Linux

Pronunciation: LIH-nucks or LIE-nucks 1. A reimplementation of the UNIX operating system kernel, written by Linus Torvalds, and distributed for free on the Internet. Linux has acheived remarkable compatibility with UNIX, from the point of view of a programmer compiling his software from the source code. Software originally written for UNIX can usually be compiled to run on Linux with no modifications. Linux binaries cannot run on UNIX systems that don't have Linux compatibility on purpose. Linux can be made to run binaries from SCO OpenServer via the Intel Binary Compatibility Standard (IBCS). Linux is more compatible with UNIX systems that descend from UNIX System V than it is with BSD systems such as FreeBSD. 2. The Linux kernel, bundled with application programs like those that come with UNIX. When these applications are products of the Free Software Foundation, the combination is called GNU/Linux (the G in GNU is pronounced). When the kernel is combined with applications, the result is called a Linux "distribution." Some distributions are commercially sold and have their own brand names. 3. A registered trademark of Linus Torvalds. 4. A religion practiced largely on the USENET newsgroup comp.os.linux.advocacy. The primary ritual of Linux is arguing endlessly with one of two denominations of Linux practitioners: Linux advocates, and Windows advocates, over whether or not Linux is better than Microsoft Windows. The arguments that make up the ritual can be divided into five categories: Linux sucks, Linux rules, Windows sucks, Microsoft sucks and personal insults. Linux practitioners are even more fervent than computer users who engage in other so-called "religious wars" such as the classic EMACS vs. Vi. 3. A registered trademark of Linus Torvalds. Linux (the operating system) looks and feels very much like Sun Solaris, despite the fact that it is not based on the original UNIX kernel, and even its shell commands are complete rewrites of the originals. GNOME, the graphical interface of Solaris, was written for Linux first. Since its inception in 1991, Linux has become the most popular UNIX-like operating system, beating Solaris, and even UNIX-based Mac OS X.