Linux Operating System For New Age ComputersLinus Torvalds, a student at the University of Helsinki in Finland, initially created Linux as a hobby. It is a Unix-like computer operating system. Linus was interested in Minix, a small UNIX system and so he decided to develop a more superior system, exceeding the standards of Minix. He began his work in 1991 and in 1994 he was able to release version 1.0 of the Linux kernel. Linux operating system is one of the most salient examples of free software and open source development. Its underlying source code can be freely modified and redistributed. Major computer software and hardware corporations such as IBM, Sun Microsystems, Hewlett-Packard and Novell have supported Linux and have built servers based on Linux. Novell and Red Hat are two major software companies that have produced successive versions of Linux and have created proprietary products. This operating system is used on a wide variety of computing systems (including desktop computers, supercomputers, mobile phones and routers). As a server platform, it has become popular worldwide during the last two decades. Through the process of embedding, Linux can even be incorporated directly into microchips. Linux is available in various versions or distributions. A person can choose a version of Linux that is easy to install, configure and use. In the year 1991, Linus introduced Linux Kernel for the Intel x86 PC architecture. The source code was available to everyone. This kernel is at the heart of all Linux operating systems. A number of individuals, companies and organizations have further released their own versions of operating system based on the Linux kernel. Along with the kernel, Linux operating system comes with other software packages suited for the purpose of different users. The most important feature of Linux operating system is that the development and distribution of the operating system is based on General Public License. This makes the system transparent and accessible to the end-users. Apart from the fact that this operating system can be freely distributed, it has advantages of functionality, adaptability, and robustness. Although the Linux operating system has evolved gradually over the last decades, it still is not as popular as Microsoft's Windows operating system at the level of small businesses. Many bloggers have revealed that Linux is the greatest operating system but it is not ready for mass consumption because many computer appendages do not go with it. The plug-and-play arrangement, for example, for home consumers is not available with Linux. Hence, this operating system is not very popular among home users but is preferred by big IT companies. |