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Wikipedia

Linux

January 13, 2023

This article is about the family of operating systems. For the kernel, see Linux kernel. For other uses, see Linux (disambiguation).

Linux (/ˈliːnʊks/ (listen) LEE-nuuks or /ˈlɪnʊks/ LIN-uuks)[11] is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel,[12] an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds.[13][14][15] Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, which includes the kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name "GNU/Linux" to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.[16][17]

Linux
Tux the penguin, the mascot of Linux[1]
DeveloperCommunity contributors,
Linus Torvalds
Written inC, assembly languages, and others
OS familyUnix-like
Working stateCurrent
Source modelOpen source
Initial releaseSeptember 17, 1991; 31 years ago (1991-09-17)
Repositorygit.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/
Marketing targetCloud computing, embedded devices, mainframe computers, mobile devices, personal computers, servers, supercomputers
Available inMultilingual
PlatformsAlpha, ARC, ARM, C-Sky, Hexagon, IA-64, LoongArch, m68k, Microblaze, MIPS, Nios II, OpenRISC, PA-RISC, PowerPC, RISC-V, s390, SuperH, SPARC, x86, Xtensa
Kernel typeMonolithic
UserlandGNU[a], BusyBox[b]
Default
user interface
LicenseGPLv2[9][c])
Articles in the series
Linux kernel
Linux distribution

Popular Linux distributions[18][19][20] include Debian, Fedora Linux, and Ubuntu, the latter of which itself consists of many different distributions and modifications, including Lubuntu and Xubuntu. Commercial distributions include Red Hat Enterprise Linux and SUSE Linux Enterprise. Desktop Linux distributions include a windowing system such as X11 or Wayland, and a desktop environment such as GNOME or KDE Plasma. Distributions intended for servers may omit graphics altogether, or include a solution stack such as LAMP. Because Linux is freely redistributable, anyone may create a distribution for any purpose.[21]

Linux was originally developed for personal computers based on the Intel x86 architecture, but has since been ported to more platforms than any other operating system.[22] Because of the dominance of the Linux-based Android on smartphones, Linux, including Android, has the largest installed base of all general-purpose operating systems, as of May 2022.[23][24][25] Although Linux is, as of November 2022, used by only around 2.6 percent of desktop computers,[26] the Chromebook, which runs the Linux kernel-based ChromeOS, dominates the US K–12 education market and represents nearly 20 percent of sub-$300 notebook sales in the US.[27] Linux is the leading operating system on servers (over 96.4% of the top 1 million web servers' operating systems are Linux),[28] leads other big iron systems such as mainframe computers, and is used on all of the world's 500 fastest supercompters[d] (since November 2017, having gradually displaced all competitors).[29][30][31]

Linux also runs on embedded systems, i.e. devices whose operating system is typically built into the firmware and is highly tailored to the system. This includes routers, automation controls, smart home devices, video game consoles,[32] televisions (Samsung and LG Smart TVs),[33][34][35] automobiles (Tesla, Audi, Mercedes-Benz, Hyundai and Toyota),[36] and spacecraft (Falcon 9 rocket, Dragon crew capsule and the Perseverance rover).[37][38]

Linux is one of the most prominent examples of free and open-source software collaboration. The source code may be used, modified and distributed commercially or non-commercially by anyone under the terms of its respective licenses, such as the GNU General Public License (GPL). The Linux kernel, for example, is licensed under the GPLv2.[e]

History

Main article: History of Linux

Precursors

 
Linus Torvalds, principal author of the Linux kernel

The Unix operating system was conceived and implemented in 1969, at AT&T's Bell Labs, in the United States by Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, Douglas McIlroy, and Joe Ossanna.[40] First released in 1971, Unix was written entirely in assembly language, as was common practice at the time. In 1973, in a key pioneering approach, it was rewritten in the C programming language by Dennis Ritchie (with the exception of some hardware and I/O routines). The availability of a high-level language implementation of Unix made its porting to different computer platforms easier.[41]

