This document provides a history and overview of Linux. It discusses the prehistory of Linux including early operating systems like Unix, BSD, and MINIX. It then describes how Linus Torvalds created the first version of the Linux kernel in 1991 and made it open source. The document outlines some major versions of the Linux kernel and provides timelines showing the development and releases of popular Linux distributions like Debian, Red Hat, Ubuntu, and Android. It also summarizes several popular Linux desktop environments such as KDE, GNOME, Xfce, and Cinnamon.
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