What Is Linux?
The name “Linux” is used to refer to three similar yet slightly different things, which can be confusing to all but the hardcore geek. The three usages vary by how much of a complete software system the speaker is talking about. At the lowest level, every Linux system is based on the Linux kernel — the very low-level software that manages your computer hardware, multi-tasks the many programs that are running at any given time, and other such essential things. These low-level functions are used by other programs, so their authors can focus on the specific functionality they want to provide. Without the kernel, your computer is a very expensive doorstop. It has all of the features of a modern operating system: true multitasking, threads, virtual memory, shared libraries, demand loading, shared, copy-on-write executables, proper memory management, loadable device driver modules, video frame buffering, and TCP/IP networking. Most often, the name “Linux” is used to refer to the Linux Operat
Linux is an open source operating system that is cheaper, more stable and has greater flexibity than many other operating systems such as Windows or Mac OS. You can download it for free off the Internet and install it on almost any computer. It allows you to run all types of applications including network services, programming, word processing, spreadsheets, databases, desktop publishing, 2D and 3D graphics, games, audio editing, video production and much, much more. Linux has recently started to become more mainstream so we have started to support it and Open Source to help it reach more end users. More information can be found on our Linux page and at http://www.linux.org/.
Linux is a free open source operating system based on UNIX. Because it is an open source system, anyone is free to download and improve Linux as long as he or she returns the modified code to the open source community. Originally created by Linus Torvalds, Linux has been enhanced and refined by thousands of developers worldwide. This community effort has built a remarkably powerful, secure and reliable platform.
Linux is an operating system that was initially created as a hobby by a young student, Linus Torvalds, at the University of Helsinki in Finland. Linus had an interest in Minix, a small UNIX system, and decided to develop a system that exceeded the Minix standards. He began his work in 1991 when he released version 0.02 and worked steadily until 1994 when version 1.0 of the Linux Kernel was released. The current full-featured version is 2.4 (released January 2001) and development continues. Linux is developed under the GNU General Public License and its source code is freely available to everyone. This however, doesn’t mean that Linux and its assorted distributions are free — companies and developers may charge money for it as long as the source code remains available. Linux may be used for a wide variety of purposes including networking, software development, and as an end-user platform. Linux is often considered an excellent, low-cost alternative to other more expensive operating sys
