MANAMA, 4 June — Linux is an operating system that was initially created as a hobby by a young student, Linus Torvalds, at the University of Helsinki, Finland. Torvalds had an interest in Minix, a small UNIX system, and he decided to develop a system that exceeded the Minix standards. He began his work in 1991 when he released version 0.02 and worked steadily until 1994 when version 1.0 of the Linux Kernel was released. Development continues to the present time.
Linux is developed under the GNU General Public License (linux.org /info/gnu.html) and its source code is freely available to everyone. Although Linux is open source, that does not mean that Linux and its many distributions are necessarily free. Companies and developers may charge money for their Linux applications as long as the source code remains available. Linux is used for a wide variety of purposes including networking, software development, and as an end-user platform. Linux is a low-cost alternative to other more expensive operating systems.
Although there are many variations of the word Linux, it is most often pronounced with a short "i" and the first syllable in the word is stressed: LIH-nucks. Linux has an official mascot, the Linux penguin, which was chosen by Torvalds. The Linux penguin is shown here in Saudi dress to emphasize the importance of Arabizing Linux rapidly, so the region keeps up with the global IT community.
Linux is freely available for download although some users prefer to purchase packaged versions from vendors that produce pre-compiled versions for specific platforms with simplified installation tools and support service.
There is no such thing as IBM Linux, but IBM has put forward strong support for the Linux community. For more information on IBM and its Linux activities and developments, visit the IBM Linux portal at ibm.com/linux. The portal includes hardware and software information, analyst reports, development tools and a section covering Linux industry trends.
Some of the primary global Linux vendors are:
Caldera (caldera.com)
Red Hat (redhat.com)
SuSE (suse.com)
TurboLinux (turbolinux.com).
For general Linux resources on the web see:
Linux Center (linux-center.org/en/)
Linux Headquarters (linuxhg.com)
Linux Links (linuxlinks.com)
Linux Newbie (linuxnewbie.org)
Why Linux is Great (linux.org/info/advocacy.html).
