Linux - Wikipedia

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(September 2020)
Linux
(kent as
GNU/Linux
an aw) is ae
Unix-like
computer
operatin seestem
. It is ane o the maist kenspeckle examplars o
open soorce
development an
free saftware
; unlik
proprietary
operatin seestems sic as
Microsoft Windows
or
Mac OS X
, its unnerlyin
soorce code
is tae haunde for onybody tae uise, chynge, an caw aboot for nae chairge.
First developit an uised tae the maist pairt bi single enthusiasts oan
personal computers
, Linux haes nou gained the support o muckle companies sic as
IBM
Sun Microsystems
Hewlett-Packard
, an
Novell, Inc.
, an haes risen tae prominence as an operatin seestem for
servers
; aicht o the ten maist reliable internet hostin companies nou rins Linux oan thair
wab servers
Linux haes been mair widely
portit
tae deifferent computin platforms nor ony ither operatin seestem. It is uised in devices reengin frae
supercomputers
tae
mobile phones
, an is gainin popularity in the personal computer mercat.
History
eedit
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Linus Torvalds
, creautor o the Linux kirnel.
In 1983,
Richard Stallman
foondit the
GNU Project
, wi the ettle o developin ae complete Unix-like operatin seestem composit haily o free saftware. Bi the stairt o the 1990s, GNU haed creatit or collectit maist o the necessar components o this seestem —
librars
compilers
text editors
, ae
Unix shell
— except for the core component, the
kirnel
. The GNU project stairtit developin ae kirnel, the
GNU Hurd
, in 1990, foodit oan the
Mach microkirnel
, but the development o this Mach-basit design haes pruiven gey haurd an proceedit slaw.
In atween times, in 1991, anither kirnel wis begoud as ae habby bi Finnish varsity student
Linus Torvalds
while attendin the
Varsity o Helsinki
Torvalds oreeginally uised
Minix
oan his ain computer, ae simplifee'd Unix-like seestem written bi
Andrew Tanenbaum
for learnin operatin seestem design. Forby thon Tanenbaum didna allou ithers tar rax his operatin seestem, leadin Torvalds tae big ae replacement for Minix.
Oreeginally, Torvalds cried his kirnel "Freax" for "free" an "freak" an wi the aften-uised X in the names o Unix-like seestems. The name "Linux" wis cleckit bi
Ari Lemmke
, wha admeenistert an
FTP
server aucht the
Finnish Varsity Network
; he cleckit the name
Linux
for the directory that Torvalds' project wis first tae hund for dounlade frae.
At first ae computer rinnin Minix wis necessar for tae confeegur an instaw Linux. Ineetial versions o Linux needit anither operatin seestem tae be present for tae boot frae ae haurd disk, but suin thare war independent boot laders sic as
LILO
. The Linux seestem quickly surpassed Minix in functionality; Torvalds an ither early Linux kirnel developers adaptit thair wark for the GNU components an uiser-space programmes for tae creaut ae hale, fully functional, an free operatin seestem.
The day, Torvalds conteenas tae guide the oncome o the kirnel, while ither subseestems sic as the GNU components conteeas tae be developit separate (Linux kirnel development isna pairt o the GNU Project). Ither groups an companies combines an distributes thir components wi addeetional application saftware in the form o Linux
distributions
Portability
eedit
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see an aw:
Linux (kirnel) / Portabeelity
The Linux kirnel wis oreeginally designed anerly for
Intel 80386
microprocessors
, but nou uphauds ae braid hatter o
computer architectures
. Linux is ane o the maist waften
portit
operatin seestems, rinnin oan ae diverse reenge o seestems frae the haund-hauden
ARM
-basit
iPAQ
tae the mainframe IBM
System z9
. Speecialized deestributions exists for less mainstream architectures.
Copyricht, licensin, an the Linux tredemerk
eedit
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The Linux kirnel an maist GNU saftware is licensed unner the
GNU General Public License
. The GPL requires that aw deestributit soorce code modifications an derived warks be licensed unner the GPL an aw, an is whiles cried a "share an share-alike" or "
copyleft
" license. Qho Linus Torvalds in 1997 "Making Linux GPL'd was definitely the best thing I ever did."
Ither saftware micht uise ither licenses; mony librars uises the
GNU Lesser General Public License
(LGPL), ae mair permissive variant o the GPL, an the
X Window System
uises the
MIT License
In the Unitit States, the name
Linux
is ae
tredemerk
registert tae Linus Torvalds.
