Introduction of Linux

Linux is an operating system. An operating system is the basic set of programs and utilities that make your computer run. Some other common operating systems are Unix (and its variants BSD, AIX, Solaris, HP-UX, and others) DOS, Microsoft Windows, Amiga, Google Chrome and Mac OS. Linux is an ideal operating system for power-users and programmers.

Linux is a UNIX-based operating system originally developed as for Intel-compatible PC's. Linux is built and supported by a large international community of developers and users dedicated to free, open-source software. This community sees Linux as an alternative to such proprietary systems as Windows and Solaris, and as a platform for alternatives to such
proprietary applications as MS Office, Internet Explorer, and Outlook.

History of Linux

• 1969 Summer 1969 Unix was developed.

• 1969 Linus Torvalds is born.

• 1971 First edition of Unix released 11/03/1971. 

• In 1991, Linux is introduced by Linus Torvalds, a student in Finland. In Helsinki, Linus Torvalds began a project that later became the Linux kernel. It was initially a terminal emulator, which Torvalds used to access the large UNIX servers of the university.

• In 2001 Linus Torvalds releases version 2.4 of the Linux Kernel source code on January 4th.

• The first release of Ubuntu is released October 20, 2004.

Why  use Linux?

• Configurability

• Convenience

• Stability

• Community

• Freedom

Programming on Linux -

Linux supports many programming languages like  Ada, C, C++, Java, and Fortran. Linux include the Intel C++ Compiler, Sun Studio, and IBM XL. C/C++ Compiler. Most distributions also include support for PHP, Perl, Ruby, Python and other dynamic languages. While not as common, Linux also supports C# (via Mono), Vala, and Scheme. A number of Java Virtual Machines and development kits run on Linux, including the original Sun Microsystems JVM (HotSpot), and IBM's J2SE RE, as well as many open-source projects like Kaffe.

Architecture of Linux-

Advantages of Linux -

• Linux is free.

• Linux is portable to any hardware platform.

• Linux was made to keep on running.

• Linux is secure and versatile.

• Linux is scalable.

• The Linux OS and most Linux applications have very short debug-times.
   

Disadvantages of Linux -

• Linux is not very user friendly and confusing for beginners.

• More technical ability needed.

• Not all hardware compatible.