Written by: Mandip Lal Joshi - 24075, Grade XI
Posted on: 15 December, 2022
Linux is an open source operating system (or kernel), just like Windows and macOS (formerly OS X). One of the most well-known examples of open source, free software is Linux. In actuality, Linux powers one of the most widely used mobile platforms, Android. An operating system is a piece of software that controls the hardware and resources of a computer system, including the Central Processing Unit (CPU), memory, and storage. The operating system, to put it simply, controls how software and hardware communicate. A computer cannot operate without an operating system.
Linus Torvalds initially released the Unix-like operating system Linux available as a free and open source replacement for Minix, another Unix clone that was mainly applied in academic environments on September 17, 1991. Under the terms of the GNU General Public License, the source code may be altered and made available to anyone for commercial or noncommercial purposes. At the beginning, Linus thought about calling it "Freax". Linux was initially created for personal computers based on the Intel x86 architecture and was intended to be similar to the UNIX operating system. Due to compatibility issues, only a limited number of devices were initially supported and were able to run Linux, but as time went on, several contributions helped Linux develop. Due to its open source code, Linux has now been ported to more platforms than any other operating system existed till now.
Linux is one of the most secure operating systems. It has good hardware and software compatibility. Because of the freedom to do anything like modify the source code as our need, customization, and many more, Linux is being used in a wide area of technology. Knowingly or unknowingly, we have already used Linux because of the fact that more than ninety six percent of servers around the world run Linux which means there is a high chance that the website we visited on the internet is powered by servers running Linux. It is widely regarded as the backbone of the internet. Out of the top five hundred supercomputers, all of them are powered by the Linux operating system. Nowadays, many embedded systems like routers, televisions, smart watches, etc run on Linux. Linux is also used by every major space program in the world, including NASA and the ESA because of the stability and efficiency that it provides. Linux is also popular because of its mascot, Tux which is a penguin. Linus chose a penguin as the mascot because he was bitten by a penguin on his visit to a zoo.
Linux is an open source meaning it is a community driven project. Contributors from all over the world are contributing to Linux in different ways like contributing their codes, promoting Linux, donating the project, and so on. There are more than fourteen thousand Linux contributors who have contributed their codes. New codes contributed by the contributors will be added to the next version and made available with Linux if it is accepted as a universal improvement. Many big tech giants are also contributing to Linux actively.
Linux is a free and open source community driven operating system which can do anything that a Windows operating system or any other operating system can do but with the extra benefit of freedom to do anything and also with the added benefit of privacy, all without costing a cent.
