this post was submitted on 05 Mar 2024
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Linux

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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

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[–] Saik0Shinigami@lemmy.saik0.com 4 points 8 months ago (1 children)

I don’t remember the specifics but it was to reduce the risk of breaking third-party software coded with some janky way of determining Windows versions.

Probably lazy detection for windows 95/98... The 9 might get parsed for those much older OSes...I know many apps were compatible with both 95, and 98... So they might just do a lazy check that 9 exists and call that "compatible". When a windows 10 named 9 might not necessarily be.

However, knowing how much old shit is still compatible in Windows, I'm not sure this would have been that much of an issue.

[–] herrcaptain@lemmy.ca 1 points 8 months ago

That's more or less what I remember of their rationale as well. Apparently it was common enough that they legit considered it a potential problem.