Linux is an operating system created as a hobby by Linus Torvalds. As a student in the University of Helsinki in Finland, Torvalds was highly interested in a small Unix system called Minix. He later decided to develop his own operating system that far exceeded the Minix system. The project began in 1991 and soon after the project started, the 0.02 version was released. In 1994, version 1.0 of the Linux Kernel was released.
What makes Linux so unique from the rest of the crowd is that the source code is available to anyone. The kernel is located in the heart of most operating systems. It is responsible for the resource of the operating system, security, low-level hardware interfaces, and etc. The Linux kernel is developed and released under the GNU General Public License. Because the source code is available to the public, developers are able to edit the operating system as they see fit. There are now hundreds of companies, organizations, and individuals that have taken advantage of this freedom and released their own versions of the operating system based on the Linux kernel. Currently, the full-featured Linux operating system is version 2.6, but the development still continues.
Not only is Linux distributed for free, but the functionality, adaptability and robustness of Linux is enough to make it the main alternative for Unix and Microsoft's operating systems. IBM, Hewlett-Packard, Dell, Compaq, Toshiba, and etc., have embraced Linux in the computer world and fully support its development. Reaching its 20th year of existence, Linux is known all over the world as the server platform. The number of people using it at home and in the office is significantly increasing. The operating system can also be taken directly into microchips in a process of embedding. This is being used in appliances and devices by a increasing amount of people.
At first, others dismissed Linux as nothing more than a hobby and how this project would remain a tangent to the computer needs of others. With the help of KDE and GNOME, developers of desktop management systems, there is a wide availability of applications that can run on Linux.
Heavy computer knowledge is not needed to set up and use Linux, and anyone can try Linux for free by downloading a live CD online. The CD comes with all the necessities for a computer user and it needs no installation. One can simply run the computer capable of booting from the CD drive and go from there. Linux can also be installed into the computer. There is a variety of distributions in the Internet that can easily found.
