What is Linux?

In this article, we intend to clarify the questions; What is Linux and should I use it? Let me start off by saying, Linux is free, linux is open, and linux is about making your own choices.

When the word “linux” or “unix” is spoken, you could get a couple of eyebrow raises, maybe even you’re the one with the confusion. Linux is a fairly young operating system, first released in 1991, but has become one of the most advanced in the world. However, it is no match for the big-dogs, Mac and Windows. Linux Torvalds, the creator of Linux, was a young student at the University of Helsinki in Finland. While using Minix, a small UNIX system, he decided to develop a system that would exceed the Minix standards. He began in 1991, when he first released version 0.02, until 1994,when version 1.0 was released. The kernel is developed and released under the GNU General Public License and is freely available to everyone, for any purposes. The kernel forms the base around which a Linux operating system is developed. As of today, there are hundreds of companies, and just as many individuals, that have released their own version of operating systems based on the Linux kernel.

Apart from is being freely distributed, Linux’s functionality, adaptability and robustness, has made it the main alternative to UNIX and Windows. IBM, HP. and other giants of the computing world have supported it’s development. In its second decade, Linux has been adopted worldwide as the primary server platform. Its use as a home and office desktop operating system is also rising. The operating system can be incorporated into microchips in a process called “embedding” and is being used in appliances and devices.

Throughout most of the ’90’s tech pundits were unaware of Linux’s potential, and dismissed it as a computer hobbyist project, and unsuitable for the general public’s computing needs. Linux developers were on a mission to prove this theory wrong, and now, thanks to a large effort of developers of desktop management systems like KDE and GNOME, office suite OpenOffice.org, and Mozilla web browser project, there are a wide range of available applications for Linux and can be used by anyone regardless of his/her computer knowledge. If you are curious about Linux’s capabilities, you can download a live CD called Knoppix. This version comes with everything necessary to preform day-to-day tasks on the computer and requires no installation. It will run from a CD in a computer that is capable of booting from the CD drive. If you choose to continue using Linux, you can find a variety of versions or “distributions” of Linux that are easy to install, configure, and use.

The Fedora Project was created to bring the best of Linux to your desktop in stable conditions. Fedora is all about freedom and rapid innovation, and they prove just that by releasing a new, stable version every few years. They guarantee that Fedora will always be free for anybody, anywhere, to use, modify and distribute.
The Ubuntu Project, funded by Canonical, is developed for developing the best Linux to use on desktops, laptops, and servers, with an easy-to-use and reliable interface. Ubuntu is an African word meaning “Humanity to others”, or “I am what I am because of who we all are”. The Ubuntu distribution brings the spirit of Ubuntu to the software world.