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What is Linux?

Linux is an operating system created by Linus Torvalds all through his time as a student at the University of Helsinki. Linux was created and intended to be used as an option or substitute to the supplementary operating systems being used by computer users, like MS-DOS, Windows, Mac OSX, etc. Linux is not a program or a set of programs like a word processor of an office suite.

A Short History

While studying at the University of Helsinki, Linus used a version of the UNIX operating system called ‘Minix’. Quite a few requests for modifications and improvements for the operating system were being sent by Linus and other users to Andrew Tanenbaum, Minix’s creator, but he felt that they weren’t necessary. For that reason, Linus decided to produce his specific operating system; one that would get into account the users’ comments and propositions for expansions.

A “kernel” is the central point of any operating system. Without going into remarkable detail, the kernel tells the CPU to do what you want the program or application that you’re using to do. An operating system would not exist without a kernel. Nonetheless, a kernel is also a waste of time without any programs or applications.

In 1991, two significant situations evolved that would serve as the starting point for Linux. A kernel was already created by Linus, but he had no programs to utilize; some programs were available from GNU and Richard Stallman, but they had no working kernel. So Linux was born by combining the programs from Richard and GNU in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with the kernel provided by Linus in Helsinki, Finland. It was a lot of ground to cover and far to travel, so the Internet became the primary method of getting Linus’ kernel collectively with the GNU programs. It can almost be said that Linux is an operating system that came to life on the Internet.

Not For Everyone at First

Other software businesses will advertise you software enclosed in a CD or a set of floppies, together with a concise instruction booklet, and in half an hour or perhaps even less, you could set up a completely functional operating system on your PC. You only needed to know how to read and follow instructions in order to install it. This was what those businesses had in view when they developed their operating systems. On the other hand, when Linux was developed by Linus, this factor wasn’t initially considered. Later on, Red Hat and other like-minded businesses made it their purpose to develop Linux to the point where it could be easily installed just like any other operating system in the market, by anybody who can abide by straightforward instructions, and today we can absolutely say that they have succeeded in this exacting purpose.

Linux Today

These days, there is a huge deal of favorable reactions from PC users concerning Linux. The fact that Linux has proven to be impressively stable and flexible, especially as a network server, definitely has played a big portion in this reputation. Down-time is minor or insignificant when Linux is installed and used as a web server or in commercial networks. Many cases have been reported wherein Linux-powered servers have been running efficiently for even more than a year without the need to re-boot, and when it had to be taken down, it was only for a brief period for maintenance purposes. Its price effectiveness has turned out to be to be one of its strongest promotion points. Linux can be installed and run on both a home Computer or a network server, without having to spend as much as it would be for supplementary software packages. More dependability and less cost – it’s ideal.

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