Linux is an operating system that was initially created as a hobby by a young student, Linus Torvalds, at the University of Helsinki in Finland. Linus had an interest in Minix, a small UNIX system, and 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. The kernel, at the heart of all Linux systems, is developed and released under the GNU General Public License and its source code is freely available to everyone. It is this kernel that forms the base around which a Linux operating system is developed. There are now literally hundreds of companies and organizations and an equal number of individuals that have released their own versions of operating systems based on the Linux kernel. More information on the kernel can be found at our sister site, LinuxHQ and at the official Linux Kernel Archives. The current full-featured version is 2.6 (released December 2003) and development continues. Apart from the fact that it's freely distributed, Linux's functionality, adaptability and robustness, has made it the main alternative for proprietary Unix and Microsoft operating systems. IBM, Hewlett-Packard and other giants of the computing world have embraced Linux and support its ongoing development. Well into its second decade of existence, Linux has been adopted worldwide primarily as a server platform. Its use as a home and office desktop operating system is also on the rise. The operating system can also be incorporated directly into microchips in a process called "embedding" and is increasingly being used this way in appliances and devices. Throughout most of the 1990's, tech pundits, largely unaware of Linux's potential, dismissed it as a computer hobbyist project, unsuitable for the general public's computing needs. Through the efforts of developers of desktop management systems such as KDE and GNOME, office suite project OpenOffice.org and the Mozilla web browser project, to name only a few, there are now a wide range of applications that run on Linux and it can be used by anyone regardless of his/her knowledge of computers. Those curious to see the capabilities of Linux can download a live CD version called Knoppix . It comes with everything you might need to carry out day-to-day tasks on the computer and it needs no installation. It will run from a CD in a computer capable of booting from the CD drive. Those choosing to continue using Linux can find a variety of versions or "distributions" of Linux that are easy to install, configure and use. Information on these products is available in our distribution section and can be found by selecting the mainstream/general public category. Additional InformationIf you're interested in learning about Linux, need help with some aspect of its use or are enthusiastic about it and want to help foster its adoption, you may want to get in touch with a Linux User Group in your area. There are groups in practically every country, region and city in the world, so there is likely to be one near you. Each day, Linux use is increasing in every sector of our society. We have information about Linux deployments in government, industry and the arts. Linux has an official mascot, Tux, the Linux penguin, which was selected by Linus Torvalds to represent the image he associates with the operating system. Tux was created by Larry Ewing and Larry has generously given it to the community to be freely used to promote Linux. More information on use of the image can be found on his webpage. More links to variations on the image and alternative logos can be found on our logo page Many people are not sure of the pronunciation of the word Linux. Although many variations of the word exist, often due to native language factors, it is normally pronounced with a short " i " and with the first syllable stressed, as in LIH-nucks. You can hear how Linux creator Linus Torvalds pronounces the word in Swedish and in English . Linux是一套免费使用和自由传播的类Unix操作系统。我们通常所说的Linux,指的是GNU/Linux ,即采用Linux内核的GNU操作系统。GNU代表GNU’s Not Unix。它既是一个操作系统,也是一种规范。Linux最早由Linus Torvalds在1991年开始编写。在这之前,Richard Stallman创建了Free Software Foundation(FSF)组织以及GNU项目,并不断的编写创建GNU程序(程序的许可方式均为GPL:General Public License)。在不断的有程序员和开发者加入到GNU组织中后,变造就了今天我们所看到的Linux! Linux的发行版本可以大体分为两类,一类是商业公司维护的发行版本,一类是社区组织维护的发行版本,前者以著名的Redhat(RHEL)为代表,后者以Debian为代表。 下面介绍一下常见发行版本的特点: Ubuntu严格来说不能算一个独立的发行版本,Ubuntu是基于Debian的unstable版本加强而来,可以这么说,Ubuntu就是一个拥有Debian所有的优点,以及自己所加强的优点的近乎完美的Linux桌面系统。根据选择的桌面系统不同,有三个版本可供选择,基于Gnome的Ubuntu,基于KDE的Kubuntu以及基于Xfc的Xubuntu。特点是界面非常友好,容易上手,对硬件的支持非常全面,是最适合做桌面系统的Linux发行版本。 Gentoo,伟大的Gentoo是Linux世界最年轻的发行版本,正因为年轻,所以能吸取在她之前的所有发行版本的优点,这也是Gentoo被称为最完美的Linux发行版本的原因之一。Gentoo最初由Daniel Robbins(FreeBSD的开发者之一)创建,首个稳定版本发布于2002年。由于开发者对FreeBSD的熟识,所以Gentoo拥有媲美FreeBSD的广受美誉的ports系统——Portage包管理系统。不同于APT和YUM等二进制文件分发的包管理系统,Portage是基于源代码分发的,必须编译后才能运行,对于大型软件而言比较慢,不过正因为所有软件都是在本地机器编译的,在经过各种定制的编译参数优化后,能将机器的硬件性能发挥到极致。Gentoo是所有Linux发行版本里安装最复杂的,但是又是安装完成后最便于管理的版本,也是在相同硬件环境下运行最快的版本。 |