How Linux got to be Linux: Test driving 1993-2003 distros

jeremy · 12-20-2016, 09:34 AM

Quote:

Enjoy a trip down Linux memory lane as we take early distros for a spin.

A unique trait of open source is that it's never truly EOL (End of Life). The disc images mostly remain online, and their licenses don't expire, so going back and installing an old version of Linux in a virtual machine and getting a precise picture of what progress Linux has made over the years is relatively simple.

We begin our journey with Slackware 1.01, posted to the comp.os.linux.announce newsgroup well over 20 years ago.

Slackware 1.01 (1993)

The best part about trying Slackware 1.01 is that there's a pre-made image in Qemu's 2014 series of free images, so you don't have to perform the install manually (don't get used to this luxury).

Debian 0.91 (1994)

To try Debian 0.91, I used the floppy disk images available on the Ibiblio digital archive, originally posted in 1994. The commands to boot:

Jurix/S.u.S.E. (1996)

A pre-cursor to SUSE, Jurix shipped with binary .tgz packages organized into directories resembling the structure of Slackware's install packages. The installer itself is also similar to Slackware's installer.

SUSE 5.1 (1998)

I installed SUSE 5.1 from a InfoMagic CD-ROM purchased from a software store in Maryland in 1998.

Opensource.com for more... (including Red hat, Mandrake, Fedora, and the exact commands used to boot each.)

--jeremy