Due to an earlier antitrust case forbidding it from entering the computer business, AT&T licensed the operating system's source code as a trade secret to anyone who asked. As a result, Unix grew quickly and became widely adopted by academic institutions and businesses. In 1984, AT&T divested itself of its regional operating companies, and was released from its obligation not to enter the computer business; freed of that obligation, Bell Labs began selling Unix as a proprietary product, where users were not legally allowed to modify it.[42][43]

Onyx Systems began selling early microcomputer-based Unix workstations in 1980. Later, Sun Microsystems, founded as a spin-off of a student project at Stanford University, also began selling Unix-based desktop workstations in 1982. While Sun workstations didn't utilize commodity PC hardware like Linux was later developed for, it represented the first successful commercial attempt at distributing a primarily single-user microcomputer that ran a Unix operating system.[44][45]

With Unix increasingly "locked in" as a proprietary product, the GNU Project, started in 1983 by Richard Stallman, had the goal of creating a "complete Unix-compatible software system" composed entirely of free software. Work began in 1984.[46] Later, in 1985, Stallman started the Free Software Foundation and wrote the GNU General Public License (GNU GPL) in 1989. By the early 1990s, many of the programs required in an operating system (such as libraries, compilers, text editors, a command-line shell, and a windowing system) were completed, although low-level elements such as device drivers, daemons, and the kernel, called GNU Hurd, were stalled and incomplete.[47]

MINIX was created by Andrew S. Tanenbaum, a computer science professor, and released in 1987 as a minimal Unix-like operating system targeted at students and others who wanted to learn operating system principles. Although the complete source code of MINIX was freely available, the licensing terms prevented it from being free software until the licensing changed in April 2000.[48]

Although not released until 1992, due to legal complications, development of 386BSD, from which NetBSD, OpenBSD and FreeBSD descended, predated that of Linux.

Linus Torvalds has stated on separate occasions that if the GNU kernel or 386BSD had been available at the time (1991), he probably would not have created Linux.[49][50]

Creation

While attending the University of Helsinki in the fall of 1990, Torvalds enrolled in a Unix course.[51] The course utilized a MicroVAX minicomputer running Ultrix, and one of the required texts was Operating Systems: Design and Implementation by Andrew S. Tanenbaum. This textbook included a copy of Tanenbaum's MINIX operating system. It was with this course that Torvalds first became exposed to Unix. In 1991, he became curious about operating systems.[52] Frustrated by the licensing of MINIX, which at the time limited it to educational use only,[48] he began to work on his own operating system kernel, which eventually became the Linux kernel.

Torvalds began the development of the Linux kernel on MINIX and applications written for MINIX were also used on Linux. Later, Linux matured and further Linux kernel development took place on Linux systems.[53] GNU applications also replaced all MINIX components, because it was advantageous to use the freely available code from the GNU Project with the fledgling operating system; code licensed under the GNU GPL can be reused in other computer programs as long as they also are released under the same or a compatible license. Torvalds initiated a switch from his original license, which prohibited commercial redistribution, to the GNU GPL.[54] Developers worked to integrate GNU components with the Linux kernel, creating a fully functional and free operating system.[55]

Naming

 
5.25-inch floppy disks holding a very early version of Linux

Linus Torvalds had wanted to call his invention "Freax", a portmanteau of "free", "freak", and "x" (as an allusion to Unix). During the start of his work on the system, some of the project's makefiles included the name "Freax" for about half a year. Initially, Torvalds considered the name "Linux" but dismissed it as too egotistical.[56]

To facilitate development, the files were uploaded to the FTP server (ftp.funet.fi) of FUNET in September 1991. Ari Lemmke, Torvalds' coworker at the Helsinki University of Technology (HUT) who was one of the volunteer administrators for the FTP server at the time, did not think that "Freax" was a good name, so he named the project "Linux" on the server without consulting Torvalds.[56] Later, however, Torvalds consented to "Linux".

According to a newsgroup post by Torvalds,[11] the word "Linux" should be pronounced (/ˈlɪnʊks/ ( listen) LIN-uuks) with a short 'i' as in 'print' and 'u' as in 'put'. To further demonstrate how the word "Linux" should be pronounced, he included an audio guide ( listen (help·info)) with the kernel source code.[57] However, in this recording, he pronounces 'Linux' (/ˈlinʊks/ ( listen) LEEN-uuks) with a short but close front unrounded vowel.

