Yggdrasil Linux
Encyclopedia
Yggdrasil Linux/GNU/X, or LGX , was an early Linux distribution
developed by Yggdrasil Computing, Incorporated, a company founded by Adam J. Richter in Berkeley, California
.
Yggdrasil was the first company to create a Live CD
Linux distribution. Yggdrasil Linux described itself as a "Plug-and-Play
" Linux distribution, automatically configuring itself for the hardware.
The last release of Yggdrasil was in 1995.
Yggdrasil
is the World Tree of Norse mythology
. The name was chosen because Yggdrasil
took disparate pieces of software and assembled them into a complete product. Yggdrasil's company motto was "Free Software For The Rest of Us".
Yggdrasil was compliant with the Unix Filesystem Hierarchy Standard
.
This alpha release contained the 0.98.1 version of the Linux kernel
, the v11r5 version of the X Window System
supporting up to 1024x768 with 256 colours, various GNU utilities such as their C/C++ compiler, the GNU debugger, bison, flex, and make, TeX
, groff, Ghostscript
, the elvis
and Emacs
editors, and various other software. Yggdrasil's alpha release required a 386 computer with 8MB RAM and 100MB hard disk. The alpha release was missing some of the source code
of some of the packages, such as elvis.
A beta release was made on 18 February 1993. The beta's cost was US$50. LGX's beta release in 1993 contained the 0.99.5 version of the Linux kernel, along with other software from GNU
and X. By 22 August 1993, the Yggdrasil company had sold over 3100 copies of the LGX beta distribution.
The production release version carried a pricetag of US$99. However, Yggdrasil was offered for free to any developer whose software was included with the CD distribution. According to an email from the company's founder the marginal cost of each subscription was $35.70.
Early Yggdrasil releases were also available from stores selling CD-ROM software.
By 1995, Yggdrasil was believed to be defunct. However, one can still find updates for this system online.
about setting up a business, but was not interested in joining forces with Cygnus
.
Richter was a member of League for Programming Freedom
. Richter was using only a 200 MB hard disk when building the alpha release of LGX, which prohibited him from including the source code of some of the packages contained in the CDROM.
Yggdrasil Incorporated published some of the early Linux compilation books, such as The Linux Bible: The GNU Testament (ISBN 978-1883601201), and contributed significantly to file system and X Window System functionality of Linux in the early days of their operation.
The company moved to San Jose, California
in 1996. In 1996, Yggdrasil Incorporated released the Winter 1996 edition of Linux Internet Archives; six CDs of Linux software from Tsx-11 and Sunsite, the GNU archive on prep.ai.mit.edu, the X11R6 archives including the free contributed X11R6 software from ftp.x.org, the Internet RFC standards, and a total of nine non-Yggdrasil Linux distributions.
The company remained active until at least year 2000, when it released the Linux Open Source DVD, but its website was taken offline afterwards and the company has not released anything since.
The company once made an offer to donate 60% of the Yggdrasil CDROM sales revenues to CSRG, but founder Adam J. Richter later indicated that the company would lose too much money and changed the offer accordingly, while still maintaining donations to CSRG.
The company also had volume discount plans.
Linux distribution
A Linux distribution is a member of the family of Unix-like operating systems built on top of the Linux kernel. Such distributions are operating systems including a large collection of software applications such as word processors, spreadsheets, media players, and database applications...
developed by Yggdrasil Computing, Incorporated, a company founded by Adam J. Richter in Berkeley, California
Berkeley, California
Berkeley is a city on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington...
.
Yggdrasil was the first company to create a Live CD
Live CD
A live CD, live DVD, or live disc is a CD or DVD containing a bootable computer operating system. Live CDs are unique in that they have the ability to run a complete, modern operating system on a computer lacking mutable secondary storage, such as a hard disk drive...
Linux distribution. Yggdrasil Linux described itself as a "Plug-and-Play
Plug-and-play
In computing, plug and play is a term used to describe the characteristic of a computer bus, or device specification, which facilitates the discovery of a hardware component in a system, without the need for physical device configuration, or user intervention in resolving resource conflicts.Plug...
" Linux distribution, automatically configuring itself for the hardware.
The last release of Yggdrasil was in 1995.
Yggdrasil
Yggdrasil
In Norse mythology, Yggdrasil is an immense tree that is central in Norse cosmology. It was said to be the world tree around which the nine worlds existed...
is the World Tree of Norse mythology
Norse mythology
Norse mythology, a subset of Germanic mythology, is the overall term for the myths, legends and beliefs about supernatural beings of Norse pagans. It flourished prior to the Christianization of Scandinavia, during the Early Middle Ages, and passed into Nordic folklore, with some aspects surviving...
. The name was chosen because Yggdrasil
Yggdrasil
In Norse mythology, Yggdrasil is an immense tree that is central in Norse cosmology. It was said to be the world tree around which the nine worlds existed...
took disparate pieces of software and assembled them into a complete product. Yggdrasil's company motto was "Free Software For The Rest of Us".
Yggdrasil was compliant with the Unix Filesystem Hierarchy Standard
Filesystem Hierarchy Standard
The Filesystem Hierarchy Standard defines the main directories and their contents in Linux operating systems. For the most part, it is a formalization and extension of the traditional BSD filesystem hierarchy....
.
