Softlanding Linux System (SLS) was one of the first Linux distributions. The first release was by Peter MacDonald[4] in May 1992.[5][6] Their slogan at the time was "Gentle Touchdowns for DOS Bailouts".[7] SLS was the first release to offer a comprehensive Linux distribution containing more than the Linux kernel, GNU, and other basic utilities, including an implementation of the X Window System.[4][8]

History

SLS was the most popular Linux distribution at the time, but it was considered to be rather buggy by its users. It was soon superseded by Slackware (which started as a cleanup of SLS by Patrick Volkerding) and Yggdrasil Linux/GNU/X, among others.

Similarly, Ian Murdock's frustration with SLS led him to create the Debian project.[9]

Version History

Known SLS releases
Version Release date
1.00 12 August 1992[10]
1.01 18 April 1993[11]
1.02 28 April 1993[12]
1.03 5 August 1993[13]
1.04 21 October 1993[14]
1.05 5 April 1994[15]
1.06 Late 1994[1]

References

  1. ^ a b Epstein, Caleb (April 1995). "A review of InfoMagic's December 1994 Release". Linux Journal. Vol. April 1995, no. 12. Retrieved 25 February 2025.
  2. ^ Yggsdrasil Linux Internet Archives WINTER 1996 (CD). Yggdrasil Computing, Incorporated. Winter 1996. ISBN 1-883601-15-0. OCLC 78663619 – via Internet Archive.
  3. ^ "Softlanding Linux System". archiveos.org. 20 July 2023. Retrieved 25 February 2025.
  4. ^ a b Berlich, Ruediger (April 2001). "ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT... The early history of Linux, Part 2, Re: distribution" (PDF). LinuxUser. Retrieved 12 May 2024. This was followed shortly after by the Softlanding Linux System (SLS), founded by Peter McDonald, which was the first comprehensive distribution to contain elements such as X and TCP/IP,...
  5. ^ Noyes, Katherine (25 August 2016). "Linux's brilliant 25-year history, in pictures". PC World. Retrieved 25 February 2025.
  6. ^ GNU/Linux Distribution Timeline, version 11.4 by A. Lundqvist, D. Rodic
  7. ^ Hall, Jim (4 May 2017). "How I got started with Linux". opensource.com. Retrieved 25 February 2025.
  8. ^ Proffitt, Brian (4 August 2016). "25 Years of Linux". Red Hat. Retrieved 25 February 2025.
  9. ^ Murdock, Ian A. (16 August 1993). "NNTP Subject: New release under development; suggestions requested". Retrieved 17 August 2007.
  10. ^ Peter MacDonald (12 August 1992). "SLS: Free Linux Distribution". Newsgroupcomp.os.linux. Usenet: 1992Aug12.232203.20860@athena.mit.edu. Archived from the original on 15 December 2021. Retrieved 15 December 2021.
  11. ^ MacDonald, Peter (18 April 1993). "SLS release: 1.01". Newsgroupcomp.os.linux.announce. Usenet: 1993Apr18.153535.29139@klaava.Helsinki.FI. Retrieved 25 February 2025 – via linux.co.cr.
  12. ^ MacDonald, Peter (28 April 1993). "SLS release: 1.02". Newsgroupcomp.os.linux.announce. Usenet: 1rlcvcINN640@hydra.Helsinki.FI. Retrieved 25 February 2025 – via linux.co.cr.
  13. ^ MacDonald, Peter (5 August 1993). "ANNOUNCE: SLS 1.03 is now available". Newsgroupcomp.os.linux.announce. Usenet: 23r84f$4h4@theory.TC.Cornell.EDU. Retrieved 25 February 2025 – via linux.co.cr.
  14. ^ MacDonald, Peter (21 October 1993). "SLS 1.04 CDROM Announcement". Newsgroupcomp.os.linux.announce. Usenet: 2a67cb$rhj@samba.oit.unc.edu. Retrieved 25 February 2025 – via linux.co.cr.
  15. ^ MacDonald, Peter (5 April 1994). "SLS 1.05: Softlandings Modular Linux Released". Newsgroupcomp.os.linux.announce. Usenet: 1994Apr5.001632.28777@cs.cornell.edu. Retrieved 25 February 2025 – via linux.co.cr.
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