What is Linux?

Free

Linux is free.

First ,It's available free of cost (You don't have to pay to use this OS, other OSes like MS-Windows or Commercial version of Unix may cost you money)

Second free means freedom to use Linux, i.e. when you get Linux you will also get source code of Linux, so you can modify OS (Yes OS! Linux OS!!) according to your taste.

It also offers many Free Software applications, programming languages, and development tools etc. Most of the Program/Software/OS are under GNU General Public License (GPL).

Unix Like

Unix is almost 35 year old Os.

In 1964 OS called MULTICS (Multiplexed Information and Computing System) was developed by Bell Labs, MIT & General Electric. But this OS was not the successful one.

Then Ken Thompson (System programmer of Bell Labs) thinks he could do better (In 1991, Linus Torvalds felt he could do better than Minix - History repeats itself.). So Ken Thompson wrote OS on PDP - 7 Computer, assembler and few utilities, this is know as Unix (1969). But this version of Unix is not portable. Then Unix was rewrote in C. Because Unix written in 'C', it is portable. It means Unix can run on verity of Hardware platform (1970-71).

At the same time Unix was started to distribute to Universities. There students and professor started more experiments on Unix. Because of this Unix gain more popularity, also several new features are added to Unix. Then US govt. & military uses Unix for there inter-network (now it is know as INTERNET).

So Unix is Multi-user, Multitasking, Internet-aware Network OS. Linux almost had same Unix Like feature for e.g.

• Like Unix, Linux is also written is C.
• Like Unix, Linux is also the Multi-user/Multitasking/32 or 64 bit Network OS.
• Like Unix, Linux is rich in Development/Programming environment.
• Like Unix, Linux runs on different hardware platform; for e.g.
  • Intel x86 processor (Celeron/PII/PIII/PIV/Old-Pentiums/80386/80486)
  • Macintosh PC's
  • Cyrix processor
  • AMD processor
  • Sun Microsystems Sparc processor
  • Alpha Processor (Compaq)

Open Source Linux is developed under the GNU Public License. This is sometimes referred to as a "copyleft", to distinguish it from a copyright.Under GPL the source code is available to anyone who wants it, and can be freely modified, developed, and so forth. There are only a few restrictions on the use of the code. If you make changes to the programs , you have to make those changes available to everyone. This basically means you can't take the Linux source code, make a few changes, and then sell your modified version without making the source code available. For more details, please visit the open-source home page. http://www.freeos.com/guides/lsst/misc.htm#free

How to Install Linux ?

Please visit the http://www.nixcraft.com/lessbs/ for Quick Visual Installation Guide for Red Hat Linux version 6.2 and 7.2.

How to get Linux?

Linux available for download over the net, this is useful if your internet connection is fast. Another way is order the CD-ROMs which saves time, and the installation from CD-ROM is fast/automatic. Various Linux distributions available. Following are important Linux distributions.

Linux distributions.	Website/Logo
Red Hat Linux: http://www.redhat.com/
SuSE Linux: http://www.suse.com/
Mandrake Linux: http://www.mandrakesoft.com/
Caldera Linux: http://www.calderasystems.com/
Debian GNU/Linux: http://www.debian.org/
Slackware Linux: http://www.slackware.com/

Note: If you are in India then you can get Linux Distribution from the Leading Computer magazine such as PC Quest (Even PCQuest has got its own Linux flavor) or if you are in Pune, India please visit the our sponsor web site to obtained the Red Hat Linux or any other official Linux distribution. Note that you can also obtained your Linux distribution with Linux books which you purchase from Local book store.

Who developed the Linux?

In 1991, Linus Torvalds studding Unix at the University, where he used special educational experimental purpose operating system called Minix (small version of Unix and used in Academic environment). But Minix had it's own limitations. Linus felt he could do better than the Minix. So he developed his own version of Minix, which is now know as Linux. Linux is Open Source From the start of the day. For more information on Linus Torvalds, please visit his home page.