What is Linux?

In August 1991, a student from Finland posted the following in the comp. OS. minix news group:

Hello, all the people who use minix-I am working on a free operating system for 386 (486) AT (just for hobbies, not very professional as gnu ).
This student is Linus Torvalds, and what he calls "hobbies" is what we know today in Linux.
Linux has caught hacker's attention. Linux has been added to Linux kernel development through a computer network and tends to become a hacker's system-until today, kernel development in the Linux community is considered as true programming. as a group of high-level hackers joined, Linux has developed rapidly.

As a POSIX-like operating system with all features, Linux is not developed by Linus alone, but by hundreds of programmers around the world. interestingly, this huge development activity around the world is not very coordinated. of course, Linus verifies the tone for the kernel, but Linux is not just the kernel. no management organization; a Russian student gets a new motherboard and writes a driver to support it. a system administrator in Maryland needs to back up the software and write it to anyone who needs it. it seems that the right thing always happens at the right time.

By the end of 1993 at the beginning of 94, Linux 1.0 was born! Linux1.0 is already a fully functional operating system, and the kernel is compact and efficient. It can make full use of the hardware performance and perform very well on 80386 machines with 4 MB of memory, so far, people are still talking about this, but since the 2.1.xx kernel Linux series began to take a high-end path-hardware development is too fast, but Linux will not lose its true nature. linux has good compatibility and portability. After version 1.3, it began to port data to other hardware platforms, including the fastest-known CPU-Digital Alpha (at least the current clock speed is the highest ). therefore, we should not always associate Linux with low-end hardware platforms. Linux has evolved to this day. This is a misunderstanding. It only gives full play to the hardware performance, linux will surely sweep from low-end applications to high-end applications!

There is another important thing in the Development of Linux: Linux joins GNU and follows the public copyright license (GPL ). this greatly enhances GNU and Linux. Almost all applications of GNU libraries/software are transplanted to Linux, improving and improving the practicality of Linux, while GNU has a foundation, I don't know whether it's GNULinux or Linux-based GNU. more importantly, follow the public copyright license. Without inheriting the spirit of free software, do not reject the Commercial Behavior of free software (for example, package free software for sale on a CD ), businesses are not excluded from further development of free software, nor from commercial software development on Linux.

Another interesting thing is that you don't have to spend money to get Linux. If you have time and are willing to download it, you can get most of the software for free.

To make Linux easy to use, Linux also has many released versions. The released version is actually a complete set of program combinations. There are already many different Linux releases and their respective versions. To avoid confusion, we will first explain some frequently mentioned terms.

When we talk about Linux, it generally refers to "Real Linux", that is, the kernel, which is the "heart" of all UNIX operating systems ". However, linux alone cannot become an available operating system. Many software packages, compilers, library files, and Xwindow systems are required. Because of the different combination methods and different user-oriented objects, this is why there are many different Linux distributions.

Many Linux releases, such as Slackware, Redhat, Suse, TurboLinux, and OpenLinux, are available in various regions. Note: strictly speaking, you cannot say "Redhat Linux" "Suse Linux" "SlackwareLinux", etc. Linux mainly refers to the operating system kernel, the original kernel code of all released versions is the same (but the integrated kernel versions may vary depending on the release time ).

More and more companies are developing commercial software on Linux or porting software from other Unix platforms to Linux. Today, many IT industry leaders include IBM, Intel, Oracle, Infomix, Sysbase, and Corel, netscape, CA, and Novell all announce support for Linux! The joining of merchants makes up for the deficiencies and obstacles of pure free software development. Linux is rapidly popularized by many computer enthusiasts and enters commercial applications. It is the hope of breaking the monopoly Culture Circle of some companies !!

Linux is developed collaboratively by fans through the Internet. Of course, it has powerful network functions. For example, you can install Linux through ftp, nfs, and use it as a gateway. with the development of Linux, I am afraid that the applications derived from Linux are beyond Linus's original expectation. For example, someone uses it as a router, someone uses it as an embedded system, and someone uses it as a real-time system ...... new users often ask what Linux can do. In fact, it is not like operating systems that are useless, it is not about what you can do with it, but what you want to do!

Thanks to the rapid development of the Internet, programmers around the world have a brand new and effective communication method. We would also like to thank the GNU Project hosted by Richard Stallman several years ago. Linux has become a complete operating system in a few years. Its energy becomes very reliable, and new improvements are added every day.

To make Linux easy to use, Linux also has many released versions. The released version is actually a complete set of program combinations. There are already many different Linux releases and their respective versions. To avoid confusion, we will first explain some frequently mentioned terms.

When we talk about Linux, it generally refers to "Real Linux", that is, the kernel, which is the "heart" of all UNIX operating systems ". However, linux alone cannot become an available operating system. Many software packages, compilers, library files, and Xwindow systems are required. Because of the different combination methods and different user-oriented objects, this is why there are many different Linux distributions.

Linux is a Uinux system running on a 386/486/Pentium PC. linux has all the latest Unix functions, including real multitasking, virtual storage, shared library functions, instant load, superior storage management and TCP/IP, and UUCP network tools. the Linux System and Its Development comply with Posix standards. the kernel supports Ethernet, PPP, SLIP, NFS, AX.25, IPX/SPX (Novell), NCP (Novell), and so on. system applications include tellnet, rlogin, ftp, Mail, gopher, talk, term, news (tin, trn, nn) and other UNIX toolkit. X graphics library, including all X-Win application tools such as xterm, fvwm, xxgdb, mosaic, xv, gs, and xman. commercial software includes Motif and WordPerfect. the Chinese tool has Cxterm, celvis, cemasc, cless, hztty, cytalk, and ctalk. , Cmail, etc. It can process GB, BIG5, and HZ files. In addition, it also has DOS simulation software that can run software under DOS/Win.

Linux has developed rapidly in recent years due to its free access to system software and low hardware costs. linux applications have reached 1 Gigabit. from the DOS environment to the image, audio signal processing, from the game to the Chinese software, all-encompassing. major software companies have begun to release commercial Linux software. recently, benchmark tests on Linux show that Pentium/100 can be as fast as SUN/200. at the end of 94, the Linux World annual meeting was held at the Wanguo Convention Center in Washington. All major software companies sent a strong delegation.