History of Red Hat Linux - Fedora Project Wiki
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`History of Red Hat
`Linux
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`Contents
`◾ 1 Abstract
`◾ 2 Naming convention
`◾ 3 Other Historical Information
`◾ 4 Thanks
`Abstract
`There has been over a decade of Linux development at Red Hat. This document describes that history,
`particularly focusing on the development themes for each release of Linux provided by Red Hat.
`Release History
`
`“You know, it's a funny thing. We go ahead and do things, and afterward, people go and start making
`history out of it.” — Fred Weick, Aircraft Designer. For the first decade or so, we did not set out to
`write the history of Red Hat Linux, so some of this data is a bit fuzzy or conflicting. We hope to do
`more research into our own past to give more useful data. This history is embryonic. It is intended to
`give some sense of where we have been, to help build a shared understanding of what we did right, as
`well as what we have done wrong, in order to continue a tradition of excellence.
`
`In the following table, the Version number is prefaced by "RHL" for Red Hat Linux, "RHEL" for Red
`Hat Enterprise Linux, and "FC" for Fedora Core.
`
`Date
`
`Version
`
`Code Name
`(or Release
`Name)
`
`Description
`
`July 29
`1994
`
`n/a
`
`Preview (or
`Beta)
`
`Initial test release, not distributed widely or publicly, built on
`Red Hat's original package management system, RPP. This
`was called "Red Hat Software Linux" and abbreviated "RHS
`Linux" in the manuals and other accompanying
`documentation, and was provided on a single CD with an
`unmarked solid red label. The letter accompanying it
`thanked the recipient for purchasing the beta version and was
`signed by Marc Ewing (Red Hat's founder) and Damien Neil
`(Red Hat's first employee, a summer intern). It used a 1.1.18
`development series kernel. Reports of a version number for
`this product appear to be exaggerated.
`
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`SAMSUNG EXHIBIT 1022
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`First widely-available beta release of Red Hat Linux. It was
`still a purchased beta, but at least now it came with
`documentation. Users had their choice of the 1.0.9 (stable) or
`1.1.54 (development) Linux kernel. The manual still referred
`in at least one place to the 1.1.18 kernel shipped just a few
`months previously. The manual also suggested that most
`users would not use the rpp program to install software;
`instead, they would use the Tcl/Tk LIM (Linux Installation
`Manager) graphical front end.
`
`Halloween
`
`October 31
`1994
`
`RHL 0.9
`
`May 1995 RHL 1.0
`
`One of the critical factors that made RHS Linux a success
`even as a beta was the focus on graphical configuration
`tools; even this early beta had graphical tools to configure
`users and groups, /etc/fstab, time and date (this tool even had
`an easter egg!), and most importantly, networking. Few
`people today recall the pain of setting up networking on
`Linux completely from scratch, following steps in a long
`HOWTO document, and then going through the process
`again after installing (not upgrading to) every new version of
`their distribution they installed.
`First non-beta release of Red Hat Linux, it was not released
`on the 13th (Mothers' Day that year) but that was the closest
`holiday, and so it got its name. Built on the 1.2.8 kernel, this
`release introduced the name "Red Hat Commercial Linux"
`instead of "Red Hat Software Linux", and replaced the very
`tall top hat logo with an image of a man walking quickly,
`Mother's Day
`carrying a briefcase, and holding on to a red hat. This was
`the first release done after ACC Bookstores (Bob Young)
`bought out Red Hat Software, Inc. (Mark Ewing) and
`adopted the better name. (ACC Bookstores was so named in
`order to appear first alphabetically.)
`Bug fix release. 1.2.11 or 1.2.13 kernel, depending on
`exactly which version you got! Known in at least one
`incarnation as "The Official Red Hat Commercial Linux".
`The name, for reasons lost in time has always been
`pronounced "Mother's Day Plus One".
`Beta of first release to use RPM, which meant that upgrades
`from earlier releases were not supported. This version of
`RPM was written in Perl for quick development. First release
`using the ELF format for libraries and executables; previous
`releases used the "a.out" format.
`First formal release using RPM. Marketing typography
`called this "Red Hat LiNUX".
`
`Late
`Summer
`1995
`
`Later
`Summer
`1995
`
`RHL 1.1
`
`Mother's
`Day+0.1
`
`RHL 2.0 beta ?
`
`Early Fall
`1995
`
`RHL 2.0
`
` ?
`
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`November
`1995
`
`RHL 2.1
`
`Bluesky
`
`March 15
`1996
`
`RHL 3.0.3
`
`Picasso
`
`July-
`August
`1996
`
`RHL
`3.0.4/3.95
`
`Rembrandt
`
`Bug fix release. Digital (remember them?) did a promotional
`CD of "Red Hat 2.1 LiNUX" for the x86 platform as a teaser
`for the forthcoming release of a Red Hat Software product
`for their Alpha platform; "Red Hat Linux/Alpha 2.1" was
`released in January 1996. Included the 1.2.13 (stable) and
`1.3.32 (development) kernels.
