Researched1991 · Digital Age (1990 – 2015)

Open Source & Linux

Linus Torvalds releases a free Unix-like kernel in 1991; with the GNU tools it shows that software written openly over the internet can win.

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Richard Stallman's GNU project (1983) supplied free tools and a licence that keeps code open, and Linux supplied the kernel. Linux now runs most servers, all top supercomputers and, via Android, most phones.

Prerequisites

The Internet1969
Unix & the C Language1969

Unlocks

Cloud Computing2006
Smartphone2007Android is built on the Linux kernel
Exascale Supercomputers2022Linux runs all of the world's top supercomputers
AI Accelerators & Data Centers2026AI data centres run on Linux

Sources

Wikipedia: Linux

Open Source & Linux

Prerequisites

Unlocks

Sources

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