Linux is a POSIX-compliant, UNIX-like operating system created by Linus Torvalds. He started work on Linux in 1991, while enrolled as a student at the University of Helsinki. It was started as a non-commercial alternative to MINIX which was created by Prof. Andrew S. Tannenbaum. While it originally consisted of only the kernel, Torvalds initiated a switch to the GNU General Public License created by Richard M. Stallmann which resulted in the creation of a complete operating system. Linux uses a monolithic kernel design as comparison to a micro-kernel design.
The Linux kernel and many other parts of the operating system promote the concepts of free software and open source software development. It finds use on a wide variety of hardware, from large servers to small embedded systems, along within diverse application domains. There exists a large vibrant community of application and kernel developers for Linux, although the kernel development and releases are still directed by Torvalds. The user interface has matured over the years and various options exist, such as Gnome, KDE, XFCE, etc.
Various “flavors” or distributions of Linux exist in the market, such as Redhat, Fedora, Ubuntu, Suse, Mandrake, Gentoo, etc. While it gains popularity in the server segment with close to 12% of the market share, it is limited to 1–2% of the desktop segment.
by Sibin Mohan
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