Commercial and popular uptake

Main article: Linux adoption
 
Ubuntu, a popular Linux distribution
 
Nexus 5X running Android

Adoption of Linux in production environments, rather than being used only by hobbyists, started to take off first in the mid-1990s in the supercomputing community, where organizations such as NASA started to replace their increasingly expensive machines with clusters of inexpensive commodity computers running Linux. Commercial use began when Dell and IBM, followed by Hewlett-Packard, started offering Linux support to escape Microsoft's monopoly in the desktop operating system market.[58]

Today, Linux systems are used throughout computing, from embedded systems to virtually all supercomputers,[31][59] and have secured a place in server installations such as the popular LAMP application stack. Use of Linux distributions in home and enterprise desktops has been growing.[60][61][62][63][64][65][66] Linux distributions have also become popular in the netbook market, with many devices shipping with customized Linux distributions installed, and Google releasing their own ChromeOS designed for netbooks.

Linux's greatest success in the consumer market is perhaps the mobile device market, with Android being the dominant operating system on smartphones and very popular on tablets and, more recently, on wearables. Linux gaming is also on the rise with Valve showing its support for Linux and rolling out SteamOS, its own gaming-oriented Linux distribution, and later the Steam Deck platform. Linux distributions have also gained popularity with various local and national governments, such as the federal government of Brazil.[67]

Current development

 
In-flight entertainment system booting up displaying the Linux logo

Greg Kroah-Hartman is the lead maintainer for the Linux kernel and guides its development.[68] William John Sullivan is the executive director of the Free Software Foundation,[69] which in turn supports the GNU components.[70] Finally, individuals and corporations develop third-party non-GNU components. These third-party components comprise a vast body of work and may include both kernel modules and user applications and libraries.

Linux vendors and communities combine and distribute the kernel, GNU components, and non-GNU components, with additional package management software in the form of Linux distributions.

Design

See also: Linux kernel § Architecture and features

Many open source developers agree that the Linux kernel was not designed but rather evolved through natural selection. Torvalds considers that although the design of Unix served as a scaffolding, "Linux grew with a lot of mutations – and because the mutations were less than random, they were faster and more directed than alpha-particles in DNA."[71] Eric S. Raymond considers Linux's revolutionary aspects to be social, not technical: before Linux, complex software was designed carefully by small groups, but "Linux evolved in a completely different way. From nearly the beginning, it was rather casually hacked on by huge numbers of volunteers coordinating only through the Internet. Quality was maintained not by rigid standards or autocracy but by the naively simple strategy of releasing every week and getting feedback from hundreds of users within days, creating a sort of rapid Darwinian selection on the mutations introduced by developers."[72] Bryan Cantrill, an engineer of a competing OS, agrees that "Linux wasn't designed, it evolved", but considers this to be a limitation, proposing that some features, especially those related to security,[73] cannot be evolved into, "this is not a biological system at the end of the day, it's a software system."[74] A Linux-based system is a modular Unix-like operating system, deriving much of its basic design from principles established in Unix during the 1970s and 1980s. Such a system uses a monolithic kernel, the Linux kernel, which handles process control, networking, access to the peripherals, and file systems. Device drivers are either integrated directly with the kernel, or added as modules that are loaded while the system is running.[75]

The GNU userland is a key part of most systems based on the Linux kernel, with Android being the notable exception. The Project's implementation of the C library works as a wrapper for the system calls of the Linux kernel necessary to the kernel-userspace interface, the toolchain is a broad collection of programming tools vital to Linux development (including the compilers used to build the Linux kernel itself), and the coreutils implement many basic Unix tools. The project also develops Bash, a popular CLI shell. The graphical user interface (or GUI) used by most Linux systems is built on top of an implementation of the X Window System.[76] More recently, the Linux community seeks to advance to Wayland as the new display server protocol in place of X11. Many other open-source software projects contribute to Linux systems.

