# Linux has a fascinating history that dates back to the early 1990s.

1. **Origins**: Linux began as a personal project by Linus Torvalds, a Finnish student, in 1991. He aimed to create a free operating system kernel¹².
2. **Unix Influence**: The development of Linux was heavily influenced by Unix, an operating system created by Ken Thompson and Dennis Ritchie at AT&T Bell Labs in 1969¹².
3. **GNU Project**: In 1983, Richard Stallman started the GNU Project to create a free Unix-like operating system. Although the GNU kernel (Hurd) was incomplete, the project provided many essential tools for Linux¹².
4. **Release of Linux**: Linus Torvalds released the first version of the Linux kernel on September 17, 1991. It quickly gained popularity among developers and the open-source community¹².
5. **Growth and Development**: Over the years, Linux has grown significantly, with contributions from developers worldwide. It has become the foundation for many operating systems, including popular distributions like Ubuntu, Fedora, and Debian¹².

- [Wikipedia: History of Linux](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Linux)¹
- [LinuxSimply: History of Linux](https://linuxsimply.com/linux-basics/introduction/history-of-linux/)²

- [(1) History of Linux - Wikipedia.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Linux.)
- [(2) History of Linux [A Complete Overview] - LinuxSimply.](https://linuxsimply.com/linux-basics/introduction/history-of-linux/.)
= [(3) History of Linux - GeeksforGeeks.](https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/linux-history/.)
- [(4) The Complete History of Linux: Everything You Need to Know.](https://www.historytools.org/companies/the-complete-history-of-linux-everything-you-need-to-know.)