Initially, naebody registert it, but oan August 15, 1994, William R. Della Croce, Jr. filed for the tredemerk
Linux
, an syne demaundit ryalties frae Linux deestributors. In 1996, Torvald an ae wheen affectit organisations sued for tae hae the tredemerk assigned tae Torvalds, an in 1997 the case wis settelt
. The licensin o the tredemerk is nou haundelt bi the
Linux Mark Institute
. Torvalds haes statit that he juist tredemerkit the name for tae hinder ither bodies frae uisin it, but wis bund in 2005 bi
Unitit States tredemerk law
tae tak active meisurs tae uphaud the tredemerk. The affcome wis that the LMI sent oot ae nummer o letters tae deestribution vendors speirin that ae fee be peyed for the uiss o the name, an ae wheen companies haes complee'd.
Pronunciation
eedit
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In 1992, Torvalds expponed hou he soonds the wird
Linux
'li' is pronounced wi ae short [ee] sound: compare prInt, mInImal etc. 'nux' is an aw ae short, non-diphthong, like in pUt {IPA /
/}. It's pairtly due to minix: linux was just my working name for the thing, and as I wrote it to replace minix on my system, the result is what it is... linus' minix became linux.
Linus Torvalds, comp.os.linux newsgroup
Ae soond file o Torvalds sayin "Hello, this is Linus Torvalds, and I pronounce Linux as
Linux
" can be fund
here
. Merk that in Inglis, "Linux" an "Minix" is for ordinar soodit wi ae cutty
IPA
: /ɪ/) soond that differs frae Torvalds'
Finland-Swedish
soondin o thir wirds, seemilar tae the differ atween the Finland-Swadish an Inglis soondins o "Linus." The
Finland-Swedish
soondin {IPA /'linʌks/} hauds tae Scots
phonology
an aw.
Linux an the GNU Project
eedit
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Main airticle:
GNU/Linux namin controversy
The ettle o the GNU project is tae produce ae Unix-compatible operatin seestem conseestin haily o free saftware, an maist general-purpose Linux distributions relies oan librars an tuils written tae that effect. The
Free Software Foundation
sees thir Linux distributions as "variants" o the GNU seestem, an asks that sic operatin seestems be referred tae as
GNU/Linux
or
a Linux-basit GNU seestem
. While some distributions maks ae pynt o uisin the soudert form - for ordinar
Debian GNU/Linux
- its uiss ootwi the enthusiast community is leemitit, an Linus Torvalds haes said that he finds cryin Linux in general
GNU/Linux
"just ridiculous"
. The disteenction atween the Linux kirnel an distributions foondit oan it is ae soorce o raivelment tae mony newcomers, an the namin bides controversial.
SCO litigation
eedit
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Main airticle:
SCO-Linux controversies
In Mairch 2003, the
SCO Group
pit in ae
lawsuit
agin IBM, thrapin that IBM haed contributit pairts o SCO's copyrichtit code tae the Linux kirnel in veeolation o IBM's leecense tae uise Unix. Mair oot ower, SCO sent letters tae ae wheen companies wairnin that thair uiss o Linux athoot ae leecense frae SCO micht be actionable, an threapit in the press that thay wad be lawin indiveedual Linux uiser. This controversy haes involved lawsuits bi SCO agin
DaimlerChrysler
(dismissed in 2004), an
AutoZone
, an bi
Red Hat
an ithers agin SCO. Furthermair, whither SCO e'en awns the relevant Unix copyrichts is currently
disputit bi Novell
As per the Utah Destrict Coort rulin oan Juilie 3rd, 2006; 182 claims oot o 294 claims made bi
SCO
agin
IBM
haes been dismissed.
10
SCO's threaps haes varied widely.
As o 2006
, nae pruif o SCO's claims o copied code in Linux haes been providit.
Development
eedit
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More Than a Gigabuck: Estimating GNU/Linux's Size
, ae 2001 study o
Red Hat Linux
7.1, foond that this distribution contained 30 million
soorce lines o code
11
Uisin the
Constructive Cost Model
, the study estimatit that this distribution required aboot aicht thoosand man-years o development time. Accordin tae the study, if aw this saftware haed been developit bi conventional
proprietary
means, it wad hae cost aboot 1.08 billion dollars (year 2000 U.S. dollars) tae develop in the United States.
The majority o the code (71%) wis written in the
C programmin language
, but mony ither leids war uised, includin
C++
Lisp
assembly language
Perl
Fortran
Python
an various
shell scriptin
leids. Slichtly ower hauf o aw lines o code war licensed unner the GPL. The Linux kirnel wis 2.4 million lines o code, or 8% o the total.
