Introduction to Linux

• 30 years ago, each computer had its own software
• UNIX was an operating system developed by Bell Labs which was simple and elegant, written in C language, and able to recycle code.
• Because UNIX could recycle code, and only needed a kernel to adapt to any system, it could run on many types of hardware.
• At the end of the 1980s, one had to work at a university or for the government in order to use a machine running UNIX.
• In 1991, Linus Torvalds started to develop Linux, an open source academic version of UNIX.
• Linux is a stable and reliable OS, making it a workhorse for such firms as Amazon.com, the U.S. Postal Service, even the German Army. ISPs use it for firewall protection, proxy and web servers. Machines running Linux were even used to create Titanic and Shrek.
• Because Linux is scalable, it can run on workstations as well as PDAs and experimental wristwatches.
• Linux can be downloaded from the Internet for free, and allows itself to be redeveloped and repackaged as long as the new code is available to all users.
• The only drawbacks to this OS are there are too many distributions, it's not very friendly for beginners, and how reliable can something be if it is free?