`Engineers intended this release to be called "2.2" but
`marketing (i.e. Bob Young) decided it would sell better if it
`were called "3.0.3" ("3.03" in some places). Red Hat is still
`in business today, so maybe Bob was right. The release was
`now called "Official" Red Hat LiNUX' (yes, the quotes
`around 'Official' were part of the name, at least on the CD
`and some of the box copy; in other places, it was in italic
`typeface instead). This was to separate the version Red Hat
`sold from the versions sold by third parties such as
`Infomagic. It was also called "Red Hat™; Software, Inc.
`LiNUX", "RED HAT LINUX", and "Red Hat Linux" on the
`box.
`
`This was the first approximately concurrent multi-
`architecture release; the (then) Digital Alpha platform was
`supported. (The binary file format was still a.out for the
`Alpha platform because the ELF standard for Alpha was not
`yet ratified; there were no shared libraries on Alpha, either.)
`
`This was also the first release to feature the proprietary
`Metro-X accelerated X server as a feature of the release. It
`was also the first to include glint, the "Graphical Linux
`INstallation Tool", as a graphical front end for RPM. It also
`included graphical printer configuration.
`Beta leading up to the 4.0 release. RPM re-written in C (I
`think for this beta). First release with Pluggable
`Authentication Modules (PAM). New configuration tools
`being written in Python with Tk Inter instead of TCL/TK;
`first example was a new network configuration tool. Thanks
`to the new 2.0 kernel, this was the first release to use kernel
`modules; before this, there were 72 different kernels from
`which users had to choose to match their hardware. Now,
`hardware differences could be handled by loading different
`modules.
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`October 3
`1996
`
`RHL 4.0
`
`Colgate
`
`February 3
`1997
`
`RHL 4.1
`
`Vanderbilt
`
`May 19
`1997
`
`RHL 4.2
`
`Biltmore
`
`Three architectures supported: x86, Alpha, and SPARC.
`Alpha was able to use the ELF file format in this release,
`since the standard was ratified and tool support
`implemented. This release also introduced our current
`Shadowman™ logo. Based on the 2.0.18 kernel. First release
`to include documentation freely available in electronic form
`as well as "dead tree" format in the box. First release to ship
`the spyglass-derived "Red Baron" browser as a proprietary
`value-add.
`Bug fix release. Kernel 2.0.27.
`
`Info World, Best of 1996, Operating Systems.
`Continued to use a slightly old version of libc (5.3) instead
`of newer 5.4 version because of instability and gratuitous
`incompatibility in the new version. One of the first really
`widely-criticized technical decisions between versions of
`software in Red Hat Linux, this decision was vindicated, at
`least for the distribution developers, by the flood of bug
`reports and demonstrated instability on other distributions
`that shipped libc 5.4. Last release to ship the Red Baron
`browser, which proved very buggy.
`
`August 27,
`September
`16 1997
`
`RHL
`4.8/4.8.1/4.95
`
`Thunderbird
`
`First release to use glibc 2.0. First formal beta release
`program.
`
`October 7,
`16 1997
`
`RHL
`4.9/4.9.1/4.96
`
`Mustang
`
`December
`1 1997
`
`RHL 5.0
`
`Hurricane
`
`Another set of beta releases; the massive changes introduced
`by changing C library versions made it critical that Red Hat
`ran a two-cycle beta instead of just one or even zero cycles
`as before. The experience we had of the gain in quality from
`this very public beta process was a formative experience and
`cemented a resolve to have strong beta processes for future
`releases.
`Released in time for Christmas sales, Hurricane was named
`partly in recognition (it is hard to call it honor) of the
`hurricane that had swept over Red Hat a few months before
`and done a great deal of damage to the surrounding area, but
`essentially spared the Red Hat offices. First release to
`include BRU2000-PE™ backup and Real Audio™ client and
`server software as proprietary value-add components.
`
`1997 Info World Product of the Year.
`
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`Debuted the Linux Applications CD, a disk with primarily
`proprietary applications from third-party companies that
`worked on Red Hat Linux. Some pieces of GNOME were
`included for building a few applications, and a preview
`release of GNOME was included in a separate directory,
`though it wasn't part of the installation. First release to ship
`linuxconf as a centralized configuration tool. First release to
`include the proprietary Netscape browser. Last release to
`have a live filesystem tree on the CD; after this the size of
`the software outgrew the space for it.
`
`PC Magazine Technical Innovation Awards: Editorial
`Fellows' Award Winner, 1998; Australian Personal
`Computer, Editor's Choice, and Just Plain Cool Award,
`1998.
`Technology preview of GNOME included in a separate
`directory.
