Linux (commonly pronounced /ˈlɪnʌks/, LI-nuks)^[4][5][6] is a generic term referring to Unix-like A Unix-like operating system is one that behaves in a manner similar to a Unix system, while not necessarily conforming to or being certified to any version of the Single UNIX Specification computer operating systems An Operating System is an interface between hardware and user which is responsible for the management and coordination of activities and the sharing of the resources of the computer that acts as a host for computing applications run on the machine. As a host, one of the purposes of an operating system is to handle the details of the operation of based on the Linux kernel The Linux kernel is an operating system kernel used by the Linux family of Unix-like operating systems. It is one of the most prominent examples of free and open source software. Their development is one of the most prominent examples of free and open source software Free and open-source software, also F/OSS, FOSS, or FLOSS is software that is liberally licensed to grant the right of users to study, change, and improve its design through the availability of its source code. This approach has gained both momentum and acceptance as the potential benefits have been increasingly recognized by both individuals and collaboration; typically all the underlying source code In computer science, source code is any collection of statements or declarations written in some human-readable computer programming language. Source code is the mechanism most often used by programmers to specify the actions to be performed by a computer can be used, freely modified, and redistributed, both commercially and non-commercially, by anyone under the terms of the GNU GPL The GNU General Public License is a widely used free software license, originally written by Richard Stallman for the GNU project^[7] and other free software licences A free software licence is a software licence which grants recipients rights to modify and redistribute the software which would otherwise be prohibited by copyright law. A free software licence grants, to the recipients, freedoms in the form of permissions to modify or distribute copyrighted work.

Linux is predominantly known for its use in servers There are also technologies that operate on an inter-server level. Other services do not use dedicated servers; for example peer-to-peer file sharing, some implementations of telephony , and supplying television programs to several users (e.g. Kontiki), although can be installed on a wide variety of computer hardware Hardware is a general term that refers to the physical artifacts of a technology. It may also mean the physical components of a computer system, in the form of computer hardware, ranging from embedded devices An embedded system is a computer system designed to perform one or a few dedicated functions, often with real-time computing constraints. It is embedded as part of a complete device often including hardware and mechanical parts. In contrast, a general-purpose computer, such as a personal computer, is designed to be flexible and to meet a wide , mobile phones A mobile phone or mobile is a long-range, electronic device used for mobile telecommunications (mobile telephony, text messaging or data transmission) over a cellular network of specialized base stations known as cell sites. In addition to the standard voice function, current mobile phones may support many additional services, and accessories, and even some watches A watch is a timepiece that is made to be worn on a person. The term now usually refers to a wristwatch, which is worn on the wrist with a strap or bracelet. In addition to the time, modern watches often display the day, date, month and year, and electronic watches may have many other functions^[8] to supercomputers A supercomputer is a computer that is at the frontline of current processing capacity, particularly speed of calculation. Supercomputers introduced in the 1960s were designed primarily by Seymour Cray at Control Data Corporation , and led the market into the 1970s until Cray left to form his own company, Cray Research. He then took over the.^[9] Linux distributions A Linux distribution is a member of the family of Unix-like software distributions built on top of the Linux kernel. Such distributions (often called distros for short) consist of a large collection of software applications such as word processors, spreadsheets, media players and database applications. The operating system will consist of the, installed on both desktop All-in-One computers are desktop computers that combine the monitor into the same case as the CPU. Apple has manufactured several popular examples of all-in-one computers, such as the original Macintosh of the mid-1980s and the iMac of the late 1990s and 2000s. Some older 8-bit computers, such as the Commodore PET 2001 or Kaypro II, also fit into and laptop A laptop is a personal computer designed for mobile use and small and light enough to sit on one's lap while in use. A laptop integrates most of the typical components of a desktop computer, including a display, a keyboard, a pointing device , speakers, and often including a battery, into a single small and light unit. The rechargeable battery (if computers, have become increasingly commonplace in recent years, partly owing to the popular Ubuntu Ubuntu , is a computer operating system based on Debian GNU/Linux. It is named after the South African ethical ideology Ubuntu ("humanity towards others") and is distributed as free software. Ubuntu provides an up-to-date, stable operating system for the average user, with a strong focus on usability and ease-of-installation. Ubuntu has distribution^[10] and the emergence of netbooks Netbooks are a rapidly evolving category of small, light and inexpensive laptop computers suited for general computing and accessing web-based applications; they are often marketed as "companion devices," that is, to augment a user's other computer access. Walt Mossberg called them a "relatively new category of small, light,.^[11]

