What is Linux?

Linux is an independent implementation of the POSIX operating system specification with System V and BSD extensions.
Linux was first developed for 386/486/Pentium based PCs but currently it also runs on DEC Alphas, SUN Sparcs, M68000 machines (like Atari and Amiga), MIPS and PowerPC.
Linux has been written entirely from scratch, it has no proprietary code in it.
Linux is available in both source and object form.
Linux is freely distributable under the GNU General Public License.
The Linux kernel has been written by Linus Torvalds from the Department of Computer Science, University of Helsinki, Finland with assistance from a loosely-knit team of volunteers across the Net.
Linux has all the features you would expect in a modern fully-fledged UNIX, including
- true multitasking
- virtual memory
- shared libraries
- demand loading
- shared copy-on-write executables
- proper memory management
- TCP/IP networking
Most of the programs running under Linux are generic UNIX freeware, many of them from the GNU project.

Department of Computer Science