Contents |
Linux is an open source operating system developed under the GNU General Public Licence and has rivalled commercial systems by making its source code ( or ‘Kernel’) freely available.
Linux was originally developed by Linus Torvalds, a Finnish University student, in 1991. However, the development of Linux owed much to Richard Stallman who developed the GNU free operating systems project in 1983, which has become an essential component of the Linux operating system. The first version of Linux, version 0.01, was released in 1991, and operated until being replaced by the modified version 0.02 later that year. On average a new and updated version of Linux has been released annually. The name Linux was originally established by Ari Lemmke, who was an administrator of the Finnish University and Research Network server. Linux’s mascot was designed by Larry Ewing and integrated with the project in 1996 (The Wikipedia. 2005).
Linux has become the benchmark of the open software and open source movement which has grown to rival the operating systems developed by Microsoft and Mac OS. Linux was developed in accordance with the GNU General Public Licence (GPL) which allows anybody to use, modify and distribute the Linux source code. Linux software is distributed through many commercial companies and has received support from major software companies such as IBM, Novell and Hewlett-Packard. Currently there are around three hundred Linux systems being developed; however the existing and full feature version, 2.6.13 was released in August 2005. Linux software programs can be used as server platforms as well as desktops and are supported by office suite projects such as OpenOffice.org and the web browser Mozilla project. The software can also be adapted for web projects, and the Linux code has been utilised in many open source projects. As an open source/ software project, Linux was established to, and continues to offer its software free to the general and international public and operates as a non-commercial project as it is not a registered company (Linux Online. 2005).
Most of the major problems with the Linux operating system have arisen due to disputes about Linux code ownership and distribution. In 2003, the Santa Cruz Operation (SCO) group filed a law suit against IBM alleging that they had included a portion of their copyrighted Unix System into the Linux Kernel. SCO claim that as this software is protected under “intellectual property�? they must receive recognition if it has been integrated into the Linux Code. (Linux Online. 2005). Due to various counter- suits the dispute has not been resolved; however the verdict has the potential to greatly affect the future of Linux.
Linux Online (2005) “SCO Controversy�? retrieved October 15, 2005, from http://www.linux.org/news/sco/index.html
Linux Online (2005) “What is Linux�? retrieved October 15, 2005 from http://www.linux.org/info/index.html
The Wikipedia (2005) “The Linux Kernel�? retrieved October 15, 2005 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux_kernel
Anna cunningham 21:17, 27 Oct 2005 (EST)
