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IPFS News Link • Technology: Software

Linux Took Over the Web. Now, It's Taking Over the World

• http://www.wired.com, KLINT FINLEY

But it became something bigger. Much bigger. Today, that open source operating system—Linux—is one of the most important pieces of computer software in the world. Chances are, you use it every day. Linux runs every Android phone and tablet on Earth. And even if you're on an iPhone or a Mac or a Windows machine, Linux is working behind the scenes, across the Internet, serving up most of the webpages you view and powering most of the apps you use. Facebook, Google, Pinterest, Wikipedia—it's all running on Linux.

Plus, Linux is now finding its way onto televisions, thermostats, and even cars. As software creeps into practically every aspect of our lives, so does the OS designed by Linus Torvalds.

The Idea

But Linus shouldn't get all the credit. The roots of this OS stretch back much further than 25 years, all the way back to the creation of Unix at AT&T's Bell Labs in 1969. For decades, Unix was the standard operating system for commercial computing, but there was a catch. It was owned by AT&T, and it only ran on high-end equipment. Geeks wanted something they could tinker with on their personal computers.


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