Various layers within Linux, also showing separation between the userland and kernel space
User mode User applications bash, LibreOffice, GIMP, Blender, 0 A.D., Mozilla Firefox, ...
System components init daemon:
OpenRC, runit, systemd... 		System daemons:
polkitd, smbd, sshd, udevd... 		Window manager:
X11, Wayland, SurfaceFlinger (Android) 		Graphics:
Mesa, AMD Catalyst, ... 		Other libraries:
GTK, Qt, EFL, SDL, SFML, FLTK, GNUstep, ...
C standard library fopen, execv, malloc, memcpy, localtime, pthread_create... (up to 2000 subroutines)
glibc aims to be fast, musl aims to be lightweight, uClibc targets embedded systems, bionic was written for Android, etc. All aim to be POSIX/SUS-compatible.
Kernel mode Linux kernel stat, splice, dup, read, open, ioctl, write, mmap, close, exit, etc. (about 380 system calls)
The Linux kernel System Call Interface (SCI), aims to be POSIX/SUS-compatible[77]
Process scheduling
subsystem 		IPC
subsystem 		Memory management
subsystem 		Virtual files
subsystem 		Network
subsystem
Other components: ALSA, DRI, evdev, klibc, LVM, device mapper, Linux Network Scheduler, Netfilter
Linux Security Modules: SELinux, TOMOYO, AppArmor, Smack
Hardware (CPU, main memory, data storage devices, etc.)

Installed components of a Linux system include the following:[76][78]

  • A bootloader, for example GNU GRUB, LILO, SYSLINUX or systemd-boot. This is a program that loads the Linux kernel into the computer's main memory, by being executed by the computer when it is turned on and after the firmware initialization is performed.
  • An init program, such as the traditional sysvinit and the newer systemd, OpenRC and Upstart. This is the first process launched by the Linux kernel, and is at the root of the process tree: in other terms, all processes are launched through init. It starts processes such as system services and login prompts (whether graphical or in terminal mode).
  • Software libraries, which contain code that can be used by running processes. On Linux systems using ELF-format executable files, the dynamic linker that manages the use of dynamic libraries is known as ld-linux.so. If the system is set up for the user to compile software themselves, header files will also be included to describe the interface of installed libraries. Besides the most commonly used software library on Linux systems, the GNU C Library (glibc), there are numerous other libraries, such as SDL and Mesa.
    • C standard library is the library needed to run C programs on a computer system, with the GNU C Library being the standard. For embedded systems, alternatives such as the musl, EGLIBC (a glibc fork once used by Debian) and uClibc (which was designed for uClinux) have been developed, although the last two are no longer maintained. Android uses its own C library, Bionic.
  • Basic Unix commands, with GNU coreutils being the standard implementation. Alternatives exist for embedded systems, such as the copyleft BusyBox, and the BSD-licensed Toybox.
  • Widget toolkits are the libraries used to build graphical user interfaces (GUIs) for software applications. Numerous widget toolkits are available, including GTK and Clutter developed by the GNOME project, Qt developed by the Qt Project and led by The Qt Company, and Enlightenment Foundation Libraries (EFL) developed primarily by the Enlightenment team.
  • A package management system, such as dpkg and RPM. Alternatively packages can be compiled from binary or source tarballs.
  • User interface programs such as command shells or windowing environments.

User interface

The user interface, also known as the shell, is either a command-line interface (CLI), a graphical user interface (GUI), or controls attached to the associated hardware, which is common for embedded systems. For desktop systems, the default user interface is usually graphical, although the CLI is commonly available through terminal emulator windows or on a separate virtual console.

CLI shells are text-based user interfaces, which use text for both input and output. The dominant shell used in Linux is the Bourne-Again Shell (bash), originally developed for the GNU project. Most low-level Linux components, including various parts of the userland, use the CLI exclusively. The CLI is particularly suited for automation of repetitive or delayed tasks and provides very simple inter-process communication.

On desktop systems, the most popular user interfaces are the GUI shells, packaged together with extensive desktop environments, such as KDE Plasma, GNOME, MATE, Cinnamon, LXDE, Pantheon and Xfce, though a variety of additional user interfaces exist. Most popular user interfaces are based on the X Window System, often simply called "X". It provides network transparency and permits a graphical application running on one system to be displayed on another where a user may interact with the application; however, certain extensions of the X Window System are not capable of working over the network.[79] Several X display servers exist, with the reference implementation, X.Org Server, being the most popular.

