The first release of the Linux kernel, Linux 0.01, included a binary of GNU’s Bash shell. In the “Notes for linux release 0.01”, Torvalds lists the GNU software that is required to run Linux: Sadly, a kernel by itself gets you nowhere. To get a working system you need a shell, compilers, a library etc.

What is the first version of Linux?

On October 5, 1991, Linus announced the first “official” version of Linux, version 0.02. At this point, Linus was able to run bash (the GNU Bourne Again Shell) and gcc (the GNU C compiler), but not much else was working. Again, this was intended as a hacker’s system.

Is Linux written in C or C++?

Linux. Linux is also written mostly in C, with some parts in assembly. About 97 percent of the world’s 500 most powerful supercomputers run the Linux kernel.