Linux was originally developed for personal computers based on the Intel x86 architecture, but has since been ported to more platforms than any other operating system. Because of the dominance of Linux-based Android on smartphones, Linux, including Android, has the largest installed base of all general-purpose operating systems . Linux is, , used by around 4 percent of desktop computers. The Chromebook, which runs the Linux kernel-based ChromeOS, dominates the US K–12 education market and represents nearly 20 percent of sub-$300 notebook sales in the US. Linux is the leading operating system on servers (over 96.4% of the top one million web servers' operating systems are Linux), leads other big iron systems such as mainframe computers, and is used on all of the world's 500 fastest supercomputers (, having gradually displaced all competitors).
Most of the kernel code is written in C as supported by the GNU compiler collection (GCC) which has extensions beyond standard C. The code also contains assembly code for architecture-specific logic such as optimizing memory use and task execution. The kernel has a modular design such that modules can be integrated as software components – including dynamically loaded. The kernel is monolithic in an architectural sense since the entire OS runs in kernel space. (Full article...)
A typical Linux distribution comprises a Linux kernel, an init system (such as systemd, OpenRC, or runit), GNU tools and libraries, documentation, and many other types of software (such as IP network configuration utilities and the getty TTY setup program, among others). Optionally, to provide a desktop experience (most commonly the Mesa userspace graphics drivers) a display server (the most common being the X.org Server, or, more recently, a Wayland compositor such as Sway, KDE's KWin, or GNOME's Mutter), a desktop environment (most commonly GNOME, KDE Plasma, or Xfce), a sound server (usually either PulseAudio or more recently PipeWire), and other related programs may be included with the distribution or are installable by the user. (Full article...)
Slackware aims for design stability and simplicity and to be the most "Unix-like" Linux distribution. It makes as few modifications as possible to software packages from upstream and tries not to anticipate use cases or preclude user decisions. In contrast to most modern Linux distributions, Slackware provides no graphical installation procedure and no automatic dependency resolution of software packages. It uses plain text files and only a small set of shell scripts for configuration and administration. Without further modification it boots into a command-line interface environment. Because of its many conservative and simplistic features, Slackware is often considered to be most suitable for advanced and technically inclined Linux users. (Full article...)
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Puppy Linux FossaPup 9.5
Puppy Linux is a family of light-weight Linux distributions that focus on ease of use and minimal memory footprint. The entire system can be run from random-access memory (RAM) with current versions generally taking up about 600 MB (64-bit), 300 MB (32-bit), allowing the boot medium to be removed after the operating system has started. Applications such as AbiWord, Gnumeric and MPlayer are included, along with a choice of lightweight web browsers and a utility for downloading other packages. The distribution was originally developed by Barry Kauler and other members of the community, until Kauler retired in 2013. The tool Woof can build a Puppy Linux distribution from the binary packages of other Linux distributions. (Full article...)
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Linux began in 1991 as a personal project by Finnish student Linus Torvalds to create a new free operating system kernel. The resulting Linux kernel has been marked by constant growth throughout its history. Since the initial release of its source code in 1991, it has grown from a small number of C files under a license prohibiting commercial distribution to the 4.15 version in 2018 with more than 23.3 million lines of source code, not counting comments, under the GNU General Public License v2 with a syscall exception meaning anything that uses the kernel via system calls are not subject to the GNU GPL. (Full article...)
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A screenshot of Debian 10 (Buster) with the GNOME desktop environment
Debian releases do not follow a fixed schedule. Recent releases have been made around every two years by the Debian Project. The most recent version of Debian is Debian version 12, codename "Bookworm". The next up and coming release of Debian is Debian 13, codename "Trixie".
Debian always has at least three active branches at any time: "stable", "testing" and "unstable". The stable branch is considered the primary release and what most people refer to when talking about Debian. The testing branch contains packages that have been imported from unstable. Testing has significantly more up-to-date packages than stable and is frozen some time before a release to become the next version of Debian. The unstable release (also known as Sid) is the branch where active development takes place. It is the most volatile version of Debian. (Full article...)
Many factors have resulted in the expanded use of Linux systems by traditional desktop users as well as operators of server systems, including the desire to minimize software costs, increase network security and support for open-source philosophical principles.[better source needed] In recent years several governments, at various levels, have enacted policies shifting state-owned computers to Linux from proprietary software regimes. (Full article...)
Proponents of the term Linux argue that it is far more commonly used by the public and media and that it serves as a generic term for systems that combine that kernel with software from multiple other sources, while proponents of the term GNU/Linux note that GNU alone would be just as good a name for GNU variants which combine the GNU operating system software with software from other sources. (Full article...)