Server distributions might provide a command-line interface for developers and administrators, but provide a custom interface towards end-users, designed for the use-case of the system. This custom interface is accessed through a client that resides on another system, not necessarily Linux based.

Several types of window managers exist for X11, including tiling, dynamic, stacking and compositing. Window managers provide means to control the placement and appearance of individual application windows, and interact with the X Window System. Simpler X window managers such as dwm, ratpoison, i3wm, or herbstluftwm provide a minimalist functionality, while more elaborate window managers such as FVWM, Enlightenment or Window Maker provide more features such as a built-in taskbar and themes, but are still lightweight when compared to desktop environments. Desktop environments include window managers as part of their standard installations, such as Mutter (GNOME), KWin (KDE) or Xfwm (xfce), although users may choose to use a different window manager if preferred.

Wayland is a display server protocol intended as a replacement for the X11 protocol; as of 2022, it has received relatively wide adoption.[80] Unlike X11, Wayland does not need an external window manager and compositing manager. Therefore, a Wayland compositor takes the role of the display server, window manager and compositing manager. Weston is the reference implementation of Wayland, while GNOME's Mutter and KDE's KWin are being ported to Wayland as standalone display servers. Enlightenment has already been successfully ported since version 19.[81]

Video input infrastructure

Main article: Video4Linux

Linux currently has two modern kernel-userspace APIs for handling video input devices: V4L2 API for video streams and radio, and DVB API for digital TV reception.[82]

Due to the complexity and diversity of different devices, and due to the large number of formats and standards handled by those APIs, this infrastructure needs to evolve to better fit other devices. Also, a good userspace device library is the key of the success for having userspace applications to be able to work with all formats supported by those devices.[83][84]

Development

 
Simplified history of Unix-like operating systems. Linux shares similar architecture and concepts (as part of the POSIX standard) but does not share non-free source code with the original Unix or MINIX.
Main articles: Linux distribution and Free software

The primary difference between Linux and many other popular contemporary operating systems is that the Linux kernel and other components are free and open-source software. Linux is not the only such operating system, although it is by far the most widely used.[85] Some free and open-source software licenses are based on the principle of copyleft, a kind of reciprocity: any work derived from a copyleft piece of software must also be copyleft itself. The most common free software license, the GNU General Public License (GPL), is a form of copyleft, and is used for the Linux kernel and many of the components from the GNU Project.[86]

Linux-based distributions are intended by developers for interoperability with other operating systems and established computing standards. Linux systems adhere to POSIX,[87] SUS,[88] LSB, ISO, and ANSI standards where possible, although to date only one Linux distribution has been POSIX.1 certified, Linux-FT.[89][90]

Free software projects, although developed through collaboration, are often produced independently of each other. The fact that the software licenses explicitly permit redistribution, however, provides a basis for larger-scale projects that collect the software produced by stand-alone projects and make it available all at once in the form of a Linux distribution.

Many Linux distributions manage a remote collection of system software and application software packages available for download and installation through a network connection. This allows users to adapt the operating system to their specific needs. Distributions are maintained by individuals, loose-knit teams, volunteer organizations, and commercial entities. A distribution is responsible for the default configuration of the installed Linux kernel, general system security, and more generally integration of the different software packages into a coherent whole. Distributions typically use a package manager such as apt, yum, zypper, pacman or portage to install, remove, and update all of a system's software from one central location.[91]

Community

See also: Free software community and Linux User Group

A distribution is largely driven by its developer and user communities. Some vendors develop and fund their distributions on a volunteer basis, Debian being a well-known example. Others maintain a community version of their commercial distributions, as Red Hat does with Fedora, and SUSE does with openSUSE.[92][93]

In many cities and regions, local associations known as Linux User Groups (LUGs) seek to promote their preferred distribution and by extension free software. They hold meetings and provide free demonstrations, training, technical support, and operating system installation to new users. Many Internet communities also provide support to Linux users and developers. Most distributions and free software / open-source projects have IRC chatrooms or newsgroups. Online forums are another means for support, with notable examples being LinuxQuestions.org and the various distribution specific support and community forums, such as ones for Ubuntu, Fedora, and Gentoo. Linux distributions host mailing lists; commonly there will be a specific topic such as usage or development for a given list.

