this post was submitted on 03 Jul 2024
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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
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The thing that sticks with me is video card support. Back then (before Nvidia, 3dfx, etc) you had VGA cards that had one of a number of chipsets on, but it would be paired with a video timing chip and a RAMDAC. Buying a card required knowing which combination of parts it used and which combinations had support in XFree86. Then writing the configuration required knowing the video timings supported by your monitor. Not just frequencies, but blanking periods and such like.
EDID solved that last problem.
I remember a really smart, very nerdy family friend telling us about Linux around 1997/98 and this was the experience he described. It sounded interesting but also like a crazy amount of work.
There were some tools available to make it easy. For instance, to get a modeline that might work for your monitor just fill out this simple form.
Lol, I haven't thought about that site in a long, long time. Shocked it's still there, in all it's perl glory.
You never know when you'll need to install period Linux on an old piece of hardware.
You can also install modern Linux on an old piece of hardware too! https://www.adelielinux.org/ is pretty shockingly compatible, back to a Pentium-class system. (A P166 was the oldest I've personally installed it on).
I wouldn't uh, say it was all that useful, but it's still sitting on the retro computer pile doing retro computer stuff.
Weirdly, I think it all got me my first job. I interviewed at a graphics card manufacturer and the interviewer placed one of their cards on the table and said "tell me what's on that card".
I picked it up and pointed out all the components because I knew them all by their part numbers that were written on them. I hadn't seen them before, but I knew they were options in XFree86. Then add in that the regular array of chips was likely VRAM and the chips with the same logo on them as was above the door where the companies own video processors.
I didn't know how any of it worked, but he didn't know that. All he saw was a fresh graduate that just effortlessly identified some quite esoteric components of a design he'd personally made.