‘Linux is obsolete’ thread is started, January 29, 1992 | EDN

#OnThisDay in tech history, ‘Linux is obsolete’ thread is started, pitting Torvalds' Linux against Tanenbaum's Minix

When Minix creator Andy Tanenbaum posted the infamous “Linux is obsolete” thread on comp.os.minix on January 29, 1992, it would spark what would become a famous historical tech debate between himself and Linux creator Linus Torvalds. The Linux kernel had just been released by Torvalds in October 1991. The Usenet discussion group debate would branch to 73 posts as speculation spread beyond operating systems to future computing designs and MPU architecture. Tanenbaum was first to strike, posting that the Linux kernel had a monolithic design that he believed was detrimental to its abilities. A base of his argument was that the Linux kernel was too closely tied to the x86 line of processors to be of any use in the future, as he believed x86 architecture would be superseded in coming computing designs. He mentioned how writing a monolithic kernel in 1991 is "a giant step back i...

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