What is Linux? An Operating System is born... And so the story unfolds ... In 1991, Linus Torvalds, a 21 year college student from Finland, decided that he wasn't pleased with the Operating System that came with his computer (Microsoft DOS). He decided to write his own. A few months later, with this short and unassuming post to comp.os.minux, Linux was born. ``...As I mentioned a month ago, I'm working on a free version of a Minix-look-alike for AT-386 computers. It has finally reached the stage where it's even usable (though may not be, depending on what you want), and I am willing to put out the sources for wider distribution. It is just version 0.02...but I've successfully run bash, gcc, gnu-makee, gnu-sed, compress, etc. under it.'' Linux is... Linux is a free, Unix-like Operating System (fundamental software) that is developed by a loosely knit team of talented programmers working from all over the world. Linux works on almost every kind of computer in existance, and provides a robust platform for a wide variety of applications. Unlike most Operating Systems Linux is free in almost all respects. One can download it off the internet at no charge, pass on copies to friends, and even modify its internals. This 'freeness' has been one of the most critical reasons for its success, and is turning heads in the industry and mainstream media. It is a fully featured multi-user multi-tasking OS that runs extremely robustly on a wide variety of hardware. Linux can be found not only on Intel Computers (on which it originally ran), but also on Macintoshes and Alphas. In fact, Linux takes first place when it comes to the support of diverse hardware. Diversity is a key word when talking about Linux. Not only does Linux run on very different hardware, but it can talk to a wide variety of networks. Linux is at home with tcp/ip, novell netware, appletalk and is even comfortable with Microsoft Networking and some of the more obscure protocols. Linux is actually the name for the kernel (the core part of the operating system that is responsible for critical things such as memory and file management). A lot of what gives Linux its edge (such as the gcc compiler and the bash shell) come from the GNU project. GNU is also responsible for the license that Linux is distributed under. Even though Linux is really just a kernel, most people associate it with a complete package. Linux is free. You can go download Linux right now, make copies for all your associates, run it on your commercial web server and even distribute it yourself, all without breaking a single law. Although Linux is available at no cost to anyone with the inclination to download it, the key idea has to do with freedom of use rather than 'freeness' with regard to price. The license under which Linux is licensed is called the GPL (or the General Public License). This license allows users to sell, copy or even change Linux to suit their own needs and agendas. The only stipulation is that one must pass along the same freedom to sell, change and copy their modifications. While freeness in cost may be an indirect consequence of the GPL, its primary objective is ensuring that Linux remains open and easily extendible. This guarantees against stagnation since all control is decentralized . Anyone who would possibly be able to add anything of value is always welcome to. As Yahoo.com 's Co-Founder, David Filo says, "When you have a lot of people out there, from various backgrounds, looking at it, developing it, improving it giving fixes back, that system works really well, and results in quality products." This free and open nature lend themselves to the creation of an extremely robust and stable Operating System. Contrary to popular belief, proprietary software is by nature less reliable than free alternatives. Eric S Raymond, one of the communitys most lucid supporters, explains : ...in the closed source world, your short-term profit incentive is to try and keep everything you do a trade secret and extract the absolute maximum rent from that trade secret in terms of initial cost of the software. And then your economic incentive is to put as little money as you can get away with into supporting the fiction that you support your software. OK? Now as a consumer do you want to live in that world, or do you want to live in a world where source is primarily open and the people competing for your dollars are service bureaus? This is why I think that ultimately the closed software model and the whole Microsoft paradigm is doomed. Perhaps the ultimate example of the advantages of the free and open nature that Linux is licensed under is the Internet. All of the major The most popular web server on the internet, Apache , is free and licensed under a similar agreement as Linux. The same goes for sendmail which is by far the number one mail server in use today. Even the fundamental software which allows us to use domain names (bind) is free, and more importantly, open. Often in the Linux world and in the media, one hears of the almost legendary "Linux community". What exactly is the Linux community and why is it such an integral part of Linux itself? Largely due to the fact that nobody owns Linux , there is a large number of software developers, writers, website designers, hardware