Category Archives: Linux ideas and History

Apr 19

Linux Origins (GNU Not UNIX)

In 1990, A Finnish student by name Linus Torvalds studying in the University of Helsinki came into contact with Andy Tanenbaum’s OS, Minx. Linus Wanted to upgrade Minx by putting in more features and provements. But he was prohibited by

Linus Torvalds

Linus Torvalds

Tanenbaum to do so. Then Linus decided to write his own kernel and released it under GPL. This kernel is now popularly known as Linux.Linux torvalds father of Linux

Why Linux:

­         Fresh implement of UNIX APIs

­         Open Source development model

­         Supports wide variety of hardware

­         Supports many networking protocols and configurations Multi user and multi tasking Fully supported

No Virus:

­         Windows is vulnerable to 60000 known viruses while UNIX? Linux are to very few, can count one hand. Why?

­         Protected kernel, no open module segment

­         There are 400 plus Linux distribution, so virus for what Linux Distribution?

RHEL 5:

RHEL Version Description:

Kernel 2.6.18-8.e15 on i686 GNU/Linux

2=Major Version 6=Minor Version 18=Patch Number 8=Revision Number e15=release

Apr 19

Gnu Project

Developing a whole system is a very large project. To bring it into reach, I decided to adapt and use existing pieces of free software wherever that was possible. For example, I decided at the very beginning to use tex as the principal text formatter; a few years later, I decided to use the X Window System rather than writing another window system for GNU Because of this decision, the GNU system is not the same as the collection of all GNU software. The GNU system includes programs that are not GNU software, programs that were developed by other people and projects for their own purposes, but which we can use because they are free software. You may have heard that Linux is free, what is free here? Here this free doesn’t refer to the cost of the software, but the fact that the end user has the freedom to modify and change the program Free software is a matter of liberty, not price. To understand the concept, you should think of free as in free speech, not as in free beer.

 

GNU General Public License:

­         Primary license for open source software

­         Encourages free software

­         All enhancements and changes to GPL software must also GPL

­         Proprietary software developers use copy right to take away the users freedom; that’s why we reverse the name, changing “copyright” into “copy left”