MacOS and Windows are the two most popular desktop and laptop operating systems. They’re the two central OS choices dominating the desktop and laptop markets today. But have you heard of the alternative to both of these options? It’s called Linux and it’s entirely free, and very powerful.
What is Linux? It could be your next OS of choice.
A quick Linux history lesson
In 1991, when Terminator 2: Judgement Day was a massive hit in theaters, and Intel’s first 32-bit processor, the 80386, had become a widely-used chip in PCs, the Windows OS was still an infant. Unix was the most-used operating system at the time, both commercially and in academic institutions.
For the individuals, however, Unix was just too expensive to use. A free variant of Unix called MINIX was available, but it didn’t take full advantage of Intel’s 32-bit chip. Also, it couldn’t be modified or redistributed, even though the source code was freely available. These factors led a student at the University of Helsinki to create a platform of his own.
Enter the birth of Linux. A computer science student by the name of Linus Torvalds wrote the first signs of Linux specifically for his Intel 386-based machine running MINIX. He didn’t create a complete operating system, but instead what’s known as a kernel, which didn’t depend on the parent MINIX operating system.
This kernel is no popcorn
What’s a kernel? If an operating system were a planet, the kernel would be its core. It’s the underlying code that manages everything on your PC – the processor, memory, storage, your peripherals, and so on. When you hear talk about how Windows 10 is provided across all types of devices, it means Microsoft uses the same kernel or core. It’s the fundamental layer of an operating system.
The next layer above the kernel, then, is called the shell, or the interface for entering commands to the kernel. With Windows, what you see day-to-day is the attractive graphical interface layer (GUI) on the planet’s surface. Underneath that is a layer for rendering the GUI or desktop, a layer that manages background services, such as the printer, wireless connectivity, notifications, etc.
What Linus Torvalds created was only a core, which he eventually named Linux, and uploaded to an FTP server. First published under his license, Linus then decided to pair it with a shell called Bash, itself created under a free software license called the GNU General Public License (GPL). Eventually, the Linux kernel was provided by itself under the GNU GPL, and developers flocked to create open-source layers for it, and in turn, provide a complete, ready-to-use operating system.
Believe it or not, Linux is everywhere
Because the Linux kernel falls under the GNU GPL, it sees extensive usage outside the PC arena. You can catch it running automobiles, kitchen appliances, streaming devices, household devices, Internet of Things (IoT) devices, and much more. Most of the internet depends on Linux through the Apache HTTP Server platform installed on internet servers, whose foundation is based on the Linux kernel.
That said, Apache and the other examples mentioned are distribution or distros of Linux. A distro is a unified group of components with the Linux kernel at the center. However, these releases aren’t all the same despite sharing the Linux core. Microsoft does something similar with Windows 10, although the company keeps the kernel behind locked doors. Microsoft mainly sells different distributions, depending on the hardware: Windows 10 Pro/Home, Windows 10 Mobile, Xbox One, Windows 10 Enterprise, Windows 10 S, and so on.
It’s a tasty Linux buffet
Since the Linux kernel is free to use, you can get different “flavors” of Linux-based platforms. That’s the beauty of Linux. The platform consists of multiple components developed by the Linux community, so not all Linux-based operating systems are alike, despite using the same kernel.
For example, there are more than ten different graphical interfaces created for the Linux platform. Examples include popular solutions like Unity, GNOME, KDE Plasma, Pantheon, and Fluxbox. But many distros also include proprietary components, so while they’re free to use, you can’t distribute or edit the programs. Right now, there are more than 75 different distros available, but only a dozen are endorsed by the Free Software Foundation as 100 percent free software.
Here’s a list of the more popular Linux-based distros you can use right now:
Out of the platforms listed above, Ubuntu is likely the most commercially-used Linux distribution. You can get it as an alternative to Windows 10 on desktops and laptops supplied by OEMs, including solutions manufactured by Dell, Lenovo, HP, and Acer. System76 is a company dedicated to manufacturing laptops, desktops, and servers that rely on the Ubuntu distribution.
Contact Information:
Kevin Parrish
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Contact Information:
Kevin Parrish
