From 0.01 to 5.4: Tracing the Evolution of the Linux Kernel and openEuler

Linux Kernel Development Overview

openEuler is an enterprise‑grade Linux distribution based on the Linux kernel, supporting the Kunpeng architecture and TaiShan servers. The series will cover kernel programming theory, source analysis, and practical methods, focusing on kernel development up to August 2020.

1. Linux Kernel History

In 1991, Linus Torvalds released version 0.01 of the kernel (originally named Freax). Since then, the kernel has grown from a few thousand lines to millions, spawning numerous distributions such as Debian, Ubuntu, and Red Hat Enterprise Linux.

Version   Release Date   Highlights
0.00     1991‑02‑04    Initial upload
0.01     1991‑09       First public release
0.02     1991‑10‑05    Early extensions
0.10     1991‑10       Early stable releases
0.11     1991‑12‑08    Basic functional kernel
0.12     1992‑01‑15    Math co‑processor emulation
0.95     1992‑03‑08    Virtual file system ideas
0.96     1992‑05‑12    Network support added
1.0      1994‑03‑14    First stable 1.0 release
2.0      1996‑02‑09    Major milestone
2.4      2001‑01‑04    SMP support
2.6      2003‑12‑17    Major improvements (multicore, 64‑bit)
2.6.15   2006          IPv6 enhancements
3.0      2011‑07‑21    Btrfs, Xen, new hardware support
3.10     2013‑06‑30    bcache, XFS checksums, TCP fast open
4.0      2015‑04‑12    Live patching, KASAN, DAX
4.4      2016‑01‑10    Virtual GPU, eBPF, async I/O
4.9      2016‑12‑11    BBR TCP, reflink, BPF improvements
5.0      2019‑03‑03    Energy‑aware scheduling, ARM pointer auth
5.4      2019‑11‑24    Kernel lockdown, fs‑verity, virtio‑fs

2. openEuler Features

Huawei’s server OS, originally called EulerOS, has been open‑sourced as openEuler. It is built on the Linux kernel, supports Kunpeng and other processors, and targets workloads such as databases, big data, cloud computing, and AI.

3. Upcoming Series

The forthcoming installments will analyze openEuler’s ARM support, process mechanisms, memory management, file systems, networking, virtualization, container technology, security, device drivers, and boot process. Each chapter will include practical exercises to help readers apply the concepts.

4. Conclusion

The Linux kernel’s continuous evolution adds new functionality and complexity, making it a powerful foundation for modern computing platforms.