Difference between revisions of "GNU/Linux"
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Linux is a unix style operatiing system. It is known to run 6 or more of the world's top supercomputers. It has legendary reliability. Linux servers can run without reboot for years. It is worth mentioning that there are other free operating systems not based on the linux kernel that linux borrow from and has been a source of inspirationt to: namely freebsd, openBSD, netBSD, and dragonflyBSD, and the more recent Minix 3 and openSolaris. Free operating systems allow a great deal of new ideas to be tried and collaboration made possible by the internet makes teams easy to form. NetBSD is fameous for running on almost any hardware, OpenBSD is perhaps the moswt secure operating system in the world, and freeBSD has been powering computers for free since before linux became popular. Opensolaris is a free version of SUN microsystem's proprietary Solaris OS. | Linux is a unix style operatiing system. It is known to run 6 or more of the world's top supercomputers. It has legendary reliability. Linux servers can run without reboot for years. It is worth mentioning that there are other free operating systems not based on the linux kernel that linux borrow from and has been a source of inspirationt to: namely freebsd, openBSD, netBSD, and dragonflyBSD, and the more recent Minix 3 and openSolaris. Free operating systems allow a great deal of new ideas to be tried and collaboration made possible by the internet makes teams easy to form. NetBSD is fameous for running on almost any hardware, OpenBSD is perhaps the moswt secure operating system in the world, and freeBSD has been powering computers for free since before linux became popular. Opensolaris is a free version of SUN microsystem's proprietary Solaris OS. | ||
| − | Newer distribution of linux | + | Newer distribution of linux continually raise the bar for usibility and creativity. Archlinux, Gentoo, and Gobolinux are 3 interesting distributions. |
Owing to the nature of open source software, many variants of a Linux distribution may be created by using the original code and making changes to it to suit a particular need. For example, there is also a Ubuntu Christian Edition <ref> [http://www.whatwouldjesusdownload.com/christianubuntu/2006/07/about-ubuntu-christian-edition.html Ubuntu Christian Edition] </ref>. | Owing to the nature of open source software, many variants of a Linux distribution may be created by using the original code and making changes to it to suit a particular need. For example, there is also a Ubuntu Christian Edition <ref> [http://www.whatwouldjesusdownload.com/christianubuntu/2006/07/about-ubuntu-christian-edition.html Ubuntu Christian Edition] </ref>. | ||
Revision as of 18:16, May 8, 2007
Linux is a UNIX-like operating system whose source code is distributed freely under the open source GNU General Public License (GPL). It was started in 1991 as a university project by Finnish student Linus Torvalds as a replacement for the Minix operating system.
Originally the term "Linux" was used to refer to just the kernel developed by Torvalds, but today it is used interchangeably to refer to both the kernel and a complete operating system which includes the kernel, graphical user interface, file system and other software, collectively known as a distribution. Major Linux distributions include Red Hat, Suse and Ubuntu.
The free software foundation helped Linux by already having ready many of the tools needed to round out the kernel into an operating system. Richard Stallman created the FSF to promote his idea that software should be free like ideas are free, and that corporations an lawyers should not attempt to copywrite things they did not invent. It was a perfect timing because the FSF did not have a working KERNEL, the basic core of an operating system; and linux filled that gap. Now free software users had a system that ran on a pc that was free and complete!!! Free from the internet!! Hacker Heaven!!
Some purists call linux GNU/Linux bcause of the large amount of tools utilized by any linux distribution, but laziness and human lvoe of abbrevation make the common term linux out to mean a complete system, with the kernel, an X windows implementation for graphics, and numberous tools like filesystems, shells, that make a complete usible system. The GNU C compiler created by Stallman is perhaps the most important contribution since the linux kernel is written largely in C.
Linux is a unix style operatiing system. It is known to run 6 or more of the world's top supercomputers. It has legendary reliability. Linux servers can run without reboot for years. It is worth mentioning that there are other free operating systems not based on the linux kernel that linux borrow from and has been a source of inspirationt to: namely freebsd, openBSD, netBSD, and dragonflyBSD, and the more recent Minix 3 and openSolaris. Free operating systems allow a great deal of new ideas to be tried and collaboration made possible by the internet makes teams easy to form. NetBSD is fameous for running on almost any hardware, OpenBSD is perhaps the moswt secure operating system in the world, and freeBSD has been powering computers for free since before linux became popular. Opensolaris is a free version of SUN microsystem's proprietary Solaris OS.
Newer distribution of linux continually raise the bar for usibility and creativity. Archlinux, Gentoo, and Gobolinux are 3 interesting distributions.
Owing to the nature of open source software, many variants of a Linux distribution may be created by using the original code and making changes to it to suit a particular need. For example, there is also a Ubuntu Christian Edition [1].
Mark Shuttleworth, who is the founder of the Ubuntu Linux distribution, said about the Satanic version of Kubuntu: "Ubuntu is a broad church! We manage to keep both GNOME and KDE folks happy and collaborating constructively, so this should be no trouble at all. Our guiding rules are enshrined in the Ubuntu Code of Conduct[2], and as long as all sides are following that, there’s no problem with derivatives that are focused on such diverse user bases."[3]
Linux has become one the most commonly adopted operating systems in the world[Citation Needed]. While personal computers still overwhelmingly use Microsoft operating systems such as Windows XP, Linux is a common choice for web servers, file servers and embedded platforms, thanks to its perceived reliability, low/no cost, and the fact that modifications to the source code can readily be made by anyone.
As an example, in March of 2007 the server hosting the the Consevapedia web site was running the Linux operating system[2]