Linux

operating system ("Linus Unix") /li'nuks/ (but see below)

An implementation of the Unix kernel originally written

from scratch with no proprietary code.

The kernel runs on Intel and Alpha hardware in the general

release, with SPARC, PowerPC, MIPS, ARM, Amiga,

Atari, and SGI in active development. The SPARC, PowerPC,

ARM, PowerMAC - OSF, and 68k ports all support shells,

X and networking. The Intel and SPARC versions have

reliable symmetric multiprocessing.

Work on the kernel is coordinated by Linus Torvalds, who holds

the copyright on a large part of it. The rest of the

copyright is held by a large number of other contributors (or

their employers). Regardless of the copyright ownerships, the

kernel as a whole is available under the GNU General PublicLicense. The GNU project supports Linux as its kernel until

the research Hurd kernel is completed.

This kernel would be no use without application programs.

The GNU project has provided large numbers of quality tools,

and together with other public domain software it is a rich

Unix environment. A compilation of the Linux kernel and these

tools is known as a Linux distribution. Compatibility modules

and/or emulators exist for dozens of other computing

environments.

The kernel version numbers are significant: the odd numbered

series (e.g. 1.3.xx) is the development (or beta) kernel which

evolves very quickly. Stable (or release) kernels have even

major version numbers (e.g. 1.2.xx).

There is a lot of commercial support for and use of Linux,

both by hardware companies such as Digital, IBM, and

Apple and numerous smaller network and integration

specialists. There are many commercially supported

distributions which are generally entirely under the GPL. At

least one distribution vendor guarantees Posix compliance.

Linux is particularly popular for Internet ServiceProviders, and there are ports to both parallel

supercomputers and embedded microcontrollers. Debian is

one popular open source distribution.

The pronunciation of "Linux" has been a matter of much debate.

Many, including Torvalds, insist on the short I pronunciation

/li'nuks/ because "Linus" has an /ee/ sound in Swedish

(Linus's family is part of Finland's 6% ethnic-Swedish

minority) and Linus considers English short /i/ to be closer

to /ee/ than English long /i:/ dipthong. This is consistent

with the short I in words like "linen". This doesn't stop

others demanding a long I /li:'nuks/ following the english

pronunciation of "Linus" and "minus". Others say /li'niks/

following Minix, which Torvalds was working on before Linux.

More on pronunciation.

LinuxHQ . slashdot. freshmeat .

Woven Goods . LinuxGazette .

funet Linux Archive , USmirror , UK Mirror.

(2000-06-09)