The concept of open source programming has been around for many years-its roots stem from universities that needed to be able to share information as well as follow students and developers to adapt programs to meet their needs. In 1984, Richard Stallman, a researcher at the MIT AI Lab, started a project he called GNU to counter the fast-moving trend toward proprietary, fee-based software. Stallman, who remains an open advocate of open source, believes that making source code available to anyone who wants it is integral to furthering computer science and innovation.
This concept served as the basis of Linux development, the brainchild of Linus Torvalds. When Torvalds began developing Linux in 1991, he was a student at the University of Helsinki and originally targeted Linux at the Intel 386 (although it is now one of the most widely ported operating systems available for Pcs). Torvalds wanted to write a new version of UNIX, so he and a group of programmes combined talents and created a core operating system called Linux.
The system evolved as a large number of volunteer developers worked on the kernel, sharing information over the Internet and creating an unusual community that supported and policed itself. If one developers decided to drop a specific Linux project, others would pick up where their predecessors left off. The result, which continues to grow and change, is the open source system available over the Internet (and in packaged Cds) today.
Credit : Mimos Open Source