tem that can be freely modified and redistributed.
It works on all major 32-bit and 64-bit computer
hardware platforms and is an implementation of
the POSIX specification with which all true ver-
sions of Unix comply. Linux uses no code from
proprietary Unix sources, and much of the soft-
ware available for Linux is developed by the Free
Software Foundation's GNU project. The result of
efforts by thousands of programmers coordinating
via the Internet, Linux is now recognized as one
of the most stable and flexible operating systems
available at any price.
Mac and Windows on the desktop for most users'
needs. Many applications are now available, in-
cluding complete office suites such as OpenOffice
and KOffice.
market. It runs the large majority of the Web
through the Apache server and provides email,
FTP, SSH, file, printer, and proxy servers with
efficient and scalable solutions. Linux also sup-
ports many different databases (e.g., MySQL,
PostgreSQL, and Oracle) which are the engines of
enterprise-level servers.
platform, with all standard languages being freely
available. Since the source code to the OS, devel-
opment tools, and most applications can be freely
modified and redistributed, Linux is the perfect en-
vironment for developers.
ing wristwatches, consumer electronics, point-of-
sale terminals, Google, Hollywood animation stu-
dios, mainframes, and supercomputer clusters.
with necessary communications between applica-
tions implemented using standard file formats such
as the Open Document Format (ODF) and stan-
dard protocols such as TCP/IP. This modular de-
sign has a number of advantages including flexi-
bility, simplicity, and stability. A particular ap-
plication can be replaced by any equivalent which
follows the same rules. The resulting freedom of
choice leads to friendly competition between differ-
ent development teams and often results in Linux
applications that are best-of-breed through Dar-
winian selection.
ular Linux applications which you can optionally
install including the Firefox web browser, Apache
web server, OpenOffice suite, GIMP image manip-
ulation program, XMMS audio player, xine video
player, FooBillard suite of 5 different pool games,
and PySol package of 200+ solitaire games! The
following sites will help you find additional apps
you might need:
· General apps: www.linux.org/apps/
· General apps: icewalkers.com/
· Free development site: sourceforge.net/
· Linux-Windows equivalents:
· GNOME apps: gnomefiles.org/
· Games: happypenguin.org/
(just a hobby, won't be big and pro-
fessional like gnu) for 386(486) AT
clones. This has been brewing since
april, and is starting to get ready."
lovable, cuddly, stuffed penguin sit-
ting down after having gorged itself
on herring. Still with me?"
obviously always a bit tongue-in-
cheek, but I think that yes, a five-
year timeframe [in 2003] for the free
software movement and Linux to
make a major noticeable impact is
not at all unrealistic.' Good call,
Linus!
ifications, and not all of them are
accepted.
fittest."