The name "Linux" comes from the Linux kernel The Linux kernel is an operating system kernel used by the Linux family of Unix-like operating systems. It is one of the most prominent examples of free and open source software, originally written in 1991 by Linus Torvalds Linus Benedict Torvalds (Swedish pronunciation: [ˈliːnɵs ˈtuːrvalds] ; born December 28, 1969 in Helsinki, Finland) is a Finland-Swedish software engineer best known for having initiated the development of the Linux kernel. He later became the chief architect of the Linux kernel, and now acts as the project's coordinator.The rest of the system usually comprises components such as the Apache HTTP Server The Apache HTTP Server, commonly referred to as Apache , is a web server notable for playing a key role in the initial growth of the World Wide Web. In 2009 it became the first web server to surpass the 100 million web site milestone. Apache was the first viable alternative to the Netscape Communications Corporation web server (currently known as, the X Window System The X Window System is a computer software system and network protocol that provides a graphical user interface (GUI) for networked computers, and was initially developed as part of Project Athena. It implements the X display protocol and provides windowing on raster graphics (bitmap) computer displays and manages keyboard and pointing device, the GNOME GNOME is a desktop environment—a graphical user interface which runs on top of a computer operating system —composed entirely of free and open source software. It is an international project that includes creating software development frameworks, selecting application software for the desktop, and working on the programs which manage and KDE KDE is a free software project based around its flagship product, a desktop environment mainly for Unix-like systems. The goal of the project is to provide basic desktop functions and applications for daily needs as well as tools and documentation for developers to write stand-alone applications for the system. In this regard, the KDE project desktop environments In graphical computing, a desktop environment commonly refers to a style of graphical user interface (GUI) that is based on the desktop metaphor which can be seen on most modern personal computers today. Almost universally adopted in modern computers , these graphical interfaces are designed to assist the user in easily accessing and configuring (, and utilities System software is closely related to, but distinct from Operating System software. It is any computer software that provides the infrastructure over which programs can operate, i.e. it manages and controls computer hardware so that application software can perform. Operating systems, such as GNU, Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X or Linux, are and libraries In computer science, a library is a collection of subroutines or classes used to develop software. Libraries contain code and data that provide services to independent programs. This allows the sharing and changing of code and data in a modular fashion. Some executables are both standalone programs and libraries, but most libraries are not from the GNU Project The GNU Project is a free software, mass collaboration project, announced on September 27, 1983, by Richard Stallman at MIT. It initiated the GNU operating system, software development for which began in January 1984. The founding goal of the project was, in the words of its initial announcement, to develop "a sufficient body of free software (announced in 1983 by Richard Stallman Richard Matthew Stallman , often abbreviated "rms", is an American software freedom activist, hacker, and software developer. In September 1983, he launched the GNU Project to create a free Unix-like operating system, and has been the project's lead architect and organizer. With the launch of the GNU Project, he started the free software). Commonly-used applications with desktop Linux systems include the Mozilla Firefox Mozilla Firefox is a free and open source web browser descended from the Mozilla Application Suite and managed by Mozilla Corporation. Firefox has 23.75% of the recorded usage share of web browsers as of September 2009[update], making it the second most popular browser in terms of current use worldwide after Microsoft's Internet Explorer web-browser and the OpenOffice.org OpenOffice.org , commonly known as OpenOffice, is an office application suite available for a number of different computer operating systems. It is distributed as free software and written using the gtk toolkit. It supports the ISO/IEC standard OpenDocument Format (ODF) for data interchange as its default file format, as well as Microsoft Office office application suite. The GNU contribution is the basis for the Free Software Foundation The Free Software Foundation is a non-profit corporation founded by Richard Stallman on 4 October 1985 to support the free software movement, a copyleft-based movement which aims to promote the universal freedom to distribute and modify computer software. The FSF is incorporated in Massachusetts, USA's preferred name GNU/Linux The GNU/Linux naming controversy is a dispute among members of the free and open source software community over how to refer to the computer operating system commonly called Linux.^[12][13]

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