LINUX History In 1984 a project was launched by Richard Stallman to develop a complete Unix-like operating system that would be considered free software. That project was called the GNU Project which is an acronym for “GNU's Not Unix!”. GNU's Unix-like kernel was never finished but by the mid 1990s there were thousands of other Unix-like utilities and supported applications.

LINUX History In 1991, Linus Torvalds was a second year student of Computer Science at the University of Helsinki in Finland where he had been using Minix, a non-free Unix-like system to study the inner workings of the computer. Linus was a believer of free and open software and wanted to develop an Unix-like operating system that was in support of the GNU cause. He began writing his own kernel while in college by first developing device drivers and hard-drive access, and by September had a basic design called Version 0.01.

LINUX History After 4 or 5 renditions, Linus Torvalds' kernel was ready for an actual operating system showdown. In an effort to provide a complete operating system supportive of the free software concept, GNU was combined with the Linux kernel (named after Linus Torvalds). The combination of GNU and Linux is the GNU/Linux operating system, now used by millions.

LINUX History Linux (commonly pronounced LI-nuks) is a generic term referring to Unix-like computer operating systems based on the Linux kernel. Its development is one of the most prominent examples of free and open source software collaboration. In almost all cases the underlying source code is free to use, modify, and redistribute, both commercially and non- commercially, by anyone under the GNU General Public License (GNU GPL).

LINUX History Linux is still predominantly known for its use in servers, even though it can be installed on a wide variety of computer hardware, ranging from desktop PCs, laptops, netbooks, mobile phones to supercomputers. Linux distributions (called Distro), installed on both desktop and laptop computers, have become increasingly commonplace in recent years, partly due to the popular Ubuntu distribution.

LINUX History The rest of the system outside the kernel usually comprises components such as the Apache HTTP Server, the X Window System, the GNOME and KDE desktop environments, and utilities and libraries from the GNU Project. Commonly-used applications for the Linux system desktop include Mozilla Firefox web-browser, Thunderbird email client, GIMP photo editor and OpenOffice.org office application suite. The GNU contribution is the basis for the Free Software Foundation's (FSF) preferred name GNU/Linux and the reason Linux has successfully found its place on the computer desktop.

GNU “Free software” is a matter of liberty, not price. Free software is a matter of the users' freedom to run, copy, distribute, study, change and improve the software. The freedom to run the program, for any purpose. The freedom to study how the program works, and adapt it to your needs. Access to the source code is a precondition for this. The freedom to redistribute copies so you can help your neighbor. The freedom to improve the program, and release your improvements to the public, so that the whole community benefits. Access to the source code is a precondition for this.