Could you imagine a world without Linux?

Such a thought could have been stark reality had Apple managed to successfully recruit Linus Torvalds back in 2000.

The founder of Linux was invited to Apple HQ in Cupertino by Steve Jobs at the turn of the millennium, where is was invited to join Apple and work on (what would become) OS X.

The lure? ‘Unix for the biggest user base’.

The catch? That he would have to stop development on Linux, a condition that led Torvalds to flatly refuse the offer.

Imagine: no Linux would have meant no Ubuntu, no ChromeOS, and no Android; the entire ecosystem of technology could have been dramatically changed by acceptance of this one job offer.

This revelation isn’t actually new, but as it’s been cropping up on social sites for the last few days I thought we should mention it too.

Via 9to5Mac