Linux

From Aquila Homepage

Linux is a computer operating system and its kernel (computer science)|kernel. It is one of the most prominent examples of free software and of open source development: unlike proprietary software operating systems such as Microsoft Windows and Mac OS, all of its underlying source code is available to the public and anyone can freely use, modify, improve, and redistribute it.

In the narrowest sense, the term Linux refers to the Linux kernel, but it is commonly used to describe entire Unix-like operating systems that are based on the Linux kernel combined with libraries and tools from the GNU Project and other sources. Most broadly, a Linux distribution bundles large quantities of application software with the core system, and provides more user-friendly installation and upgrades.

Initially, Linux was primarily developed and used by individual enthusiasts. Since then, Linux has gained the support of major corporations such as IBM, Sun Microsystems, Hewlett-Packard, and Novell for use in servers and is gaining popularity in the desktop computer market. Proponents and analysts attribute this success to its vendor independence (the opposite of vendor lock-in, low cost, security, and reliability.

Linux was originally developed for Intel 80386 microprocessors and now supports all popular instruction set architecture (and several obscure ones). It is deployed in applications ranging from embedded systems (such as mobile phones and personal video recorders) to personal computers to supercomputers.

History

Richard Stallman is founder of the GNU project for a free operating-system in 1983, which today provides an essential part of most Linux systems. The goal of GNU was to develop a complete Unix-like operating system composed entirely of free software. By the beginning of the 1990s, GNU had produced or collected nearly all of the necessary components of this system libraries, compilers, text editors, a Unix-like shell, and other software except for the lowest level, the kernel. The GNU project began developing their own kernel, the GNU Hurd, in 1990 (after an abandoned attempt called Trix (kernel). According to Thomas Bushnell, the initial Hurd architect, their early plan was to adapt the BSD 4.4-Lite kernel and, in hindsight, "It is now perfectly obvious to me that this would have succeeded splendidly and the world would be a very different place today" [1]. However, due to a lack of cooperation from the University of California, Berkeley programmers, Stallman decided instead to use the Mach microkernel, which subsequently proved unexpectedly difficult, and the Hurd's development proceeded slowly.