Linux Is An Alternative Operating System

"Linux" is an alternative, "open source" operating system. It is "alternative" because it runs on the same hardware that the market share leader (Microsoft Windows) runs on, "open source" because it is not only freely obtained (via various channels such as online downloads, free CDs that come with magazines and books, etc...), but also because it's source code (the actual computer instructions that make the software work) is also freely accessible and modifiable.

The fact that Linux is freely available for anyone to obtain and tinker with has been a boon for the adoption and use of Linux with computer enthusiasts, geeks, nerds and the like. These enthusiasts like the fact that the code is right there in front of them for them to change to their needs. A competent programmer, even a hobbyist, can customize Linux to their needs to a much more refined level than they could with MS Windows, Apple's Mac OS, and even other more proprietary flavors of UNIX.

There is a very active and thriving developer community surrounding Linux. There are literally thousands of websites out there devoted to the subject matter. All sorts of knowledge bases, forums, chat rooms and message boards are dedicated to the goings on in the Linux and open source community.

Another excellent facet of the Linux community is the fact that the majority of the software applications written for the operating system is also made available with the same "open source" license, which means that an enthusiast (or a professional for that matter) can build and customize a Linux system that is perfectly tailored to their needs with little to no investment beyond the initial purchase of the hardware.

A sound studio engineer, for example, could build a Linux machine that has been custom tailored to run the effects on a sound board or to function as a recording device for digital audio, while a graphic artist may build a machine that has been built from the ground up to be an efficient design machine.

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It's Linux, Mom! Not Lennox

It's Linux, Mom! Not Lennox.

Lennox is a global corporation specializing in air conditioning, heating, and commercial refrigeration. Dave Lennox helped to develop what has been described as the first riveted-steel furnace in 1895.

His "machine" having come a long way is amazing in it's own right, but it is not necessarily suited for business productivity. While it is surely compatible with outsourced services, Old Dave's Lennox may not readily lend itself to remote helpdesk or repair over the internet.

Linux, on the other hand, is a Unix-like computer operating system which not only fully lends itself to remote helpdesk, outsourced IT services, and computer repair over the internet, but can also be used to accomplish those tasks.

Unlike Lennox hardware, Linux is one of the most prominent examples of free software and open source development; its underlying source code can be freely modified, used, and redistributed by anyone (try that with Lennox).

Although it had already been around a few years, the Linux kernel was first released to the public 17 September 1991, for the Intel x86 PC architecture.

The kernel was augmented with system utilities and libraries from the GNU project to create a usable operating system, which later led to an alternate term, GNU/Linux.

Linux is now packaged for different uses in Linux distributions, which contain the sometimes modified kernel along with a variety of other software packages tailored to different requirements.

Predominantly known for its use in servers, Linux in gaining more and more popularity as a desktop operating system garnering the support of corporations such as IBM, Sun Microsystems, Dell, Hewlett-Packard and Novell.

It is used as an operating system for a wide variety of computer hardware, including desktop computers, supercomputers, video game systems (PlayStation 2 and 3 for example) and embedded devices such as mobile phones and routers most if not all of which lend themselves readily to repair over the internet, outsourced repair and even remote helpdesk services.

1960ish: A computer operating system known as UNIX was conceived.

1970: UNIX was released and widely used, modified and improved by business, academia, and the government .

1984; Richard Stallman quits his job at MIT and starts working on the GNU Project.

1985: Free Software Foundation, an organization for creating and promoting free software, is founded by Richard Stallman.

The GNU manifesto, a statement by Richard Stallman advocating the cause of free software movement, is published in the March 1985 issue of Dr. Dobb's Journal

1991: MINIX was written from scratch by Andrew S. Tanenbaum, a US-born Dutch professor who wanted to teach his students the inner workings of a real operating system. It was designed to run on the Intel 8086 microprocessors that had flooded the world market.

MINIX was by no stretch of the imagination a supberb operating system. But for the first time the source code was available. Anyone who happened to get the book 'Operating Systems: Design and Implementation' by Tanenbaum could get hold of the 12,000 lines of code, written in C and assembly language. For the first time, an aspiring programmer or hacker could read the source codes of the operating system, which to that time the software vendors had guarded vigorously.

Following in quick succession, Linux was first envisaged by a a second year student of Computer Science at the University of Helsinki and a self-taught hacker, Linus Torvalds. At the time it was just another hackers hobby. But from the humble Intel 386 machine of Linus that ran the first kernel, Linux has come a long way. Its most notable use now is in the field of massively parallel supercomputing clusters.

Version 0.01 is released on the Internet in September.

1992:

January: First Linux Newsgroup: alt.os.linux founded in the UseNet

April: Ari Lemmke starts the popular Linux newsgroup comp.os.linux in the UseNet

November: Adam Richter announces the release of the first Linux Distribution from his company: Yggdrasil

1993:

June: Slackware, the famous Linux distribution is released by Peter Volkerding

August: Matt Welsh releases Linux Installation and getting started: version 1

1994: Linux kernel version 1.0 is released in March.

While Lennox has several models, Linux has many more. And even though Lennox has been around a lot longer (you know Dave Lennox died in 1947), Linux has achieved between 50-80% market share of the web server, render farm, and supercomputer markets and is growing daily on desktops a feat even old Dave couldn't pull off.

So, Mom, now do you understand? Mom! Mom!

tmm

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