Agasti 25, 1991, ngemva kwezinyanga ezinhlanu zokuthuthukiswa, umfundi oneminyaka engu-21 ubudala, U-Linus Torvalds, umemezele kwi-teleconference i-comp.os.minix ukuthi i-prototype esebenzayo isiqediwe yesistimu yokusebenza entsha I-Linux, porting bash 1.08 kanye ne-gcc 1.40.
Ngale ndlela ngokungazi kungaba ukukhululwa kokuqala komphakathi kwe-Linux kernel eyethulwa ngoSepthemba 17. I-Kernel 0.0.1 yacindezelwa yaba ngu-62 KB futhi iqukethe cishe imigqa engu-10.000 yekhodi yomthombo, ngokungafani nenguqulo yamanje, i-Linux kernel yesimanje inemigqa yekhodi engaphezu kwezigidi ezingu-30.
I-Linux kernel kukhuthazwe uhlelo lokusebenza lwe-MINIX, okwakungamfanelanga uLinus ngelayisensi yakhe enomkhawulo. Ngemva kwalokho, lapho i-Linux iba iphrojekthi eyaziwa kakhulu, abagxeki wazama ukusola uLinus ngokukopela ngokuqondile ikhodi yezinye izinhlelo ezingaphansi I-MINIX.
Ukuhlasela kwaxoshwa ngu-Andrew Tanenbaum, umbhali we-MINIX, owathuma umfundi ukuthi enze ukuqhathanisa okuningiliziwe kwekhodi ye-Minix nezinguqulo zokuqala ezisesidlangalaleni ze-Linux. Imiphumela yocwaningo ibonise ukuba khona kwamakhodi amane amancane okufana vimba, ngenxa yezidingo ze-POSIX ne-ANSI C.
U-Linus ekuqaleni wayecabanga ukuqamba i-kernel Freax, kusukela emagameni athi “mahhala”, “i-freak” kanye no-X (Unix). Kodwa Igama elithi "Linux" lanikezwa i-kernel ngu-Ari Lemmke, okwathi, ngesicelo sikaLinus, wabeka i-kernel kuseva ye-FTP yenyuvesi, eqamba uhla lwemibhalo ngefayela hhayi "i-freax", njengoba uTorvalds ecelile, kodwa "linux".
Kuyaphawuleka ukuthi usomabhizinisi osafufusa uWilliam Della Croce ukwazile ukubhalisa uphawu lokuthengisa lwe-Linux futhi wayefuna ukuqoqa imali yokukhokha ngokuhamba kwesikhathi, kodwa kamuva washintsha umqondo futhi wadlulisela wonke amalungelo ophawu lokuthengisa ku-Linus. I-mascot esemthethweni ye-Linux kernel, i-penguin Tux, yakhethwa njengomphumela womncintiswano owabanjwa ngo-1996 futhi igama lawo elithi Tux limele i-Torvalds UniX.
Ngokuqondene ne umlando wokukhula kwe-kernel, sabelana kancane ngayo:
- Septhemba 1991: I-Linux 0.0.1, ukukhishwa kokuqala komphakathi okusekela kuphela i-i386 CPU namabhuzu kusuka kudiski yediski.
Januwari 1992: I-Linux 0.12, ikhodi yaqala ukusatshalaliswa ngaphansi kwelayisense ye-GPLv2 - Mashi 1992: I-Linux 0.95, inikeze amandla wokusebenzisa i-X Window System, ukusekelwa kwememori ebonakalayo nokushintshaniswa kokwahlukanisa, kanye nokusabalalisa kokuqala kwe-SLS ne-Yggdrasil.
- Ehlobo lika-1993, amaphrojekthi weSlackware neDebian asungulwa.
Mashi 1994: I-Linux 1.0, inguqulo yokuqala ezinzile ngokusemthethweni.
Mashi 1995: I-Linux 1.2, ukwanda okuphawulekayo kwenani labashayeli, ukusekelwa kwamapulatifomu e-Alpha, MIPS nase-SPARC, ukunwetshwa kwamakhono esitaki senethiwekhi, ukuvela kwesihlungi sephakethe, ukwesekwa kweNFS. - Juni 1996: I-Linux 2.0, ukusekelwa kwama-processor amaningi.
- Januwari 1999: I-Linux 2.2, ukusebenza kahle kohlelo lokuphathwa kwememori, ukwesekwa okungeziwe kwe-IPv6, ukuqaliswa kwe-firewall entsha, yethule isistimu entsha yomsindo
- UFebrero de 2001: I-Linux 2.4, ukusekelwa kwama-processor ama-8 kanye ne-64 GB ye-RAM, uhlelo lwefayela le-Ext3, i-USB, ukwesekwa kwe-ACPI.
- Disemba 2003: I-Linux 2.6, ukuxhaswa kwe-SELinux, amathuluzi wokuhlela okuzenzakalelayo we-kernel, ama-sysfs, uhlelo lokulawulwa kwememori olwenziwe kabusha.
- NgoSepthemba 2008, kwakhiwa inguqulo yokuqala yesikhulumi se-Android esuselwa ku-Linux kernel.
- NgoJulayi 2011, ngemuva kweminyaka eyi-10 yokuthuthukiswa kwegatsha le-2.6.x, ukuguqulelwa ezinombolweni ze-3.x kwenziwa.
- Ngo 2015, I-Linux 4.0, inani lezinto ze-git endaweni yokugcina lifinyelele ezigidini ezi-4.
- Ngo-Ephreli we-2018, Ngisinqobile isithiyo sezinto eziyizigidi eziyisithupha ze-git-core endaweni yokugcina izinto.
- NgoJanuwari 2019, kwakhiwa igatsha le-Linux 5.0 kernel.
- Kuthunyelwe ngo-Agasti 2020, I-kernel 5.8 yayinkulu kakhulu ngokwesilinganiso soshintsho lwazo zonke izinhlamvu phakathi nayo yonke impilo yephrojekthi.
- Ngo 2021, ikhodi yokuthuthukisa abashayeli ngolimi lweRust ingezwe egatsheni elilandelayo le-Linux kernel.
- Ngo-Agasti 2022, igatsha le-Linux kernel 6.0 lakhiwa, njengoba bekunezinguqulo ezanele egatsheni le-5.x ukushintsha inombolo yokuqala kunombolo yenguqulo.