29/18

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So... what is this kernel thing does actually?

dea...@deavmi.lxd

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Dec 30, 2018, 5:07:36 PM12/30/18

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leni...@gmail.com wrote:
> Can't believe Google hosts this!!! Awesome!! Everyone loves Linus, Thank you for your significant contribution to society!!!

Wat i love is that the thread for andrew vs linux still exists.

limusu...@gmail.com

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Mar 8, 2019, 10:18:05 AM3/8/19

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Trying to be in this legendary history, Selemani Likoko from Tz

Message has been deleted

jeyhun.b...@gmail.com

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Apr 26, 2019, 7:08:40 AM4/26/19

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11 Ocak 2005 Salı 04:13:50 UTC+4 tarihinde Antonio Varni yazdı:
> Bah! Nobody's gonna run your hacked together pet project. The world's
> gonna stay running minix forever!

ahahah Look

davidl...@gmail.com

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Nov 3, 2019, 7:18:21 AM11/3/19

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I have made a great pilgrimage from the year 2019 to see this.

-David Luck 19, San Antonio

Wow. The Net/Usenet is amazing.

manas....@gmail.com

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Jan 6, 2020, 9:15:51 AM1/6/20

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Posting here to be & to keep in memory

Message has been deleted

yge...@gmail.com

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May 15, 2020, 1:38:55 PM5/15/20

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Thanks Linus , Linux everywhere ;=)
ygemici - unix-linux

gpap...@gmail.com

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Jun 26, 2020, 1:04:48 AM6/26/20

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1991. október 5., szombat 6:41:06 UTC+1 időpontban Linus Benedict Torvalds a következőt írta:

I stiil like minix better with the racoon.

Neye Oyenuga

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Aug 23, 2020, 7:45:19 AM8/23/20

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:-)

Sayed Arian Kooshesh

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Oct 5, 2020, 7:07:12 PM10/5/20

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heh

Satyrn

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Oct 8, 2020, 3:01:54 PM10/8/20

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poggers

youssouf Nchetkou

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Oct 15, 2020, 8:49:50 AM10/15/20

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The actual link for Old linux kernel version (0.x):

http://www.nic.funet.fi/pub/Linux/kernel/Historic/old-versions/

tyqw1 aka Niggapods

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Jan 29, 2021, 7:23:17 AM1/29/21

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суббота, 5 октября 1991 г. в 07:41:06 UTC+2, Linus Benedict Torvalds:

Killaship

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May 29, 2021, 8:22:12 AM5/29/21

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Well, I don't know what to put here, but you are amazing, Linux is great, and this is my mark here. Bye, and everyone enjoy their historical... linux... texts for whatever reason... you decided to read.... ok bye

Ruben de Groot

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Oct 18, 2021, 1:50:19 PM10/18/21

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Op zaterdag 29 mei 2021 om 14:22:12 UTC+2 schreef Killaship:

> Well, I don't know what to put here, but you are amazing, Linux is great, and this is my mark here. Bye, and everyone enjoy their historical... linux... texts for whatever reason... you decided to read.... ok bye

cool

Dark Prism

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May 8, 2023, 2:36:26 AM5/8/23

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On Saturday, October 5, 1991 at 1:41:06 AM UTC-4, Linus Benedict Torvalds wrote:

31 years later...

Senan Warnock

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Jun 8, 2023, 10:51:14 AM6/8/23

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Just booted up explorer... whats this linux thing?

Mitch Guthrie (Metaprose)

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Oct 31, 2023, 4:11:30 PM10/31/23

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Get me in the screenshot
-Metaprose