Here you will find interesting information on how to install and use open source software. Select and Navigate from the right menu.

What is “Linux”?

“Linux” itself is just the kernel – the core part of the operating system. Other software, such as the GNU C compiler used to compile the kernel, bash command-line shell, GNU shell utilities (all the basic commands you would use on a command line), X.org graphical server, a graphical desktop like Unity, and the software that runs on top of the graphical desktop, like Firefox, are all produced by different groups of developers. Linux distributions assemble all this disparate software from different developers and call the complete package “Linux.”

The GNU Project

Richard Stallman started working on GNU in 1983. GNU was designed to a complete, Unix-compative OS made up of free software. GNU means “GNU’s Not Unix!” In 1991, the GNU project had completed  many of its parts gcc Compiler, its  command-line shell (bash) and many others shell utilities (ie Emacs text editor etc). Other parts of the newly arrived  operating system would be provided by existing free software, such as the X Window System, providing its graphical desktop.

Linux Arrives

The kernel was considered as the missing piece of the GNU operating system. In 1991, Linus Torvalds released the first version of the Linux kernel. There was now enough software for a completely free operating system, and distributors (like modern “Linux distributions”) assmbled the Linux kernel, GNU software, and X Window System together. Initially, there was some debate over what these distributions should be called. GNU/Linux is the preferred term advanced by Richard Stallman and the Free Software Foundation. Debian still names itself “GNU/Linux” today.

The Case for "GNU/Linux" and simply "Linux"

The GNU project makes up a large part of the standard “Linux” system and was a project intended to develop a full operating system, named GNU. However, a significant part of Richard Stallman’s objection to the term “Linux” is that it downplays the significance of GNU and its original purpose: as a completely free operating system intended to provide freedom to users. Proponents of the term “Linux” argue it’s a mistake to focus only on GNU, as the average distribution contains software from a variety of organizations and could be called Mozilla/KDE/Apache/X.org/GNU/Linux with similar justification.

Because of its popularity, and its open source nature, many "Linux distros" were developed focusing on the "desktop", server" and "IoT" market. These Linux distros are free but not exactly open source primarily because, the way the open-source (or other proprietary) packages  are put together is not disclosed. In either way, they are by far much leaner than Windows, faster with less hardware requirements, have more fun because you control and manage you own stuff and is free spurring innovation and development.