GNU Project to the Desktop Linux

Linux all started with the GNU Project. The GNU is a mass collaboration and free software project created by Richard Stallman. It initialized software development inspired by the idea that software must be free.

Eventually, MINIX came in 1987 and released by Andrew S. Tanenbaum. MINIX is a Unix type of system that was made readily available, but without the possibility of modification or redistribution.

Later, in 1991, a man named Linus Torvalds, who was studying that time at the University of Helsinki in Finland, started to work on a possible non-commercial replacement of MINIX. His work was eventually known, until now, as the Linux kernel. The Linux kernel was released by Torvalds and was eventually developed by him and many others who contributed codes and ideas.
By the end of 1991, three versions of Linux were already released – Linux 0.01, Linux 0.02, and Linux 0.11.

Several versions and updates eventually followed. In 1994, Linux introduced Linux 1.0.0 and one year after, it was the release of Linux 1.2.0.

The year 1996 also proved to be a highlight in the history of Linux as it released the Version 2 of Linux. After that, five more follow-up versions of Linux version 2 came: Linux 2.2.0 in January 1999, Linux 2.2.13 in December of the same year, Linux 2.4.0 in January 2001, Linux 2.6.0 in December 2003, and just recently, Linux 2.6.25 in April 2008.

The developers of both Linux and GNU eventually worked together to come up with a very functional and non-commercial (absolutely free) operating system.

No. 1 Recommended Website for History
URL: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Linux

This is a very detailed explanation of the history of Linux. The chapter presents in a very precise manner the evolution of Linux and the updates and improvements it went through later on. It also discussed with the right details the story that led to the creation of Linux. The section is also very helpful as it presents the chronology of Linux and its past.

No. 2 Recommended Website for History
URL: http://linuxhelp.blogspot.com/2005/11/complete-concise-history-of-gnulinux.html

Here is the complete and concise presentation of the history of Linux. Much has been posted on the Internet with the same subject. But this one is very rich of relevant information you will want to discover more about Linux. It is also presented in a bulleted form so you will easily understand the points. It’s a guided discussion of Linux’ history and even includes a very helpful Linux Pyramid, which I doubt you will find anywhere else. The website in itself is a guide on using Linux. You may want to click on other links to know more.

No. 3 Recommended Website for History
URL: http://liw.iki.fi/liw/texts/linux-the-big-picture.html

This site, meanwhile, shows a larger picture of Linux. It also talks about how Linux has become an interesting social phenomenon. It also provides several links and resource materials if you want to seek for further knowledge about Linux. All in all, it is a very useful site where the answers to your questions can be found.