What is Linux ?

• Linux was originally created in 1991 by Linux Torvalds, a young engineering student at the University of Helsinki in Finland and is developed by a global group of (thousands of) programmers on the Internet.

• Linux is a freely-distributable, multi-tasking, multi-user operating system that gives you the power and reliability of UNIX on a personal computer. It implements a superset of the POSIX standard to which all UNIX systems comply. Linux interoperates well with other operating systems, including those from Apple, Microsoft and Novell.

• Linux is the most popular Unix variant for PCs and is gaining significant market share. Linux is being used by millions of people all over the world. It is one of the the most popular systems to implement web services and widely used for software development, as an application server, to build networking intfrastructure (intra-office and Internet) and as an end-user platform.

• The well known Byte Magazine said 1997 about Linux:

  "It's powerful. It's open. It's free. That's why this Unix is entering corporate IS.

  What would you say if you were offered a graphical OS that has the ability to run on both a low-end 386 and the fastest Pentium Pro, handles most of your DOS and Windows 3.1 applications, connects to anything on your network, and is free?"

• Hewlett-Packard is now considering Linux as a strategic operating system (besides HP-UX and Windows NT) and is supporting Linux on their PC based server systems. So does IBM and almost all other system vendors.