It's 35 years since Linus Torvalds first revealed Linux, calling it 'just a hobby' how wrong he was

Date:
Mon, 31 Aug 2026 13:00:00 +0000

Description:
Linus Torvalds introduced Linux as a hobby project in 1991, starting development that eventually produced a 40 million-line kernel.

FULL STORY ======================================================================Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Threads Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Subscribe to our newsletter Linus Torvalds introduced Linux in 1991 as a modest personal project Linux grew from roughly 10,000 lines
into more than 40 million Linux now operates across servers, embedded
devices, and cloud infrastructure worldwide On August 25, 1991, a 21-year-old Finnish computer enthusiast introduced an operating system project online.

At that time, Linus Torvalds was experimenting with Minix, an educational operating system created for teaching operating system principles. His announcement appeared on Usenet, where he sought reactions from people familiar with Minix and explained what he was developing. Latest Videos From TechRadar Watch full video here: A modest announcement becomes Linux Torvalds described the project cautiously, making clear that he did not expect
anything particularly large from his experiment.

In his original announcement, he wrote, "I'm doing a (free) operating system (just a hobby, won't be big and professional like gnu) for 386(486) AT
clones. This has been brewing since april, and is starting to get ready. I'd like any feedback on things people like/dislike in minix, as my OS resembles it somewhat (same physical layout of the file-system (due to practical reasons) among other things)." You may like Quote of the day by Linux creator Linus Torvalds: "Nvidia has been the single worst company we've ever dealt with" Linus Torvalds says 'huge' Linux kernel updates are now the status quo and it's all thanks to AI Linus Torvalds says Linux is not "anti-AI", tells haters to 'fork it' and 'just walk away'

However, this operating system did not remain merely an announcement for very long, because Torvalds released the first version less than one month later.

Linux became available on September 17, 1991, establishing a project that would continue developing through contributions from programmers worldwide. Are you a pro? Subscribe to our newsletter Sign up to the TechRadar Pro newsletter to get all the top news, opinion, features and guidance your business needs to succeed! Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

The early project therefore moved quickly from private experimentation into something available for other developers to examine and modify.

Its development model eventually became closely associated with open-source software, where publicly available code permits further examination and modification. From personal project to computing mainstay The scale of
Linux's later adoption contrasts sharply with the modest expectations expressed in Torvalds' original announcement. What to read next 35 years ago today, the World Wide Web changed our lives forever A single character could be enough to let hackers crack your Linux kernel "C is quirky, flawed, and an enormous success" Quote of the day by the creator of the programming
language Dennis Ritchie

Linux also became an important foundation for technologies that millions of people encounter without necessarily knowing which operating system supports them.

What began around personal computers eventually became associated with servers, embedded systems, cloud computing infrastructure, and numerous other computing environments.

By January 2025, the Linux kernel had grown from roughly 10,000 lines in 1991 to more than 40 million lines of code.

The 6.19 kernel development cycle involved 2,141 developers and produced 14,344 non-merge changesets during its development.

Linux also runs on all 500 systems listed in the TOP500 ranking of the
world's most powerful supercomputers.

The project's development now involves thousands of contributors, with Open Hub recording 6,201 contributors during its latest twelve-month period.

Its continued development has involved contributions from individuals, companies, organisations, and communities working across different parts of the tech industry.

Thirty-five years after that initial announcement, Torvalds remains closely involved with Linux development, although the project's circumstances have changed considerably.

The anniversary therefore provides a direct comparison between the project's modest beginnings and its extensive role across modern computing
environments.

Torvalds' original description was understandable given his circumstances, since he was announcing a personal project rather than predicting decades of technological adoption.

Still, describing Linux as merely a hobby now appears remarkably restrained considering how extensively the operating system subsequently spread.

The original message remains available today, preserving an unusually clear record of the moment Linux first entered public discussion.

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