In ae later study,
Counting potatoes: The size of Debian 2.2
, the same analysis wis performed for Debian GNU/Linux version 2.2.
12
This distribution contained ower fifty-five million soorce lines o code, an the study estimatit that it wad hae cost 1.9 billion dollars (year 2000 U.S. dollars) tae develop bi conventional means.
Applications
eedit
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KDE
desktop oan the
SUSE
distribution.
Linux haes historically been uised mainly as ae
server
operatin seestem, but its law cost, flexibility, an Unix background mak it suitable for ae wide reenge o applications.
Linux is the cornerstone o the "
LAMP
" server-saftware combination
(Linux, Apache, MySQL, Perl/PHP/Python)
which haes achieved popularity amang developers, an which is ane o the mair common platforms for wabsite hostin.
Due tae its law cost an its heich configurability, Linux is eften uised in
embedded seestems
sic as telly
set-top boxes
mobile phones
, an
handheld devices
. Linux haes acome ae major competitor tae the proprietary
Symbian OS
foond in mony mobile phones, an it is an alternative tae the dominant
Windows CE
an
Palm OS
operatin seestems oan
handheld devices
. The popular
TiVo
digital video recorder uises ae customized version o Linux. Several network
firewall
an
router
standalone products, includin several frae
Linksys
, uise Linux internally, uisin its advanced firewallin an routin capabilities.
Linux is increasingly common as an operatin seestem for
supercomputers
. In the November 2005
TOP500
leet o supercomputers, the twa fastest supercomputers in the warld ran Linux. O the 500 seestems, 371 (74.2%) ran some version o Linux, includin seiven o the tap ten.
The Sony
PlayStation 3
video game console
, scheduled tae be releasit in November 2006, will rin Linux bi default. Sony haes previously releasit ae
PS2 Linux
dae-it-yourself kit for thair
PlayStation 2
video game console. Game developers like
Atari
an
id Software
hae releasit titles tae the Linux desktop.
Linux Game Publishing
an aw produces gemmes for Linux, licensing an
portin
them frae thair
Windows
soorce code.
The
One Laptop Per Child
project, which aims tae provide computin devices tae aw childer in developin nations, uises Linux as the devices' operatin seestem.
Distributions
eedit
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Linux is predominantly uised as pairt o ae Linux distribution (commonly cried ae "distro"). Thir are
compiled
bi individuals, loose-knit teams, an commercial an volunteer organisations. Thay commonly include additional seestem an
application
saftware, an installer seestem tae ease initial seestem setup, an integrated management o saftware installation an upgradin. Distributions are creatit for mony deifferent purposes, includin
computer architecture
support, localization tae ae specific region or language,
real-time
applications, an
embedded seestems
, an mony deliberately include anly
free saftware
. Currently, ower three hunder distributions are actively developit, wi aboot ae dozen distributions bein maist popular for general-purpose uise.
13
Ae teepical general-purpose distribution includes the
Linux kirnel
, some GNU
librars
an tuils, command-line
shells
, the graphical
X Window Seestem
an accompanyin
desktop environments
sic as
KDE
or
GNOME
, thegither wi thoosands o application saftware packages, frae
office suites
tae
compilers
text editors
, an scienteefic tuils.
Desktop usage
eedit
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GNOME
desktop rinnin frae the Ubuntu LiveCD.
The heich level o access granted tae Linux's internals haes led tae Linux uisers tradeetionally tendin tae be mair technologically oriented than uisers o Microsoft Windows and Mac OS, whiles revellin in the tag o "
hacker
" or "
geek
". Linux an ither free saftware projects hae been frequently criticized for nae goin far enough tae ensure ease o uise.
citation needit
This stereotype haes begun tae be dispelled in recent years. Linux mey nou be uised wi ae uiser interface that is gey seemilar tae those rinnin oan ither operatin seestems. Uisers mey hae tae switch application saftware, an thare are eften fewer "kent" options (as in the case o
computer games
) but thare exist replacements for aw general-purpose saftware, an general applications like spreadsheets, wird processors, an browsers are available for Linux in profusion. Additionally, ae growin nummer o proprietary saftware vendors are supportin Linux,
14
and compatibility layers sic as the
Wine
seestem allou some Windows application saftware an drivers tae be uised oan Linux wioot requirin the vendor tae adapt them.
