Linux was first released into an unsuspecting world in the summer of 1991. Initiallythe spare-time hobby of a Finnish computer scientist by the name of Linus Torvalds,Linux was at first accessible only in software source code form to those with enoughexpertise to build and install it. Early enthusiasts (most also developers themselves bynecessity) exploited the growth of the Internet in the early 1990s as a means to buildonline communities and drive development forward. These communities helped tobuild the first Linux software distributions, containing all the software componentsneeded to install and use a Linux system without requiring users to be technical experts.