What is Linux.......?

Question

What is Linux.......?

Answer 1

Linux is the core kernel along with a few utilities, making it an open source alternative to commercial Unix (another OS).

GNU is a particular set of utilities and tools that make Linux from a kernel to a fully fledged OS.

Debian is one of the many linux distro that integrate the Linux and GNU to make it an installable package.

Answer 2

Technically "Linux" (what Torvald Linus wrote) is just the kernel, a kernel which is used together with commands and tools from the GNU-project (by Ricard Stallman) to make a complete Unix-like operating-system. Some feel that this combination should be called "GNU/Linux", but most just call the whole thing simply "Linux" - meaning both the Linux-kernel and GNU commands & tools.



While the kernel is the most important part of an operating-system, it alone does not make an opertaing system. It needs other commands and tools to deal with things like copying and removing files, making directories, editing simple files, adding/deleting users/groups and monitoring/controlling processes. For Linux - or rather GNU/Linux - systems, these commands and tools are strictly speaking part of the GNU-project, and not part of "Linux".



GNU - GNU is not Unix - was project started by Ricard Stallman of the Free Software Foundation (the people behind the GPL - GNU Public Licence) to create a free, open-source Unix-like operating system. They made lots of packagaes - compileres (gcc), editors, commands (cp, mv, rm, ...), shells and all sort of stuff - but what GNU missed, was the actual kernel... the part that would communicate with the computer hardware. Stallman wanted to go with Hurd - a kernel based on the Mack micro-kernel - which not only was modern and revolutionary (as far as kernels goes), but also introduced lots of interesting new features and possibilites. However, before the Hurd-kernel was mature enough to be used, along came the Finish student Linus Torvalds with his Linux-kernel - a monolitic old-fashion kernel (as opposed to a more modern micro-kernel) - and provided the "missing piece" in the GNU-project... and - to the (understandable) annoyance of Stallmann - most people started refering to the whole thing (Linux *and* GNU) as simply "Linux".



Debian is one of many "Linux distributions" or "distros". A distro is something a vendor makes, by putting the Linux/GNU operating system - together with a selection of lots and lots of (usually free and open) programs to run under the operating system - on a DVD or CD-ROM. Typically the vendor will make sure that it works and different parts (programs) plays well with each other. The installation-program can vary much between distros. Software are usually provided as pre-compiled "binary-packages", though different distros may use different package formats and tools to add/remove/manage packages - especally by making sure packages a package depends on are also installed. A package for one distro, will often not work with another distro. Traditionally Unix-software were distributed as source-code, and compiled on-site... this is still an option, but with binary packages you're usually spared this. Different distros will vary in regards to which packages are available, which are "default" and with which are installed on a "typical system" (especially which WindowManager/Desktop Enviroment is the default - which also dictates many of the other "standard" programs, like mail-clients and office packages). A great thing, is that daemnons for various internet-services - like web-server, mail-server, file-server and databases - are among the packages, making it easy to set-up a server at home. Debian is as I said *one* of many distros - others are RedHat, Mandriva, Fedora, Suse, SlackWare, Ubuntu, Gentoo and many more. http://distrowatch.com gives you a list, together with some non-GNU(Linux open-source OSes.



Debian is the distro ran by the FSF/GNU-project itself. It's two primary goal is to always fully support many different acitechtures (not just PC and intel-processors, but many other platforms like the Alpha-processor) and to offer a very large number of packages. Sadly, as they almost must make sure it work on all platforms, they often lag a bit behind. Software comes in deb-packages (which they invented, as opposed to the rpm-packages invented by RedHat and also used by Mandriva). Debian is also the "base" of the wastly popular Ubuntu-family of distros, as Ubuntu is based on a Debian-system, but where the release-cycle of new packages has been shortened a lot (as Ubuntu is just for the PC-platform). Ubuntu also uses deb-packages, but it's best to not mix Ubuntu and Debian-packages too much.

Answer 3

Linux is the kernel of an operating system.

It was built on the Unix tradition,

Linux was originally developed by Linus

Torwalds, who currenctly owns

the Linux trademark and

Linux stands for Linus' Unix.

Using the open source code of the Linux

kernel, people have been developing

operating systems based on the Linux

kernel. These are called the "Linux

distributions".

Answer 4

Linux is a kernel. The kernel is the main functioning part of an operating system. It is completely free and open source, and there are many different versions or "distributions" available. The whole operating system is made from UNIX based kernal and the idea of free software based on GNU.