manufacturers and most importantly, users, who are collectively grouped together to form the "Linux community". These individuals contribute valuable expertise and time to help further Linux, and they do so receiving no personal gain other than the respect of their peers and perhaps a smidgen of personal glory. This willingness to work in a collaborative manner for the common good is a binding force of sorts for the community, but the real glue that holds the community together is a common belief that Linux is a very powerful technology and is the right choice for both technical and political reasons. The community is quick to jump at the chance to help other users learn how to do something or to find resources to solve their problems. This helpful attitude stems from the fact that Linux is free and is created from time and money donated in the name of quality software. Since the 'community at large' is the controlling force behind it, Linux evolves according to current market wishes rather than corporate agendas and time restrictions that may compromise quality. Approaching the Linux community with a question or a contribution will almost always result in a response that is surprising in both speed and sincerity. This 'service' is of such a high quality that the 'Linux Community' won the coveted "Best Technical Support of 1998" award by Infoworld. So who owns this much talked about Operating System? Everybody! Who controls it? Everyone. Linux is not owned by any one corporation or person, but is instead built and owned by the . This cooperative model is in the same spirit that the Internet was designed and built on. From the beginning, when Linus Torvalds created the first Linux kernel and shared it at no cost with world at large via the Internet, Linux has been open for anyone to contribute to and improve on. People came and did so from all over the world. Linux is a completely open and boundless project that is almost organic in nature. Even if you can't program in a computer language, you can still send your queries and feedback to the developers for consideration. Your voice will be heard! When it comes down to it, you have the freedom to influence and shape Linux. Unlike other Operating Systems, it is the community that 'owns' and controls Linux. Linus Torvalds (the original creator of Linux) explains the exact reasoning behind 'Tux', the official Linux mascot, in this tongue in cheek message: From: Linus Torvalds Ok, short version: I've always liked penguins, and when I was in Canberra a few years ago we went to the local zoo with Andrew Tridgell (of samba fame). There they had a ferocious penguin that bit me and infected me with a little known disease called penguinitis. Penguinitis makes you stay awake at nights just thinking about penguins and feeling great love towards them. So when Linux needed a mascot, the first thing that came into my mind was this picture of the majestic penguin, and the rest is history.
Slightly more accurate version: Yes, I was bitten by a penguin, but it wasn't actually very ferocious. It was really just a pigmy penguin about 6 inches tall or something, and it was more of a timid nibble ("is this finger a see before me a small fish, or what?"). Even so, I like penguins a lot. More down-to-earth version: All the other logos were too boring - I wasn't looking for the "Linux Corporate Image", I was looking for something _fun_ and sympathetic to associate with Linux. A slightly fat penguin that sits down after having had a great meal fits the bill perfectly. Final comment: Don't take the penguin too seriously. It's supposed to be kind of goofy and fun, that's the whole point. Linux is supposed to be goofy and fun (it's also the best operating system out there, but it's goofy and fun at the same time!). "Some people have told me they don't think a fat penguin really embodies the grace of Linux, which just tells me they have never seen a angry penguin charging at them in excess of 100mph. They'd be a lot more careful about what they say if they had." -Linus Torvalds Recently, the mainstream media has been giving a lot of airtime to Linux, especially with regard to its natural role as a server Operating System. The fact that Linux is inherently stable and secure meshes well with placing the Operating System in the server room. Indeed, Linux has many advantages over legacy operating systems such as Windows NT. The source code to the entire Linux Operating System is freely available. Being Open Source is a boon to security (contrary to the belief of many). History has shown that security through obscurity (closed proprietary source code) is a fundamentally flawed model. With Linux, having the code available means that both developers and technically inclined users are able to continually check for and fix possible problems instead of being at the mercy of their software vendor. When a bug is found, Open Source systems are normally fixed within hours. Operating Systems whose source code is guarded under lock and key cannot match this turn around time. It is weeks or even months before the appropriate fixes are made available to such closed systems. Microsoft has recently admitted to this very fact in their infamous Halloween Document Using Linux is also very cost effective. It