Linux 0.00

!Linux 0.01 >

Linux 0.00

Linux 0.00, in all its glory, running in QEMU
Developer(s)	Linus Torvalds
Initial release	1991
Architecture	i386

Ever wondered what the first version of Linux was like? Well... it's nothing terribly interesting.

At this point, the OS consisted of two whole assembly files, a booter, and a kernel which boots into protected mode, and executes two hard coded tasks. The tasks? To switch between printing "AAAA" and "BBBB" in an endless loop.

Linus said about this version:

So after getting a simple task-switcher (it switched between two
processes that printed AAAA...  and BBBB...  respectively by using the
timer-interrupt - Gods I was proud over that)

Running it

To run it in QEMU:

• Download the bootable floppy here
• Extract the .gz somewhere
• Start QEMU with a command like this:

emu-system-i386 -m 1 -cpu 486 -fda boot00.vfd

• Watch as the AAAA's and BBBB's print on your screen!

What runs?

• AAAA
• BBBB

Source Code

Believe it or not, the source code for this thing was actually preserved, and you can see it here!