`
`LinuxWorld, Show Favorite: Software.
`
`glibc 2.1, egcs, 2.2 kernel, GNOME integrated.
`
`Desktop Engineering, Readers' Choice Award, 1999; Wired
`for 3D, 1999 Editor's Choice Award Winner
`First beta release with graphical installer (anaconda); the
`installer was completely re-written, including implementing
`graphical mode and reimplementing text mode, in Python.
`Info World, 1999 Product of the Year, Operating Systems;
`Information Week, 1999 Product of the year; Internet Week,
`1999 Best of Breed and 1999 Approved; Popular Science,
`1999 Award for Computer and Software; International
`Engineering Consortium, Infovision 2000 Award, Private
`Networks; Network Magazine, 2000 Product of the Year,
`Server OS.
`
`June 1 1998 RHL 5.1
`
`Manhattan
`
`October 12
`1998
`
`March 17,
`1999
`
`April 19
`1999
`
`September
`6 1999
`
`RHL 5.2
`
`Apollo
`
`RHL 5.9
`
`Starbuck
`
`RHL 6.0
`
`Hedwig
`
`RHL 6.0.50 Lorax
`
`October 4
`1999
`
`RHL 6.1
`
`Cartman
`
`February 9
`2000
`March 27
`2000
`July 31
`2000
`
`RHL 6.1.92 Piglet
`
`The world did not end.
`
`RHL 6.2
`
`Zoot
`
`First release to ship ISO images for FTP download.
`
`RHL 6.9.5
`
`Pinstripe
`
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`September
`25 2000
`
`RHL 7.0
`
`Guinness
`
`glibc 2.2. 2.4 kernel just didn't make it in time, we decided
`that glibc version was a bigger user-space distinguisher than
`kernel version. First release that supported Red Hat Network
`out of the box.
`
`This release introduced what Red Hat called gcc 2.96 in this
`release, and later re-named gcc 2.96RH. The gcc developers
`who had been working for Cygnus Solutions when it was a
`separate company recommended that Red Hat base its work
`on a stabilized snapshot in order to get much better C++
`support. Due to misunderstanding, this was not discussed
`with other gcc maintainers first, and a flame war erupted
`afterward about Red Hat using this version number, thus the
`renaming to gcc 2.96RH in future versions. Red Hat
`provides an official response to this altercation.
`
`January 31
`2001
`February
`21 2001
`
`RHL 7.0.90 Fisher
`
`Introduced the 2.4 kernel.
`
`RHL 7.0.91 Wolverine
`
`April 16
`2001
`
`RHL 7.1
`
`Seawolf
`
`August 2,
`21 2001
`
`RHL 7.1.93,
`7.1.94
`
`Roswell
`
`October 22
`2001
`
`RHL 7.2
`
`Enigma
`
`First non-"point-zero" release to include a new stable kernel
`stream. This release was considerably delayed internally, but
`barely externally due to heroics on the part of project
`management, by a major fight to resolve a very subtle data
`corruption issue in the kernel. This was also the first release
`to simultaneously support all supported languages, including
`CJK (Chinese, Japanese, and Korean).
`
`This was the first release to ship with Mozilla.
`The ext3 journaling filesystem become the default
`filesystem, and the installer offers to convert ext2
`filesystems to ext3 as part of the installation process. Grub
`replaces LILO as default boot manager.
`GNOME 1.4, KDE 2.2. This was the development basis for
`Red Hat Enterprise Linux 2.1 AS, originally marketed as
`Red Hat Advanced Server 2.1, though RHEL 2.1 AS also
`included some fixes that also ended up being included in Red
`Hat Linux 7.3.
`
`Network Computing, 2002 Well-Connected Awards Finalist.
`
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`March 22
`2002
`
`RHL 7.2.91 Skipjack
`
`May 6 2002 RHL 7.3
`
`Valhalla
`
`May 6 2002 RHEL 2.1 AS (Pensacola)
`
`July 4, 29;
`August 19
`2002
`
`RHL 7.3.29,
`7.3.93, 7.3.94
`
`Limbo/(null)
`
`September
`30, 2002
`
`RHL 8.0
`
`Psyche
`
`Despite the fact that we always said that we did not pre-
`announce version numbers, and that there was no guarantee
`that we would always do a ".0" release, a ".1" release, and a
`".2" release, there had been a strong pattern so far through
`the 4, 5, 6, and 7 releases. We finally broke the mold when it
`became obvious that it was going to take too long to get
`gcc3, GTK+ 2, Python2, etc. all mature for a timely Red Hat
`Linux 8.0 release. Therefore, not long before this beta, we
`cut out the new stuff, rebuilt with the old compiler, and set
`off to chart new ".3" territory.
`The last release to carry the proprietary Netscape browser.