can be downloaded off the internet gratis <../linuxisfree.phtml>, bought from a vendor such as cheapbytes for under 5 dollars, or purchased from a commercial distribution company for a fraction of the price of Windows NT or other commercial UNIX-like Operating Systems. The real cost savings that Linux realises have little to do with the sticker price of the Operating System itself. As previously mentioned, Linux will run extremely well on underpowered hardware. That 486 that was going to be trashed could make an excellent web or mail server. Similarely, for mission critical high performance applications, Linux will perform at the same level as many alternatives on lesser hardware, or run circles around them on similar machines. With no additional expenditure, Linux includes out of the box, the most popular web server in the world (Apache), an excellent mail server (sendmail) and various other servers including a Windows SMB file server that runs faster than the native Windows NT file server. Graphical administration tools are also standard with most distributions. Secure, robust and cost effective. With Linux, you can have all three. Add this to the fact that Linux's open nature virtually gaurantees against stagnation, and Linux becomes the logical choice for a Server Operating System. Perhaps Steve Borho sums up what a great development environment Linux makes when he remarks "I use Linux because it is a gigantic swiss army knife of automated services that I can use without having to ask permission for first. Zero licensing fees are a great enabler. The fact that it's robust and a joy to work with is just a bonus." One of the greatest features Linux offers is the sheer amount of development tools that come standard with the operating system. While most operating systems require you to buy expensive development packages to code, Linux comes with several compilers, including gcc, which can be used in its various forms to compile several different languages, including C, C++ and Fortran. A wide host of IDEs including Codeforge and Xemacs go hand in hand with excellent debuggers such as ddd and gdb. All this can be found right out of the box with no additional cost <../linuxisfree.phtml> or restrictive licensing <../whoownslinux.phtml>. In the relatively new field of internet development, Linux is truely on the cutting edge. With tools such as PHP3 (a server side scripting language which is a superior alternative to Microsfts' ASP) and MySQL (a high performance database), it becomes almost trivial to create complex web based applications which interact with large volumes of data in real time. No matter what platform is being developed for, one of the most crucial requirements for the developer is accurate and up to date documentation. With Linux, any information you want is right at your fingertips. The info and manual pages (man pages) have high-quality documentation on system calls and library functions. Also, for the definitive answer to questions, the place to look to is the source code, something that can only be done in Open Systems such as Linux. There is no question that Linux is the ideal operating system for programmers. Deep down, Linux was written for programmers by programmers who enjoy writing code. It makes development easier, faster, and more fun. When it comes to a workstation solution to create content for your web site, send off a couple of emails, or even play a bit of Quake 3, the only ways to fruition are via excellence or mediocrity. The latter is Microsoft Windows, the self proclaimed standard in the desktop workstation market of several years. If you're looking for excellence in a desktop OS, look to Linux. Having come an incredibly long way since Linus' original inception, the newest releases of Linux exceed legacy Operating Systems by an astounding margin in the desktop arena. There are multiple complete desktop environments (such as GNOME and KDE) which immerse the user in a highly configurable, intuitive, and robust environment. The other half of the dekstop equation, applications, are also in a league of their own, and more support (for both commercial and free programs) are being announced regularly as Linux continues to grow. Need to do some professional art work? Don't feel like shelling out a cool grand for the latest photoshop release? A free download of the GIMP (The GNU Image Manipulation Program) will put you on the same playing field of the pros. Combine this with the robustness of the underlying Operating System and you'll have the upper hand. Feel like broadcasting some live video? One can easily grab a free version of Real Networks' RealProducer and RealPlayer, and offer full streaming media solutions without ever having to deal with the crash prone, unreliable, and expensive Mediocrity OS's of the day. From start to finish, whether your goal is to create an amazing web site application or nuke some aliens at three in the morning, Linux offers the average computer user a powerful tool through which to unleash the full potential of their PC. Linux makes good sense on the desktop. It offers the tools, the reliability and the support, all which are of paramount importance for a workstation Operating System.

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