# Linux’s announcement and contributor response

> A hobby-kernel announcement became a shared project through feedback and reusable code.

- Owner: Linus Torvalds and early Linux contributors
- Kind: App & software
- Sector: Technology
- Seed date: 1991-08-25
- Milestone date: 1994-04-01
- Date basis: Documented milestone; not a measured attention peak.
- Spread Score: 10 (Niche, provisional), v1.2
- Mechanics: Maker origin, Press loop

## Summary

Torvalds’s public request reached people already discussing Minix. Technical replies, source distribution and contributor permissions turned feedback into a shared development process. By 1994, a specialist magazine was documenting a wider community.

## Timeline

- 1991-07-03 — Linus Torvalds (Open web) — A technical question prompted correspondence that helped secure an FTP distribution directory.
- 1991-08-25 — Linus Torvalds (Open web) — Torvalds announced his hobby operating-system project and invited feedback from the Minix community.
- 1991-08-26 — Jyrki Kuoppala (Open web) — Kuoppala asked about portability and proposed features; Torvalds replied in the newsgroup.

The full timeline, metrics and sources are on the case page, or via the Pro API (https://howitspread.com/developers).

Canonical URL: https://howitspread.com/cases/linux-announcement-and-contributor-response

Cite as: How It Spread (2026). “Linux’s announcement and contributor response.” Case HIS-01088. Spread Score v1.2: 10/100. Updated 2026-10-17. https://howitspread.com/id/HIS-01088