Linux's roots in the Unix operatin seestem mean that in addition tae graphical configuration tuils and control panels available for mony seestem settins and services, plain-text configuration files are still commonly uised tae configure the OS and can readily be made accesible (or nae) tae uisers, at the administrator's will.
The Berlin-basit organisation
Relevantive
concluded in 2003 that the usability o Linux for ae set o desktop-relatit tasks wis "nearly equal to
Windows XP
."
15
Syne then, thare hae been numerous independent studies and articles which indicate that ae modren Linux desktop uisin aither GNOME or KDE is on par wi Microsoft Windows in ae business settin.
16
Mercat share and uptake
eedit
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Accordin tae the mercat research company
IDC
, 25% o servers and 2.8% o desktop computers ran Linux as o 2004.
17
Proponents and analysts attribute the success o Linux tae its security, reliability,
18
law cost, an freedom frae
vendor lock-in
19
. The frictional cost o switchin and lack o support for some hardware and mony application programs designed for
Windows
, especially
gemmes
or uncommon business saftware,
are twa important factors inhibitin adoption.
The Linux mercat is rapidly growin and the revenue o servers, desktops, an packaged saftware rinnin Linux is expected tae exceed $35.7 billion bi 2008.
20
The actual installed uiser base mey be higher than indicated bi this figure, as maist Linux distributions and applications are freely available and redistributable.
The paper
Why Open Source Software / Free Software (OSS/FS)? Look at the Numbers!
21
identifies mony quantitative studies o open soorce saftware, oan topics includin mercat share and reliability, wi mony studies specifically examinin Linux.
Installation
eedit
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The maist common method o installin Linux oan ae personal computer is bi bootin frae ae
CD-ROM
that contains the installation program and installable saftware. Sic ae CD can be burned frae ae downladed
ISO image
, purchased alone for ae law price, can be obtained as pairt o ae box set that mey an aw include manuals and additional commercial saftware an in ae wheen cases shipped for free bi request.
Mini CD
images allou Linux tae be installed frae ae disk wi ae
small form factor
As wi
servers
personal computers
that come wi Linux already installed are available fra vendors includin
Hewlett-Packard
and
Dell
, awtho generally anly for thair business desktop line.
Alternatives tae traditional desktop installation include
thin client
installation, whaur the operatin seestem is laded and rin frae ae centralised machine ower ae netwark connection; and rinnin frae ae
Live CD
, whaur the computer boots the entire operatin seestem frae CD wioot first installin it oan the computer's haurd disk.
Oan embedded devices, Linux is teepically held in the device's
firmware
and mey or mey nae be consumer-accessible.
Programmin oan Linux
eedit
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The
GNU Compiler Collection
(GCC) is the standard compiler faimily for maist seestems. Amongst ithers, GCC provides frontends for
C++
and
Java
. Maist distributions come installed wi interpreters for
Perl
Python
and ither
scriptin languages
, and several nou include
C#
via the
Mono
project.
Thare are ae nummer o
Integrated development environments
available includin
KDevelop
Anjuta
NetBeans
, and
Eclipse
while the traditional editors
Emacs
and
Vim
remain popular.
citation needit
The twa main
widget tuilkits
uised for contemporary
GUI
programmin are
Qt
and the Gimp Toolkit, kent as
GTK+
As well as thir free and open soorce options, thare are proprietary compilers and tuils available frae ae reenge o companies sic as
Intel
22
PathScale
23
and the Portland Group.
24
Support
eedit
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Technical support is providit bi commercial suppliers and bi ither Linux uisers, uisually in
online forums
IRC
newsgroups
, and
mailin lists
. Linux Uiser Groups hae tradeetionally been organisit tae provide support for Linux in specific ceeties and regions.
The business model o commercial suppliers is generally dependent oan chargin for support, especially for business uisers. Ae nummer o companies offer ae specialisit business version o thair distribution, which adds proprietary support packages and tuils tae administer higher nummers o installations or tae simplify administrative tasks.
See an aw
eedit
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List o Linux distributions
Comparison o Linux distributions
The Cathedral and the Bazaar
Total cost o ownership
One page Linux reference
References
eedit
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Torvalds, Linus, and David Diamond.
Just for Fun: The Story of an Accidental Revolutionary
. Harper-Collins Business.
Moody, Glyn (2001).
Rebel Code: Linux and the Open Source Revolution
. Perseus Publishing.
ISBN 0-713-99520-3
Gedda, R (2004).
"Linux breaks desktop barrier in 2004: Torvalds"
. Archived frae
the original
on 7 Apryle 2005
. Retrieved
16 Januar
2004
Mackenzie, K (2004).
