Open Source Development

  • Source Code Control System

    The Source Code Control System (SCCS) is developed by Marc J. Rochkind and released by Bell Labs. The exact date of release is unknown. SCCS stands as a major precursor to modern version control systems.
  • SCCS Paper

    Marc J. Rochkind releases a paper in the IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering that discusses the use and implementation of the Source Code Control System (SCCS).
  • Release of RCS

    The Revision Control System (RCS) was released as one of the first alternatives to the original SCCS tool. It is still actively maintained by the GNU Project. RCS Project Page
  • Creation of the GNU Project

    The GNU Project was created by Richard Stallman as a massive open source collaboration network. The GNU Project has resulted in the creation of several important tools such as GCC and GNU Emacs.
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    Rise of the Early Internet

    During the late 80s and early 90s, the Internet as we know it today began to come together. This would prove to be one of the most important developments for the open source community. Now, with this global interconnected community, they could communicate with anyone, anywhere almost instantaneously. It would open up the open source software development groups to all new groups of people that they could not have worked with before.
  • Release of CVS

    The Concurrent Versions System was released as an alternative to RCS. It became popular amongst open source groups. Although it is still in some use, it is no longer under active development. Concurrent Versions System
  • Initial Release of the Linux Kernel

    The Linux Kernel was created by Linus Torvalds and is one of the largest open source projects in history. It has been worked on by thousands of different collaborators over nearly the past 25 years. It represents the epitome of what open source projects can accomplish. The Linux Kernel is the bedrock of many large systems, such as the Android operating system used on millions of phones. Linux Kernel Website
  • Apache Software Foundation

    The Apache Software Foundation is a non-profit organisation that supports a wide variety of popular open source projects. They host some of the most well known open source projects, such as the Apache Web Server. ASF First Meeting Minutes
  • SourceForge Launched

    SourceForge launches as the first online site for open source project hosting and collaboration. Today, SourceForge remains as a popular platform for project hosting.
  • Apache Subversion Released

    Apache Subversion is one of the most popular version control systems in use today. It is often used by open source projects to manage contributions from developers.
  • Creation of Git

    Linus Torvalds, creator of Linux, creates git. Git is a distributed version control software that has subsequently taken the development world by storm. It is released under the GNU GPL.
  • Release of Mercurial

    Mercurial, a distributed version control system, was released under the GNU GPL v2+ license. Mercurial is used by many large open source projects and companies to manage their projects. Mercurial Homepage
  • Launch of GitHub

    GitHub, a widely used Git-based project hosting and collaboration site. The site now hosts millions of open source projects.
  • 10 Million GitHub Repositories

    GitHub announces that it is now hosting over 10 million individual repositories on its platform. Many of these projects are open source projects created by individual users.
  • Google Code announces its closure

    Google Code, a popular open source project hosting site that supported Git, SVN, and Mercurial announces that it will be shutting down in 2016. Google Code Closure