`Red Hat Enterprise Linux 2.1 AS (originally launched as
`Red Hat Linux Advanced Server 2.1), Red Hat's first
`Enterprise offering (Red Hat Linux 6.2E was essentially a
`version of Red Hat Linux 6.2 with different support levels,
`and was not separately engineered) was based on Red Hat
`Linux 7.2, but included important fixes from Red Hat Linux
`7.3. Explicitly supported by many ISVs, it provided much
`higher support levels with smaller changes than Red Hat had
`provided in the past. Red Hat has concentrated its
`commercial support activities on this line of products.
`Due to the circumstances causing this name change in the
`middle of this release cycle, all our code names now need to
`be approved by Red Hat's legal department. Tested 700MB
`ISO images, but they caused too much trouble.
`Lots of new technology in this release. gcc 3.2, glibc 2.3
`release candidate (officially approved and requested by
`upstream maintainer!), Open Office.org 1.0.1, GNOME 2,
`KDE 3.0.3.
`
`Bluecurve™ was also introduced with the goal of providing
`a pleasant, unified look across the two desktops and many
`applications included in the release. Despite being slightly
`controversial to a select few, Bluecurve™ was a smashing
`success. Several other distributions took notice and began to
`follow in the footsteps of providing a better user experience
`through cohesive cross-desktop default themes, which was
`the major rationale of the Red Hat Artwork project.
`
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`March 31
`2003
`
`RHL 9
`
`Shrike
`
`July 21
`2003
`
`RHL 9.0.93 Severn
`
`September
`25 2003
`
`FC 0.94
`
`Severn
`
`Start of some new directions. In the past, Red Hat worked to
`maintain both forward and backward compatibility within a
`major version series. In the future, Red Hat will not be trying
`to enable building software on newer releases that runs on
`older releases, thus the change in versoning.
`
`First release to include NPTL (Native POSIX Thread
`Library) support, using glibc 2.3.2 and kernel 2.4.20 with
`NPTL support backported from the 2.5.x development
`kernels. Also, KDE 3.1 and GNOME 2.2.
`
`This release is the basis of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3.
`Final Red Hat Linux beta release; this release started Red
`Hat's process of creating an open development process.
`A week after Red Hat announced that its open development
`process was in the process of merging with the pre-existing
`Fedora Linux project to create the Fedora Project, the
`renamed second beta came out: Fedora Core 1 test 2, version
`0.94. This was the first test release to have a really functional
`version of the exec-shield security-enhancing patch.
`See Historical Fedora Release Schedules for its Date and
`Code Name.
`
`Fedora
`..
`N/A
`Release
`Naming convention
`Starting with Picasso, Red Hat has given releases of Red Hat Linux code names. (These names are
`included in the /etc/redhat-release file, with the version number.) The code names follow a strict
`pattern — at least, we have tried to make them follow a strict pattern. Name n and n+1 must share an
`is-a (not a has-a) relationship, but n and n+2 must not share an is-a relationship. (Extra credit for
`finding the small mistakes we made; we are now aware that we have at least one case where n and n+2
`share an is-a relationship. The best-laid plans of mice and men gang aft a-gley.) Sometimes the name
`has changed from one beta release to another; more often it has not. There is no subtle message
`encoded in whether the name changes from one beta release to the next. Red Hat Enterprise Linux
`releases have not had code names; only release names which have also been used in place of code
`names.
`
`In the past few years, there have also been a set of release names applied to each release by product
`management; these names are per formal release, where the beta has the same name as the follow-on
`product. Red Hat has not formally published these names, but several of them have become common
`knowledge anyway. These names have been geographical; they were originally the birthplaces of
`various members of the product management team, but those ran out and we had to find other
`geographical names.
`
`Red Hat Enterprise Linux have only release names, no code names. Fedora Core will have only code
`names, not release names, except that we had already chosen the name "Cambridge" as a release name
`for the project that became Fedora Core 1.
`
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`Neither set of names has a long queue of new names already chosen and waiting for it. Therefore, as
`common practice, we use C syntax to refer to future releases. For example, the release code-named
`"Shrike" has the release name "Gin Gin"; the next release we informally referred to as "Gin Gin++"
`until we chose the release name "Cambridge."
`Other Historical Information
`For historical information specific to the Fedora logo, please refer to the Fedora logo history page.
`Thanks
`For several years, there have been at least two web pages maintaining a bit of history of Red Hat
`Linux, one by Stephen Smoogen (http://www.smoogespace.com/documents/behind_the_names.html)
`one by Matthias Saou (http://freshrpms.net/misc/redhat-releases/) that were valuable summaries we
`used while writing this document. Kudos to Smooge and Matthias for maintaining them! Thanks to
`Thomas Chung for writing this page.
`
`Retrieved from "https://fedoraproject.org/w/index.php?
`title=History_of_Red_Hat_Linux&oldid=478845"
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