Linux Was Open From The Start

In order to encourage the wide dissmination of Linux, and in the spirit of cooperation and community that characterizes most computer programmers, Linus released the code under the GNU Public License, which meant that anyone could use and improve linux however they liked, as long as they made their contributions available to the rest of the world.

This meant that anyone who wanted a new feature for Linux, or had an idea for a possible improvement, could try it out for themselves. They could request help, or work by themselves, or organize a project, so long as they made their changes or developments available. This led to a snowballing effect, because as Linux became more useful, it also became more interesting to new programmers, and as it became more interesting to new programmers, it became more useful.