Linux
Developed by Linus Torvalds in 1991, and further enhanced
by a large number of developers around the world, Linux
has become one of the most popular open source (i.e. one
where the source code is freely available to developers)
operating systems. It bears a striking resemblance to
Unix, was developed for PCs, and now is able to run on
a large variety of platforms including PowerPC, Macintosh,
Amiga, Atari, DEC Alpha, Sun SPARC, ARM and many others.
Users can get a copy of Linux via a free Internet download,
or they can use boxed versions such as Red Hat and SuSE,
which are more easy to use.
Linux aims to maintain maximum compatibility
with other UNIX-like systems. With millions of users
worldwide, Linux is probably the most popular UNIX-like
operating system in the world. It is not only free,
but its main part (the kernel) is small, so it doesn’t
require the sort of memory Windows does. It also has
a reputation as a stable system: it’s not prone
to crashing or freezing.
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