LinuxQuestions.org - what is linux

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Linux is Opearating System which is reliable, Secure, Fast

Just like Windows XP, Windows Vista, Linux is a operating system. Linux is a UNIX like operating systems based on the kernel developed by Linux Torvalds.

technically, linux refers only to the kernel of a free unix-like operating system. Most people use the term linux to refer to the entire unix-like operating system:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux

Let's keep it simple, shall we? ;)

"When you turn-on a computer," the hardware turns on... but it has absolutely nothing to do. Its only purpose in life is "to run programs," and it's therefore absolutely useless without a program to run. Well... as a matter of fact, it does have "a program to run," and that program is called an operating system.

IBM used the term, "system control program." And maybe that's a better term, because the sole purpose of an operating system is "to control the system," that is to say, the hardware. It creates the environment ... the foundation, as it were ... that every other program you might ever wish to use requires in order to do anything.

Microsoft Windows is such a program. Apple's OS/X is another. Linux is a third. (There are many more.) Take your pick.

As a user, you probably don't even distinguish between "the computer" and "the operating system." To you, "the hardware really doesn't matter at all." You turn on "the computer" and you use "Windows," exactly like you have always done. (Since you were, uhhh, y'know, "six.") ;)

Linux, therefore, completely re-defines what "the computer" is. :eek:

At first, it is utterly terrifying.

Then, it is utterly liberating.

Linux is the "operating system" - its purpose is to make your computer hardware accessible to programs and also to provide some commonly used services such as asking for the time or switching between programs to give the user the impression that all the programs are running at once. Once Linux has at least configured the minimal amount of hardware needed to operate the computer, it runs the first program (named 'init'), which in turn is responsible for starting all other programs that you may require.