Linux isn't new, it might not be common amongst none technical users because they might not see the need provided their original os still give them the interface to carry out their task. It will be interesting to note that the first Linux distribution (Softlanding Linux System (SLS)) was created sometime around 1992 by peter Macdonald although it's no longer in use. Today people go for Ubuntu, RHEL and other distributions in like manner. It free , open sourced and security gives it edge over other operating systems.
In my days of learning computer as an informal learning, I didn't hear of this Linux or Ubuntu. And I started with Pentium 4. I know about MS-DOS, Windows Operating System which was the common OS before Windows 7 and others came onboard. And I didn't hear of Linux and Ubuntu until one of the youth empowerment in Nigeria in 2014 and we were asked to install Linux and Ubuntu which the instructors too didn't teach us so we left without knowing it and switched to Windows 10.
So it is new for me. After the 1992 version of it when was the date of Linux and Ubuntu version?