What is Linux?

Linux is the best-known and most-used open source operating system. As an operating system, Linux is software that sits underneath all of the other software on a computer, receiving requests from those programs and relaying these requests to the computer’s hardware.

For the purposes of this page, we use the term “Linux” to refer to the Linux kernel, but also the set of programs, tools, and services that are typically bundled together with the Linux kernel to provide all of the necessary components of a fully functional operating system. Some people, particularly members of the Free Software Foundation, refer to this collection as GNU/Linux, because many of the tools included are GNU components. However, not all Linux installations use GNU components as a part of their operating system. Android, for example, uses a Linux kernel but relies very little on GNU tools.

Why to use Linux?

In most of the answers you will hear the words, “Free, freedom, etc.” Linux is certainly free monetarily. You can download and run any distro without giving a single dime to any of the people; who’s work you’re benefiting from. Then again, it is the choice of the developer to release his/her work for free. So, one of the benefits is that you can a working system for absolutely free; provided you have the hardware ready. You pretty much don’t have to be worried about not being able to get anything on a Linux system. At one point, Linux seemed to be just for geeks, hobbyists and developers. Right now, even a standard user can get his work done; provided all he/she needs is a browser, email, word processing, spreadsheets, basic image manipulation, calendar, etc. There are viable alternatives for pretty much everything. But notice I said ‘alternatives” and not “replacements”.

What is the difference between Unix and Linux?

You may have heard of Unix, which is an operating system developed in the 1970s at Bell Labs by Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, and others. Unix and Linux are similar in many ways, and in fact, Linux was originally created to be similar to Unix. Both have similar tools for interfacing with the systems, programming tools, filesystem layouts, and other key components. However, Unix is not free. Over the years, a number of different operating systems have been created that attempted to be “unix-like” or “unix-compatible,” but Linux has been the most successful, far surpassing its predecessors in popularity.