What is Linux?
Linux is an operating system that is used on computers, phones, tablets and other devices. It is similar to other systems such as Windows and Mac OS X. It has a graphical interface and can run many of the same programs you are used to using on other systems. For example, it can run word processing software, video editing software and more.
Linux was developed by Linus Torvalds, a Finnish undergraduate. He had been working on a free clone of Unix, called MINIX, and was frustrated by its licensure. He decided to create a kernel that was fully free and that would work with a variety of hardware.
He posted the first version of his kernel in a newsgroup and got a lot of feedback from other developers. By 1993, over 100 people were contributing to the Linux project, and commercial Linux distributions started to emerge from companies such as Slackware and Red Hat. The pace of development picked up dramatically.
The kernel was released under the GNU General Public License, which states that anyone is allowed to study the source code, make modifications, and share those modified versions with others. This freedom is a central part of what makes linux different from other computer operating systems.
In 1994, Torvalds judges all the components of Linux to be ready and releases version 1.0 of the kernel. He also created Debian, which today is the largest community Linux distribution. In the same year, XFree86 contributed a graphical user interface (GUI) to Linux and Slackware and Red Hat made commercial Linux distributions.
Today, linux is the backbone of thousands of servers and millions of desktop computers. It can run on a variety of hardware, from bare metal to virtual servers and cloud instances. It is the operating system of choice in mobile devices, including phones and tablets, and runs the operating systems of a wide range of electronic devices, from cars to digital storage devices.
While Linux has evolved in the past 25 years to address new technologies and environments, it retains its core principles. Linux is an operating system by the people, for the people. It is an operating system that demonstrates that when people come together and work toward a common goal, they can achieve extraordinary results.
If you’re interested in trying linux, download the latest version from a website that provides it for free and follow the online instructions to install it on your device. Then update your system after installation to ensure that all the necessary hardware drivers are installed. Getting started with Linux is easy, but it can take quite some time and effort to become proficient at it. Thankfully, there are many guides to help you along the way. The best place to start is by browsing the Internet for a Linux tutorial. Once you’ve found one you like, follow its links to additional resources and start learning. It’s worth the effort. Eventually, you’ll be able to use your device with confidence.
