Linux Timeline - From Hobby to World Domination

An interactive timeline visualization showing key milestones in Linux history from 1991 to 2025.

Overview

This timeline helps students remember key milestones in Linux history and appreciate how quickly it evolved from a Finnish student's hobby project to powering the world's infrastructure. The timeline covers 34 years of Linux development, from Linus Torvalds' humble announcement on August 25, 1991, to Linux's current status as the foundation of modern computing.

Features

Interactive Elements

Zoom and Pan: Scroll to zoom in/out, click and drag to pan across the timeline
Event Details: Click any event to see full details in the panel below
Hover Tooltips: Hover over events to see historical context notes
Category Filtering: Use filter buttons to view specific types of events

Visual Design

Color-coded categories: Each event category has a distinct color for easy identification
Responsive layout: Works on desktop, tablet, and mobile devices
Legend: Visual guide showing category colors and meanings

Timeline Events

Year	Event	Category
1991	Linus posts first announcement	Community
1992	Linux adopts GPL license	Technical
1993	First distributions appear (Slackware, Debian)	Community
1994	Linux 1.0 released	Technical
1996	Tux the penguin becomes mascot	Community
1998	Major companies announce Linux support	Commercial
2000	Red Hat becomes $1B company	Commercial
2004	Ubuntu launches	Commercial
2008	Android (Linux-based) launches	Mobile/Modern
2012	Linux dominates cloud computing	Mobile/Modern
2015	Microsoft says "we love Linux"	Commercial
2020	All top 500 supercomputers run Linux	Technical
2025	Linux is everywhere	Mobile/Modern

Learning Objectives

After exploring this timeline, students should be able to:

Remember key dates in Linux history
Understand how Linux evolved from hobby to infrastructure
Appreciate the role of community in open source success
Recognize the commercial validation of open source software

Technical Details

Timeline Library: vis-timeline 7.7.3
Data Format: TimelineJS-compatible JSON
Browser Compatibility: Modern browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge)
Dependencies: vis-timeline.js (loaded from CDN)

Customization

Adding New Events

Edit timeline.json and add a new event object:

{
  "start_date": {
    "year": "2026",
    "month": "1",
    "day": "1"
  },
  "text": {
    "headline": "New Milestone",
    "text": "Description of the milestone."
  },
  "group": "Category Name",
  "notes": "Additional context for tooltip."
}

Changing Colors

Edit the categoryColors object in main.html:

const categoryColors = {
    'Community': '#27ae60',    // Green
    'Technical': '#3498db',    // Blue
    'Commercial': '#e67e22',   // Orange
    'Mobile/Modern': '#9b59b6' // Purple
};

Category	Color	Description
Community	Green	Community-driven milestones and adoption
Technical	Blue	Technical releases and achievements
Commercial	Orange	Corporate adoption and business milestones
Mobile/Modern	Purple	Modern era including mobile and cloud