Portal:Linux
Linux
Linux (commonly pronounced /ˈlɪnəks/ in English; variants exist) or GNU/Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system. Linux is one of the most prominent examples of free software and open source development: typically all underlying source code can be freely modified, used, and redistributed by anyone.
Selected article
The Linux kernel is a Unix-like operating system kernel. It is the namesake of the Linux family of operating systems. Released under the GNU General Public License version 2 (GPLv2) and developed by contributors worldwide, Linux is one of the most prominent examples of free software.
The Linux kernel was initially conceived and assembled by Linus Torvalds in 1991. Early on, the MINIX community contributed code and ideas to the Linux kernel. At the time, the GNU Project had created many of the components required for a free software operating system, but its own kernel, GNU Hurd, was incomplete and unavailable. The BSD operating system had not yet freed itself from legal encumbrances. This meant that despite the limited functionality of the early versions, Linux rapidly accumulated developers and users who adopted code from those projects for use with the new operating system.
Selected biography
Linus Benedict Torvalds 
pronunciation (help·info) (born December 28, 1969 in Helsinki, Finland) is a Finnish software engineer best known for initiating the development of the Linux kernel. He now acts as the project's coordinator.
Torvalds attended the University of Helsinki from 1988 to 1996, graduating with a master's degree in computer science. His M.Sc. thesis was titled Linux: A Portable Operating System.
After a visit to Transmeta in late 1996, he accepted a position at the company in California, where he would work from February 1997 through June 2003. He then moved to the Open Source Development Labs, which has since merged with the Free Standards Group to become the Linux Foundation, under whose auspices he continues to work.
Selected quote
| “ | I'm doing a (free) operating system (just a hobby, won't be big and professional like gnu) for 386(486) AT clones. | ” |
| — Linus Torvalds, |
In the news
- 2011-12-20 CentOS 6.2 released.
- 2011-12-09 CentOS 6.1 released.
- 2011-12-06 Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.2 released.
- 2011-11-26 Linux Mint 12 "Lisa" released.
- 2011-11-16 openSUSE 12.1 released.
- 2011-11-08 Fedora 16 "Verne" released.
- 2011-10-24 Linux kernel 3.1 released.
- 2011-10-13 Ubuntu 11.10 "Oneiric Ocelot" released.
- 2011-09-28 GNOME 3.2 released.
- 2011-08-28 Mandriva Linux 2011 released.
- 2011-07-26 KDE SC 4.7 released.
- 2011-07-22 Linux kernel 3.0 released.
- 2011-07-10 CentOS 6.0 released.
- 2011-05-26 Linux Mint 11 "Katya" released.
- 2011-05-24 Fedora 15 "Lovelock" released.
- 2011-05-18 Linux kernel 2.6.39 released.
- 2011-04-28 Ubuntu 11.04 "Natty Narwhal" released.
- 2011-04-06 GNOME 3 released.
- 2011-03-14 Linux kernel 2.6.38 released.
- 2011-03-10 openSUSE 11.4 released.
- 2011-03-08 Gentoo Linux 11.0 released.
- 2011-02-06 Debian 6.0 "Squeeze" released.
- 2011-01-26 KDE SC 4.6 released.
- 2011-01-05 Linux kernel 2.6.37 released.
- 2010-11-12 Linux Mint 10 "Julia" released.
- 2010-11-11 Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.0 released.
- 2010-11-02 Fedora 14 "Laughlin" released.
- 2010-10-20 Linux kernel 2.6.36 released.
- 2010-10-10 Ubuntu 10.10 "Maverick Meerkat" released.
- 2010-09-29 GNOME 2.32 released.
- 2010-08-10 KDE SC 4.5 released.
- 2010-08-01 Linux kernel 2.6.35 released.
- 2010-07-15 OpenSUSE 11.3 released.
- 2010-05-25 Fedora 13 "Goddard" released.
- 2010-05-18 Linux Mint 9 "Isadora" released.
- 2010-05-16 Linux kernel 2.6.34 released.
- 2010-04-29 Ubuntu 10.04 LTS "Lucid Lynx" released.
- 2010-02-24 Linux kernel 2.6.33 released.
- 2009-12-03 Linux kernel 2.6.32 released.
- 2009-11-28 Linux Mint 8 "Helena" released.
- 2009-11-17 Fedora 12 "Constantine" released.
- 2009-11-11 OpenSUSE 11.2 released.
- 2009-10-29 Ubuntu 9.10 "Karmic Koala" released.
- 2009-09-09 Linux kernel 2.6.31 released.
- 2009-06-10 Linux kernel 2.6.30 released.
- 2009-05-26 Linux Mint 7 "Gloria" released.
- 2009-04-23 Ubuntu 9.04 "Jaunty Jackalope" released.
- 2009-03-23 Linux kernel 2.6.29 released.
- 2008-12-25 Linux kernel 2.6.28 released.
- 2008-11-25 Fedora 10 "Cambridge" released.
Selected picture
Tux, the official Linux mascot.
Did you know?
- ... that Linux was started in 1991 by Linus Torvalds?
- ... that there are hundreds of Linux distributions?
- ... that the Linux kernel is a monolithic kernel?
- ... that Linux was inspired by MINIX?
- ... that Linux supports over 15 hardware architectures?
- ... that the Linux kernel is coded in C?
- ... that the Linux kernel is licensed under the GPL?
- ... that the Linux kernel uses an 1:1 thread model?
- ... that the Linux kernel development is managed through Git?
Categories
Topics
Linux gaming - Linux kernel - Linux kernel portability and supported architectures - Desktop Linux - History of Linux - Linux adoption - Tux -- Linux distribution - Embedded Linux - Linux devices - Linux Foundation - Linux User Group
Technology: ext3 • ext4 • Netfilter • Kernel-based Virtual Machine • Filesystem in Userspace • Netlink • CFQ • Completely Fair Scheduler • dm-crypt • Btrfs
People: Linus Torvalds • Andrew Morton • Greg Kroah-Hartman • Rusty Russell • Alan Cox • Jens Axboe • H. Peter Anvin • Theodore Ts'o • Harald Welte
Companies: Canonical Ltd. • Red Hat • Novell • Mandriva
Related portals
WikiProjects
Things to do
- Improve this portal.
- Join the Linux WikiProject.
- Add the {{User Linux}} userbox to your user page.
- Join ##linux and #wikipedia on freenode.
