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Linux is a free UNIX-like operating system, originally created by Linus Torvalds,
and now with the assistance of developers from around the world.
Developed under the GNU General Public License
the source code for Linux is freely available to everyone.
Here's a potted history of Linux ... we're not planning to update
it any time soon, so don't hold your breath.
Linus was a young student at the University of Helsinki in
Finland. Linus had an interest in Minix, a small UNIX system, and
decided to develop a system that exceeded the Minix standards. He
began his work in 1991 when he released version 0.02 and worked
steadily until 1994 when version 1.0 of the Linux Kernel was released.
The current stable version is 2.6
and development continues.
Linux strictly refers to the kernel of the operating system, a complete
operating system needs a whole collection of support programs and utilities to make
it useful. A Linux distribution is a set of such programs, normally the GNU
utilities packaged with the Linux kernel and some application software.
Due to the very nature of Linux's functionality and
availability, it has become quite popular worldwide and a vast
number of software programmers have taken Linux's source code and
adapted it to meet their individual needs. Currently, there are
dozens of ongoing projects for porting Linux to various hardware
configurations and using it for special purposes.
Linux has an official mascot, the Linux Penguin, Tux.
Although there are a number of correct pronunciations of the
word Linux, in South Africa, it is most often pronounced as
in ``Line-ucks''.
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