What Is Linux?

Linux is the most commonly used and best-known open source operating system. As an operating system, Linux is software that resides on a computer under all the other applications, accepts requests from other programs and relays other requests to the hardware of the device.
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In the purposes of this article, I use the word "Linux" to refer to the Linux kernel but also to the set of programs, applications and services that are usually bundled with the Linux kernel to include all the essential components of a fully functioning operating system. Some people, particularly Free Software Foundation members, refer to this set as GNU / Linux, because many of the resources included are GNU components. Not every Linux installation, however, uses GNU components as part of its operating system. For example, Android uses a Linux kernel but very little relies on GNU tools.

The Linux operating system is everywhere, from smartphones to cars, supercomputers and home appliances, home desktops to corporate servers.

Since the mid-1990s, Linux has been popular, and has since hit a user base that spans the globe. In reality, Linux is everywhere: Is it?S in your tablets, thermostats, vehicles, fridges, Roku players and televisions. It also operates most of the internet, all the top 500 supercomputers in the world, and stock markets from around the world.

But apart from being the platform of choice for running desktops, servers, and embedded systems all over the globe, Linux is one of the most stable, safe and worry-free operating systems available.

Here's all the details you need on Linux platform to get up to speed.

What is Linux?

Linux is an operating system much like Windows,iOS and Mac OS. In reality, the Linux operating system is powered by one of the most popular platforms on the planet, Android. An operating system is a program that controls all of your desktop or laptop's hardware resources. The OS controls the link between your software and your hardware, to put it clearly. Can the program survive without the operating system (OS)?

The Linux operating system consists of several different components:

1. Apps 

Windows environments do not provide the full spectrum of applications. Much like Windows and macOS, Linux provides thousands upon thousands of high-quality software titles that are easy to find and to update. Most modern Linux distributions (more on this below) have tools like the App Store that centralize and simplify installation of applications. For example, Ubuntu Linux has the Ubuntu Software Center (a GNOME Software rebrand? Figure 1) that allows you to easily search and install between thousands of apps from one centralized place.

2. Desktop framework

this is the component in which the users communicate. You can select from several desktop environments. The desktop environment includes built-in applications (eg file managers, internet browsers, configuration tools, and games).

3. Daemons

Such are background services (printing, tone, scheduling, etc.) either that start during boot or log into the desktop after logging into.

4. Graphical server 

This was the sub-system displaying the graphics on your computer. It's usually called the X server, or just the X server.

5. Kernel

It is simply considered the one piece of the whole?Linux?. What?. The kernel is the system core and it manages the CPU, memory, and peripheral devices. The lowest level of the OS is the kernel.

6. Init framework

It is a sub-system charged with controlling daemons that bootstraps the user space. Was systemd one of the most commonly used init systems? This is one of the most divisive, too. It is the init system which manages the boot process once the boot loader hands over the initial booting.

7. Bootloader

The program that controls your computer's boot operation. It would simply be a splash screen for most users that appears and finally goes off to boot into the operating system.

How special does Linux compare to other operating systems?

Linux is similar in several respects to other operating systems that you might have used before, such as Windows, OS X and iOS. Like other operating systems, Linux has a graphical interface and Linux counterparts include styles of software that you are used to use on other operating systems, such as word processing applications. The developer of the software may have created, in many cases, a Linux version of the same program you use on other systems. You can use Linux whether you can use a computer or some other electronic tool.

Yet in other essential respects even Linux is distinct from other operating systems. Linux is open source software first, and perhaps most critically. The code used to build Linux is free to access, edit and contribute to the public, only for users with the necessary skills.

Also, Linux is special in that while the main parts of the Linux operating system are similar in general, there are several Linux distributions, which have specific software choices. This means that Linux is extremely flexible, since it is not just possible to switch programs like word processors and web browsers. Linux users can also choose key components, such as can device shows graphics, and other components for the user interface.

What difference do Unix and Linux make?

You may have heard of Unix, an operating system that was developed by Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, and others at Bell Labs in the 1970s. In several ways Unix and Linux are identical and in fact Linux was initially designed to be identical to Unix. Both have specific systems management software, programming tools, filesystem configurations, and other main components. Unix aren't safe, however. Over the years, a variety of different operating systems were developed that tried to be "unix-like" or "unix-compatible," but Linux was the most influential, far surpassing its popularity predecessors.

Who is using Linux?

If you know it or not, you are probably still using Linux. Depending on which user survey you are looking at, servers running Linux produce between one-and two-thirds of the web pages on the Internet.

Individuals and companies choose Linux for their servers because it's stable, and in addition to companies like Canonical, SUSE, and Red Hat that provide commercial support, you can get excellent support from a wide community of users.

Linux also runs many of the devices you currently own, such as Cell phones, digital storage devices, personal video recorders, cameras, wearables, and more. And under the hood, the car is running Linux.

What does "own" Linux?

Linux is freely available to everyone, due to its open source licensing. The patent on the name "Linux," however, remains on its founder, Linus Torvalds. Linux's source code is copyrighted by its several individual authors, and licensed under the GPLv2 license. Since Linux has such a large number of contributors over many decades of development, it is nearly impossible to contact each individual author to get them to agree to a new license, so that Linux stays permanently licensed under the GPLv2.

Why did Linux get created?

Linux was founded in 1991 by the then-student Linus Torvalds at Helsinki University. Torvalds developed Linux as an alternative free and open source to Minix, another Unix derivative mainly used in academic settings. He initially wanted to call it "Freax," but the Torvalds server administrator used to distribute the original code called its directory "Linux" after a combination of the call of Torvalds and the word Unix, and the name kept.

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