Linux is an alternative operating system for PC systems. To understand what Linux is and why people refer to it as “free” software, a little history is necessary.

In the early days of computing, programmers—the people who write the code that makes up software, including operating systems and applications—shared their work freely. As computers and their associated software became more lucrative, businesses began to sell programs, make the code unavailable to outsiders, and restrict distribution of the software. In response, Richard Matthew Stallman, a programmer at MIT’s Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, founded the Free Software Foundation and published the GNU Manifesto.

GNU Manifesto and the subsequently published GPL (General Public License) are based on the idea that software should be free—not monetarily, but as in freedom to use (although much of GPL software is without cost). Specifically, the GPL provides that anyone using products published under this license may have access to the code, may make modifications to it, and may distribute (for a charge if desired) the products created. Moreover, if you distribute copies of software created from GPL, you must ensure the individuals using your software are aware they have the same rights as you.

While Stallman and other like-minded programmers worked toward developing free software, Finnish graduate student Linus Torvalds made a request for some modifications to be made to a variant of UNIX, called Minix. The creator of Minix, Andy Tanenbaum, refused to give Torvalds his permission, so Torvalds wrote his own operating system kernel, now known as Linux. Torvalds released Linux version 1.0 under the GPL in 1994. Since then, different versions of Linux have been developed. Today, you may obtain versions of Linux that run directly from your CD-ROM drive, which means users may experience Linux without changing their current operating systems.

Linux, then, is an alternative operating system built specifically for PCs. It’s quite similar to UNIX, a powerful operating system that runs many key systems on the Internet. While it originally operated from a command-line interface (that is, the user would type commands instead of clicking icons), most variants of Linux have a graphical user interface which allows you to operate the computer by the point-and-click method. Today, there are many programs that run on Linux, including Internet browsers, office productivity suites, communications tools, and more. Finally, Linux is free (as in free to use, modify, distribute, etc.), and the underlying code that runs the system is available to any programmer worldwide who wishes to develop improvements to the software or to create software that works on these systems.

If you’re interested in exploring Linux, www.linux.orgis a great resource. Click on “Distributions” to searchfor the various distributions (variants) of Linux. Click “Applications” to list categories of applications that will run on Linux.  TPW