ELI5: What the heck is linux?
ELI5: What the heck is linux?
I'm old. I don't understand it.
77 comments
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In common usage, at least, it's an ecosystem of open source system software that sprang up around the Linux kernel. What exactly a kernel is might not matter to you.
The practical upshot is that you can run a computer without any code on it on it that isn't publicly accessible (from Apple, Google or Microsoft). There are other ways than Linux if you're committed, but none nearly as well developed.
This is good, because Linux is free of cost, free of restrictions on what you do with it, and experience has shown that open source code is much more maintainable and less likely to contain bugs and security vulnerabilities. (Basically, if any problems come up someone out there is likely to fix them, while closed-source software is rarely touched by anyone other than the original team)
Just for fun, and because someone has to post the meme:
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someone has to post the meme:
No, no one needs to post the embarrassing speech where stallman tries to ride linus' coat-tails.
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He's not totally wrong to be bugged about it. He basically is the father of modern free software, and by extension all the non-kernel components of a typical Linux machine, but the setup ended up named after another guy and an obsolete thing from Bell labs.
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77 comments