GNU (GNU's Not UNIX) is also a free open source OS. It is very old and not commonly used any more.



GNU is a UNIX - like operating system (but contains no UNIX code), based completly on free software.

Linux is a UNIX - based operating system. It was originally based on UNIX and is maintained by a dedicated team of developers.



Debian is a distribution of Linux, one of the first, which many of the more modern and most popular distributions are based on (Ubuntu, Fedora etc)





If you would like to try Linux it's completely free. You can install it along side your Windows OS and choose which to boot when you turn your computer on, or you can even boot it straight from a DVD or USB stick without the need to install it to your hard drive!!!



The main advantages of Linux (compared to Windows) are that it's free (obviously), it uses much lower system resources (RAM and CPU) than Windows, and it is much more secure.



The only major disadvantage is that if you're a gamer MOST games are not compatable with Linux, although this number is increasing all the time. A dual boot provides all the benefits of both OS's and lets you use either whenever you need.





If you would like to try I recommend Ubuntu as it's one of the most user friendly versions. You can download it from the link below, and I will post a link giving information on how to boot from a DVD or USB stick.



Download link: http://www.ubuntu.com/download/desktop

Info for DVD/USB boot: http://www.ubuntu.com/download/desktop/try-ubuntu-before-you-install

Answer 5

Linux is an free and open source operating system. Free as in freedom. If you need you can get the source code free of any cost. The role of an Operating system in any computer or any device using a microprocessor can be compared to the role played by a librarian in a library. The librarian gets the books arranges them in alphabetical oreder, issues them to users, keeps records, supervises all other employees and so on and so forth. The operating system supervises all the resources of the computer like the processor, the HDD, the memory, the peripherals like the printer, scanner modem etc. Kernel is the main and most important part of any operating system. In DOS this was called Command.com. But you cannot make any changes in Command.com where as the Linux Kernel can be modified by the user. He can compile a new Kernel adding and removing components. Read more here :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux

Answer 6

Linux (Listeni/ˈlɪnəks/ LIN-əks[6][7] or /ˈliːnʊks/ LEE-nuuks)[8][9][10] is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of Linux is the Linux kernel,[11] an operating system kernel first released 5 October 1991 by Linus Torvalds.[12][13] Since the main supporting user space system tools and libraries originated in the GNU Project, initiated in 1983 by Richard Stallman, the Free Software Foundation prefers the name GNU/Linux.[14][15]



Linux was originally developed as a free operating system for Intel x86-based personal computers. It has since been ported to more computer hardware platforms than any other operating system. It is a leading operating system on servers and other big iron systems such as mainframe computers and supercomputers:[16][17][18][19] more than 90% of today's 500 fastest supercomputers run some variant of Linux,[20] including the 10 fastest.[21] Linux also runs on embedded systems (devices where the operating system is typically built into the firmware and highly tailored to the system) such as mobile phones, tablet computers, network routers, building automation controls, televisions[22][23] and video game consoles; the Android system in wide use on mobile devices is built on the Linux kernel.



The development of Linux is one of the most prominent examples of free and open source software collaboration: the underlying source code may be used, modified, and distributed—commercially or non-commercially—by anyone under licenses such as the GNU General Public License. Typically Linux is packaged in a format known as a Linux distribution for desktop and server use. Some popular mainstream Linux distributions include Debian (and its derivatives such as Ubuntu and Linux Mint), Red Hat Enterprise Linux (and its derivatives such as Fedora and CentOS), Mandriva/Mageia, openSUSE (and its commercial derivative SUSE Linux Enterprise Server), and Arch Linux. Linux distributions include the Linux kernel, supporting utilities and libraries and usually a large amount of application software to fulfill the distribution's intended use.



A distribution oriented toward desktop use will typically include the X Window System and an accompanying desktop environment such as GNOME or KDE Plasma. Some such distributions may include a less resource intensive desktop such as LXDE or Xfce for use on older or less powerful computers. A distribution intended to run as a server may omit all graphical environments from the standard install and instead include other software such as the Apache HTTP Server and an SSH server such as OpenSSH. Because Linux is freely redistributable, anyone may create a distribution for any intended use. Applications commonly used with desktop Linux systems include the Mozilla Firefox web browser, the LibreOffice office application suite, and the GIMP image editor.



