| Linux was initially created as a hobby project by the Finnish software engineer Linus Torvalds in 1991. The name Linux is a portmanteau of his first name and Unix, the OS from which Linux is derived (in fact, Linux is a version of Unix). **Very important note:** Linux is pronounced as in Finnish Swedish (Linus Torvalds being part of the Swedish-speaking minority in Finland), with a long i as in "bee" and long u as in "book": lee-nooks, not line-axe: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/03/Linus-linux.ogg | Linux was initially created as a hobby project by the Finnish software engineer Linus Torvalds in 1991. The name Linux is a portmanteau of his first name and Unix, the OS from which Linux is derived (in fact, Linux is a version of Unix). **Very important note:** Linux is pronounced as in Finnish Swedish (Linus Torvalds being part of the Swedish-speaking minority in Finland), with a long i as in "bee" and long u as in "book": lee-nooks, not line-axe: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/03/Linus-linux.ogg |
| Unlike Windows or MacOS, there are many varieties of Linux, so-called distributions, which all share the same fundamental architecture and "kernel" (the program that actually runs the OS), but differ in their look and feel, the software included, and ease of use. The reason Linux is so widely used is in part due to the ease of modifying Linux to create a distribution suitable for a particular application (e.g., small and lightweight for low-power computing devices, fast and working in real time for time critical applications such as rocket launches, or with lots of bells and whistles to make them user friendly for desktop use). The most common distributions, such as Ubuntu and Debian, are geared towards user-friendliness and will look fairly familiar to users of Windows and Macs used to a "point-and-click" interface, while the more specialised ones often make do without any graphical user interface at all, instead using a terminal window only (more on that below). | Unlike Windows or MacOS, there are many varieties of Linux, so-called distributions, which all share the same fundamental architecture and "kernel" (the program that actually runs the OS), but differ in their look and feel, the software included, and ease of use. The reason Linux is so widely used is in part due to the ease of modifying Linux to create a distribution suitable for a particular application (e.g., small and lightweight for low-power computing devices, fast and working in real time for time critical applications such as rocket launches or [[https://github.com/readme/featured/nasa-ingenuity-helicopter|flying helicopters on Mars]], or with lots of bells and whistles to make them user friendly for desktop use). The most common distributions, such as Ubuntu and Debian, are geared towards user-friendliness and will look fairly familiar to users of Windows and Macs used to a "point-and-click" interface, while the more specialised ones often make do without any graphical user interface at all, instead using a terminal window only (more on that below). |
