What is Linux?

garydolson · 01-24-2002, 10:05 AM

Can a Windows program such as Adobe Photoshop or even MS Office 2000 Professional work under a Linux OS? I'm almost certain it can't be done but, on the other hand, I know very little about Linux.

I'm just so tired of Microsoft. I bought Windows XP Professional and I can only instal it on ONE computer or the MS-Nazis will find out during the Windows Activation process that it's already been activated on another system and come after me! My lawn mower can be used on my front lawn AND my back lawn and any other properties I might own, but the MS OS I paid top dollar for must be bought for each of my three computers. If it wasn't so expensive for ONE license I wouldn't mind.

I'm just waiting for the alternative and MS is history.

Gary Dean Olson

acid_kewpie · 01-24-2002, 10:27 AM

From Kenel.org

Quote:

What is Linux?
Linux is a clone of the operating system Unix, written from scratch by Linus Torvalds with assistance from a loosely-knit team of hackers across the Net. It aims towards POSIX and Single UNIX Specification compliance.

It has all the features you would expect in a modern fully-fledged Unix, including true multitasking, virtual memory, shared libraries, demand loading, shared copy-on-write executables, proper memory management, and TCP/IP networking.

Linux was first developed for 32-bit x86-based PCs (386 or higher). These days it also runs on (at least) the Compaq Alpha AXP, Sun SPARC and UltraSPARC, Motorola 68000, PowerPC, PowerPC64, ARM, Hitachi SuperH, IBM S/390, MIPS, HP PA-RISC, Intel IA-64, DEC VAX, AMD x86-64 and CRIS architectures.

Linux is easily portable to most general-purpose 32- or 64-bit architectures as long as they have a paged memory management unit (PMMU) and a port of the GNU C compiler (gcc).

so there you go... but basically as far as a simlpe user is concerned, linux is an operating system comparable with windows. Being different OS's, they are not compatible, but emulators such as 'Wine' can run windows applications under linux, albeit not very well. Office2K will run slowly, photoshop will not (in my experience)

Linux is free in every sense, most applications are free for download on the internet, and many are just as good as the expensive windows equivalent. e.g. The Gimp is a suitable replacement for Photoshop.