More than ten-years ago, I helped Linux’s adoption a little bit along by proving out that Linux and Samba actually worked faster than the then dominant Windows NT operating system. Today, as we bid the ‘noughts’ adieu, everyone uses Linux from devices, such as DVR (digital video recorders) and smartphones; to the Internet where everything from search engines such as Google to the social networks like Facebook and Twitter rely on Linux to vital business networks like the world’s stock markets, which run on Linux. Only the desktop remains unconquered and who knows? Between Linux-powered netbooks and Google’s Chrome OS, by 2019 perhaps even that will have changed. After all, who would have thought in 1999 that Linux would have quietly become so prevalent throughout computing?
Let’s take a look at this last decade and see how Linux made its journey from niche operating system to its current prominence.