Antecedents



Andrew S. Tanenbaum (left), author of the MINIX operating system, and Linus Torvalds (right), principal author of the Linux kernel

Unix

Main article: Unix



The Unix operating system was conceived and implemented in 1969 at AT&T's Bell Laboratories in the United States by Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, Douglas McIlroy, and Joe Ossanna. It was first released in 1971 and was initially entirely written in assembly language, a common practice at the time. Later, in a key pioneering approach in 1973, Unix was re-written in the programming language C by Dennis Ritchie (with exceptions to the kernel and I/O). The availability of an operating system written in a high-level language allowed easier portability to different computer platforms. With a legal glitch forcing AT&T to license the operating system's source code to anyone who asked,[24] Unix quickly grew and became widely adopted by academic institutions and businesses. In 1984, AT&T divested itself of Bell Labs. Free of the legal glitch requiring free licensing, Bell Labs began selling Unix as a proprietary product.

GNU

A Linux-based system is a modular Unix-like operating system. It derives much of its basic design from principles established in Unix during the 1970s and 1980s. Such a system uses a monolithic kernel, the Linux kernel, which handles process control, networking, and peripheral and file system access. Device drivers are either integrated directly with the kernel or added as modules loaded while the system is running.

Answer 7

The linux kernel is what makes the hardware (the physical computer) available to upper level tools and applications. The term "linux" is used, however, to generally refer to an operating system that is based on the linux kernel and follows a unix paradigm with its user interface.



It does this by using GNU licensed tools. The base command line tools are pretty standard across all unices (commands like ls, cd, mkdir, rm, ln, cat, echo, tar, etc.). The GNU license is often called a viral license, because the source code is available for you to modify, but whatever you devise from GNU code, it must also be free and must have the GNU license attached to it.



Debian is one of many linux distributions. A distribution is simply a full fledged operating system install. It has the linux kernel, tools and applications (often up to the user which ones they want), and an installation tool to aid in the install. It may also have software management tools and upgrade utilities. A modern day distribution behaves pretty similar to a Windows installation by default.



The upshot is that you can't do anything useful with the linux kernel by itself except see and interact directly with the hardware. With the addition of software (most of it GNU licensed), the computer becomes useful to the end user. You now have an OS. With a distribution, you now have a user-friendly OS.

Answer 8

I'm going to take these out of order for a reason: it should make the most sense if we present them chronologically.



GNU is the GNU tools. A suite of free programs which were intended to form the basis of a UNIX-like Operating System. They began back in the eighties, though for some reason they had problems creating an Operating System kernel. While written on minicomputers, which were used at some universities and small corporations, they were wonderfully efficient and when Richard Stallman who got the project started said in a speech that GCC, one o these tools, could never be ported to MS-DOS because it was too resource-intensive, D. J. Delorie proved him wrong by doing the first port to what is now the Windows OS. It is still maintained.



http://www.gnu.org



Linux is, technically speaking just the kernel of an OS. It was written to run the GNU tools on the Intel 386-SX chips. With them it made a complete OS and because one of the things GNU tools is designed for is making it easy to recompile and port programs to other chipsets and hardware, it was quickly ported and soon was running everything from PDAs to Supercomputers. While X-Windows provides a desktop environment optimized for developers its big success has not been on the desktop. It has been on ARM chips which Windows is now discovering, almost since it first came out. We sometimes call the whole OS Linux though I'm of the party which says technically it is GNU/Linux, but Linux is just the kernel and Google has written replacements for GNU for android.



http://www.linux.com



Debian is one of the oldest distributions of GNU Linux out there. Slackware is older and Red Hat about as old, but Red Hat split into RHEL and Fedora in 2003. Debian is generally biased towards the Free And Open Source movement which GNU Tools espoused. It was created by Ian Murdock and features the apt package management tool. Ubuntu and Linux Mint are two of its many derivative.



http://www.debian.org

Answer 9

Linux is a penguin. More specifically Tux.

Naw, but seriously. Linux is a unix based operating system that functions similar to other operating systems such as OS X and Windows, but is also incredibly different. With Linux you can get direct access to its Kernel and do amazing things with its powerful command line known simply as a terminal.

Answer 10

Linux is a kernel and is usually used in conjunction with the GNU set utilities, tools and applications to produce a complete operating system.



Hope this helps!

Answer 11

Idk about the others, but Linux is an operating system that is free to download. Ive heard that it is the most used for hacking out of all the operating systems because it has lowest security since it is open source, but I am not sure.

Answer 12

Linux is and operating system like windows and it is virus free os