By September 1991, Linux version 0.01 was released on theFTP server (ftp.funet.fi) of the Finnish University and ResearchNetwork (FUNET). It had 10,239 lines of code. InOctober 1991, Linux version 0.02 was released.[13]
In December 1991, Linux 0.11 was released. This version wasthe first to be self-hosted -Linux 0.11 could be compiled by a computer running Linux 0.11. When he releasedversion 0.12 inFebruary 1992, Torvalds adopted the GNU GeneralPublic License (GPL)over his previous self-drafted license, which had not permitted commercialredistribution.[14]
A newsgroup known as alt.os.linux was started, and on 19 January 1992,the first post to alt.os.linux was made.[15] On31 March 1992, alt.os.linux becamecomp.os.linux.[16]
The X Window System was soon ported to Linux. In March1992, Linux version 0.95 was the first to be capable of running X. This largeversion number jump (from 0.1x to 0.9x) was due to a feeling that a version 1.0with no major missing pieces was imminent. However, this proved to be somewhatoveroptimistic, and from 1993 to early 1994, 15 development versions of version0.99 appeared.
On 14 March 1994, Linux 1.0.0 wasreleased, with 176,250 lines of code. In March 1995, Linux 1.2.0 was released(310,950 lines of code).
Version 2 of Linux, released on 9 June 1996, was followed byadditional major versions under the version 2 header:
· 25 January 1999 - Linux 2.2.0was released (1,800,847 lines of code).
· 18 December 1999 - IBM mainframe patches for 2.2.13were published, allowing Linux to be used on enterprise-class machines.
· 4 January 2001 - Linux 2.4.0was released (3,377,902 lines of code).
· 17 December 2003 - Linux 2.6.0was released (5,929,913 lines of code).
Starting in 2004, the release process changed and newkernels started coming out on a regular schedule every 2-3 months, numbered 2.6.0,2.6.1, up through 2.6.39.
On 21 July 2011 Linus Torvalds announced the release ofLinux 3.0: "Gone are the 2.6.<bignum> days".[17] Theversion bump is not about major technological changes when compared to Linux 2.6.39;[18] itmarks the kernel's 20th anniversary.[19]
As of 2012, the Linux 3.2 release had 14,998,651 lines ofcode.[20]