"Linux Torvalds Q&A"
. Archived frae
the original
on 3 Februar 2007
. Retrieved
19 Januar
2004
Greene, Thomas C.
"Mandrake 8.1 easier than Win-XP"
. The Register
. Retrieved
22 December
2005
Burke, Steven (
2006-03-20
).
"Red Hat looks to boost channel sales"
. CRN. Archived frae
the original
on 2006-03-22
. Retrieved
2006-04-01
Check date values in:
date=
help
Torvalds, Linux. "What would you like to see most in minix?".
Usenet
: comp.os.minix. Retrieved 2006-09-09 frae
Torvalds, Linus. "How to pronounce "Linux"?".
Usenet
: comp.os.linux. Retrieved 2006-08-08 frae
"Linus Torvalds interview"
. Archived frae
the original
on 11 Mairch 2007
. Retrieved
8 Mey
2006
"U.S. Reg No: 1916230"
. Archived frae
the original
on 23 Apryle 2020
. Retrieved
1 Apryle
2006
"Linux Journal, 2006-06-31, Linux Timeline"
"Linus gets tough on Linux trademark"
. Retrieved
4 September
2006
Moore, J.T.S. (Produced, Written, and Directed) (2001).
Revolution OS
(DVD).
"SCO Lossin Linux Battle Wi IBM"
. Archived frae
the original
on 3 October 2006
. Retrieved
31 October
2006
Wheeler, David A (29 Julie 2002).
"More Than a Gigabuck: Estimating GNU/Linux's Size"
. Archived frae
the original
on 28 Apryle 2020
. Retrieved
11 Mey
2006
González-Barahona, Jesús M (3 Januar 2002).
"Counting potatoes: The size of Debian 2.2"
. Retrieved
11 Mey
2006
Unknown parameter
coauthors=
ignored (
author=
suggested) (
help
"The LWN.net Linux Distribution List"
. Retrieved
19 Mey
2006
"The Global Desktop Project, Building Technology and Communities"
. Archived frae
the original
on 26 Apryle 2006
. Retrieved
7 Mey
2006
"Relevantive Linux usability study"
. Archived frae
the original
on 7 Februar 2006
. Retrieved
3 Apryle
2006
Dulaney, Emmett (Juin 2005).
"Desktop Linux: Ready for Prime Time?"
. Archived frae
the original
on 29 Juin 2006
. Retrieved
19 Juin
2006
White, Dominic (2 Apryle 2004).
"Microsoft eyes up a new kid on the block"
. The Daily Telegraph. Archived frae
the original
on 12 Februar 2007
. Retrieved
9 September
2006
"Why customers are flocking to Linux"
"The rise and rise o Linux"
. Archived frae
the original
on 17 Februar 2007
. Retrieved
31 October
2006
"Linux To Ring Up $35 Billion By 2008"
. Archived frae
the original
on 27 September 2007
. Retrieved
1 Apryle
2006
Wheeler, David A.
"Why Open Source Software / Free Software (OSS/FS)? Look at the Numbers!"
. Archived frae
the original
on 5 Apryle 2006
. Retrieved
1 Apryle
2006
"Archived copy"
. Archived frae
the original
on 5 November 2006
. Retrieved
31 October
2006
CS1 maint: archived copy as title (
link
"Archived copy"
. Archived frae
the original
on 23 Julie 2013
. Retrieved
31 October
2006
CS1 maint: archived copy as title (
link
"Archived copy"
. Archived frae
the original
on 2 September 2011
. Retrieved
31 October
2006
CS1 maint: archived copy as title (
link
Fremmit airtins
eedit
edit soorce
Linux.org
— contains comprehensive information and resoorces aboot Linux.
Kernel.org
— Linux kirnel wabsite
The Linux Documentation Project
HOWTOs
FAQs
an ither guides
Linux Online
Archived
2006-01-17 at the
Wayback Machine
— distributions and FTP sites (sortable bi categories)
DistroWatch.com
— distribution information and announcements
Taen frae "
Categeries
1991 saftware
Linux
Computin platforms
Cross-platform saftware
Unix variants
Finnish inventions
Hidden categories:
Pages that wis written by a body that haesna a guid grip on the leid
Aw pages needin cleanup
CS1 errors: dates
Pages wi citations uisin unsupportit parameters
Aw airticles wi unsoorced statements
CS1 maint: archived copy as title
Webarchive template wayback airtins
Pages uisin ISBN magic airtins
Linux
Eik topic