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 kernel, at
the heart of all Linux systems, is developed and released under the
GNU General Public License
and its source code is freely available to everyone. It is this kernel
that forms the base around which a Linux operating system is developed.
There are now literally hundreds of companies and organizations and an
equal number of individuals that have released their own versions of
operating systems based on the Linux kernel. More information on the
kernel can be found at our sister site,
LinuxHQ and at the official
Linux Kernel Archives. The current
full-featured version is 2.6 (released December 2003) and development
continues.
Apart from the fact that it's freely distributed, Linux's
functionality, adaptability and robustness, has made it the main
alternative for proprietary Unix and Microsoft operating systems. IBM,
Hewlett-Packard and other giants of the computing world have embraced
Linux and support its ongoing development. More than a decade after its
initial release, Linux is being adopted worldwide as a server platform
primarily. Its use as a home and office desktop operating system is also
on the rise. The operating system can also be incorporated directly into
microchips in a process called "embedding" and is increasingly being
used this way in appliances and devices.
Throughout most of the 1990's, tech pundits, largely unaware of
Linux's potential, dismissed it as a computer hobbyist project,
unsuitable for the general public's computing needs. Through the efforts
of developers of desktop management systems such as KDE and GNOME,
office suite project OpenOffice.org and the Mozilla web browser project,
to name only a few, there are now a wide range of applications that run
on Linux and it can be used by anyone regardless of his/her knowledge of
computers. Those curious to see the capabilities of Linux can download a
live CD version called Knoppix .
It comes with everything you might need to carry out day-to-day tasks on
the computer and it needs no installation. It will run from a CD in a
computer capable of booting from the CD drive. Those choosing to
continue using Linux can find a variety of versions or "distributions"
of Linux that are easy to install, configure and use. Information on
these products is available in our
distribution section
and can be found by selecting the mainstream/general public
category.
If you're interested in learning about Linux, need help with some
aspect of its use or are enthusiastic about it and want to help foster
its adoption, you may want to get in touch with a
Linux User Group in
your area. There are groups in practically every country, region and
city in the world, so there is likely to be one near you.
Linux has an official mascot,
Tux, the Linux
penguin, which was selected by Linus Torvalds to represent the image he
associates with the
operating system. Tux was created by Larry Ewing and Larry has
generously given it to the community to be freely used to promote Linux.
More information on use of the image can be found on his
webpage. More links
to variations on the image and alternative logos can be found on our
logo page
Many people are not sure of the pronunciation of the word Linux.
Although many variations of the word exist, often due to native language
factors, it is normally pronounced with a short " i " and with the first
syllable stressed, as in LIH-nucks. You can hear how Linux
creator Linus Torvalds pronounces the word in
Swedish and in
English .
More information on Linus Torvalds, can be found
on our short biography
page.