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Rocky Linux is a Linux distribution developed by Rocky Enterprise Software Foundation, which is a privately owned benefit corporation that describes itself as a "self-imposed not-for-profit". It is intended to be a downstream, complete binary-compatible release using the Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) operating system source code. The project's aim is to provide a community-supported, production-grade enterprise operating system. Rocky Linux, along with RHEL and SUSE Linux Enterprise (SLE), has become popular for enterprise operating system use.
The first release candidate version of Rocky Linux was released on April 30, 2021, and its first general availability version was released on June 21, 2021. Rocky Linux 8 will be supported through May 2029 and Rocky Linux 9 through May 2032. (Full article...)
While the Linux-based Android operating system dominates the smartphone market in many countries, and Linux is used on the New York Stock Exchange and most supercomputers, it is used in few desktop and laptop computers. Much of the criticism of Linux is related to the lack of desktop and laptop adoption, although there has been growing unease with the project's perspective on security and its adoption of systemd has been controversial. (Full article...)
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Smack (full name: Simplified Mandatory Access Control Kernel) is a Linux kernelsecurity module that protects data and process interaction from malicious manipulation using a set of custom mandatory access control (MAC) rules, with simplicity as its main design goal. It has been officially merged since the Linux 2.6.25 release, it was the main access control mechanism for the MeeGo mobile Operating System. It is also used to sandbox HTML5 web applications in the Tizen architecture, in the commercial Wind River Linux solutions for embedded device development, in Philips Digital TV products., and in Intel's Ostro OS for IoT devices.
Since 2016, Smack is required in all Automotive Grade Linux (AGL) implementations where it provides in association with other Linux facilities the base for the AGL security framework. (Full article...)
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GoboLinux is a Linux distribution whose most prominent feature is a reorganization of the traditional Linuxfile system. Rather than following the Filesystem Hierarchy Standard like most Unix-like systems, each program in a GoboLinux system has its own subdirectory tree, where all of its files (including settings specific for that program) may be found. Thus, a program "Foo" has all of its specific files and libraries in /Programs/Foo, under the corresponding version of this program at hand. For example, the commonly known GCC compiler suite version 8.1.0, would reside under the directory /Programs/GCC/8.1.0.
According to the GoboLinux developers, this results in a cleaner system. (Full article...)
Arch Linux (/ɑːrtʃ/) is an independently developed x86-64 general-purpose Linux distribution that strives to provide the latest stable versions of most software by following a rolling-release model. The default installation is intentionally minimal so that users can add only the packages they require.
The Fedora Project is an independent project to co-ordinate the development of Fedora Linux, a Linux-based operating system, operating with the vision of "a world where everyone benefits from free and open source software built by inclusive, welcoming, and open-minded communities." The project's mission statement is to create "an innovative platform for hardware, clouds, and containers that enables software developers and community members to build tailored solutions for their users". The project also oversees Extra Packages for Enterprise Linux, a special interest group which maintains the eponymous packages. The project was founded in 2003 as a result of a merger between the Red Hat Linux (RHL) and Fedora Linux projects. It is sponsored by Red Hat (an IBM subsidiary) primarily, but its employees make up only 35% of project contributors, and most of the over 2,000 contributors are unaffiliated members of the community. (Full article...)
Hans Thomas Reiser (born December 19, 1963) is an American computer programmer, entrepreneur, and convicted murderer. In April 2008, Reiser was convicted of the first-degree murder of his wife, Nina Reiser, who disappeared in September 2006. He subsequently pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of second-degree murder, as part of a settlement agreement that included disclosing the location of Nina Reiser's body, which he revealed to be in a shallow grave near the couple's home.
Prior to his incarceration, Reiser created the ReiserFS computer file system, which may be used by the Linux kernel but which is now scheduled for removal in 2025, as well as its attempted successor, Reiser4. In 2004, he founded Namesys, a corporation meant to coordinate the development of both file systems. (Full article...)
Benjamin Mako Hill is a free software activist, hacker, author, and professor. He is a contributor and free software developer as part of the Debian and Ubuntu projects as well as the co-author of three technical manuals on the subject, Debian GNU/Linux 3.1 Bible, The Official Ubuntu Server Book, and The Official Ubuntu Book.
The following are images from various Linux-related articles on Wikipedia.
Image 1The Linux kernel supports various hardware architectures, providing a common platform for software, including proprietary software. (from Linux kernel)
Image 38At XDC2014, Alex Deucher from AMD announced the unified kernel-mode driver. The proprietary Linux graphic driver, libGL-fglrx-glx, will share the same DRM infrastructure with Mesa 3D. As there is no stable in-kernel ABI, AMD had to constantly adapt the former binary blob used by Catalyst. (from Linux kernel)
Image 39Xfce is default on CD images and non-Linux ports. (from Debian)
Image 40Redevelopment costs of Linux kernel (from Linux kernel)