History and releases
Yggdrasil announced their ‘bootable Linux/GNU/X-based UNIX(R) clone for PC compatibles’ on 24 November 1992 and made the first release on 8 December 1992.This alpha release contained the 0.98.1 version of the Linux kernel
Linux kernel
The Linux kernel is an operating system kernel used by the Linux family of Unix-like operating systems. It is one of the most prominent examples of free and open source software....
, the v11r5 version of the X Window System
X Window System
The X window system is a computer software system and network protocol that provides a basis for graphical user interfaces and rich input device capability for networked computers...
supporting up to 1024x768 with 256 colours, various GNU utilities such as their C/C++ compiler, the GNU debugger, bison, flex, and make, TeX
TeX
TeX is a typesetting system designed and mostly written by Donald Knuth and released in 1978. Within the typesetting system, its name is formatted as ....
, groff, Ghostscript
Ghostscript
Ghostscript is a suite of software based on an interpreter for Adobe Systems' PostScript and Portable Document Format page description languages.- Features :...
, the elvis
Elvis (text editor)
Elvis is a powerful vi/ex clone, i.e. it resembles the Unix text editor "vi" very much but adds quite a few commands and features. Elvis is written by Steve Kirkendall and is distributed under the Clarified Artistic License which is used by Perl....
and Emacs
Emacs
Emacs is a class of text editors, usually characterized by their extensibility. GNU Emacs has over 1,000 commands. It also allows the user to combine these commands into macros to automate work.Development began in the mid-1970s and continues actively...
editors, and various other software. Yggdrasil's alpha release required a 386 computer with 8MB RAM and 100MB hard disk. The alpha release was missing some of the source code
Source code
In computer science, source code is text written using the format and syntax of the programming language that it is being written in. Such a language is specially designed to facilitate the work of computer programmers, who specify the actions to be performed by a computer mostly by writing source...
of some of the packages, such as elvis.
A beta release was made on 18 February 1993. The beta's cost was US$50. LGX's beta release in 1993 contained the 0.99.5 version of the Linux kernel, along with other software from GNU
GNU
GNU is a Unix-like computer operating system developed by the GNU project, ultimately aiming to be a "complete Unix-compatible software system"...
and X. By 22 August 1993, the Yggdrasil company had sold over 3100 copies of the LGX beta distribution.
The production release version carried a pricetag of US$99. However, Yggdrasil was offered for free to any developer whose software was included with the CD distribution. According to an email from the company's founder the marginal cost of each subscription was $35.70.
Early Yggdrasil releases were also available from stores selling CD-ROM software.
By 1995, Yggdrasil was believed to be defunct. However, one can still find updates for this system online.
Yggdrasil, Incorporated
Adam J. Richter started the Yggdrasil company together with Bill Selmeier. Richter spoke to Michael TiemannMichael Tiemann
Michael Tiemann is Vice President of Open Source Affairs at Red Hat Inc, as well as President of the Open Source Initiative. He previously was the Chief Technical Officer of Red Hat...
about setting up a business, but was not interested in joining forces with Cygnus
Cygnus Solutions
Cygnus Solutions, originally Cygnus Support, was founded in 1989 by John Gilmore, Michael Tiemann and David Henkel-Wallace to provide commercial support for free software...
.
Richter was a member of League for Programming Freedom
League for Programming Freedom
League for Programming Freedom was founded in 1989 by Richard Stallman to unite free software developers as well as developers of proprietary software to fight against software patents and the extension of the scope of copyright...
. Richter was using only a 200 MB hard disk when building the alpha release of LGX, which prohibited him from including the source code of some of the packages contained in the CDROM.
Yggdrasil Incorporated published some of the early Linux compilation books, such as The Linux Bible: The GNU Testament (ISBN 978-1883601201), and contributed significantly to file system and X Window System functionality of Linux in the early days of their operation.
The company moved to San Jose, California
San Jose, California
San Jose is the third-largest city in California, the tenth-largest in the U.S., and the county seat of Santa Clara County which is located at the southern end of San Francisco Bay...
in 1996. In 1996, Yggdrasil Incorporated released the Winter 1996 edition of Linux Internet Archives; six CDs of Linux software from Tsx-11 and Sunsite, the GNU archive on prep.ai.mit.edu, the X11R6 archives including the free contributed X11R6 software from ftp.x.org, the Internet RFC standards, and a total of nine non-Yggdrasil Linux distributions.
The company remained active until at least year 2000, when it released the Linux Open Source DVD, but its website was taken offline afterwards and the company has not released anything since.
The company once made an offer to donate 60% of the Yggdrasil CDROM sales revenues to CSRG, but founder Adam J. Richter later indicated that the company would lose too much money and changed the offer accordingly, while still maintaining donations to CSRG.
The company also had volume discount plans.
See also
- ArenaArena (web browser)The Arena browser was an early testbed web browser and web authoring tool for Unix. Originally authored by Dave Raggett in 1993, the browser continued its development at CERN and the World Wide Web Consortium and subsequently by Yggdrasil Computing...
, a web browser developed by Yggdrasil - MCC Interim LinuxMCC Interim LinuxMCC Interim Linux was a Linux distribution first released by Owen Le Blanc of the Manchester Computing Centre , part of the University of Manchester, England) in February 1992. MCC Interim Linux has the distinction of being the first Linux distribution capable of being independently installed on a...