There are several technology websites with a Linux focus. Print magazines on Linux often bundle cover disks that carry software or even complete Linux distributions.[94][95]

Although Linux distributions are generally available without charge, several large corporations sell, support, and contribute to the development of the components of the system and of free software. An analysis of the Linux kernel in 2017 showed that well over 85% of the code developed by programmers who are being paid for their work, leaving about 8.2% to unpaid developers and 4.1% unclassified.[96] Some of the major corporations that provide contributions include Intel, Samsung, Google, AMD, Oracle and Facebook.[97] A number of corporations, notably Red Hat, Canonical and SUSE, have built a significant business around Linux distributions.

The free software licenses, on which the various software packages of a distribution built on the Linux kernel are based, explicitly accommodate and encourage commercialization; the relationship between a Linux distribution as a whole and individual vendors may be seen as symbiotic. One common business model of commercial suppliers is charging for support, especially for business users. A number of companies also offer a specialized business version of their distribution, which adds proprietary support packages and tools to administer higher numbers of installations or to simplify administrative tasks.

Another business model is to give away the software to sell hardware. This used to be the norm in the computer industry, with operating systems such as CP/M, Apple DOS and versions of Mac OS prior to 7.6 freely copyable (but not modifiable). As computer hardware standardized throughout the 1980s, it became more difficult for hardware manufacturers to profit from this tactic, as the OS would run on any manufacturer's computer that shared the same architecture.

Programming on Linux

Most programming languages support Linux either directly or through third-party community based ports.[98] The original development tools used for building both Linux applications and operating system programs are found within the GNU toolchain, which includes the GNU Compiler Collection (GCC) and the GNU Build System. Amongst others, GCC provides compilers for Ada, C, C++, Go and Fortran. Many programming languages have a cross-platform reference implementation that supports Linux, for example PHP, Perl, Ruby, Python, Java, Go, Rust and Haskell. First released in 2003, the LLVM project provides an alternative cross-platform open-source compiler for many languages. Proprietary compilers for Linux include the Intel C++ Compiler, Sun Studio, and IBM XL C/C++ Compiler. BASIC in the form of Visual Basic is supported in such forms as Gambas, FreeBASIC, and XBasic, and in terms of terminal programming or QuickBASIC or Turbo BASIC programming in the form of QB64.

A common feature of Unix-like systems, Linux includes traditional specific-purpose programming languages targeted at scripting, text processing and system configuration and management in general. Linux distributions support shell scripts, awk, sed and make. Many programs also have an embedded programming language to support configuring or programming themselves. For example, regular expressions are supported in programs like grep and locate, the traditional Unix MTA Sendmail contains its own Turing complete scripting system, and the advanced text editor GNU Emacs is built around a general purpose Lisp interpreter.

Most distributions also include support for PHP, Perl, Ruby, Python and other dynamic languages. While not as common, Linux also supports C# (via Mono), Vala, and Scheme. Guile Scheme acts as an extension language targeting the GNU system utilities, seeking to make the conventionally small, static, compiled C programs of Unix design rapidly and dynamically extensible via an elegant, functional high-level scripting system; many GNU programs can be compiled with optional Guile bindings to this end. A number of Java virtual machines and development kits run on Linux, including the original Sun Microsystems JVM (HotSpot), and IBM's J2SE RE, as well as many open-source projects like Kaffe and JikesRVM.

GNOME and KDE are popular desktop environments and provide a framework for developing applications. These projects are based on the GTK and Qt widget toolkits, respectively, which can also be used independently of the larger framework. Both support a wide variety of languages. There are a number of Integrated development environments available including Anjuta, Code::Blocks, CodeLite, Eclipse, Geany, ActiveState Komodo, KDevelop, Lazarus, MonoDevelop, NetBeans, and Qt Creator, while the long-established editors Vim, nano and Emacs remain popular.[99]

Hardware support

 
Linux is ubiquitously found on various types of hardware.
See also: List of Linux-supported computer architectures

The Linux kernel is a widely ported operating system kernel, available for devices ranging from mobile phones to supercomputers; it runs on a highly diverse range of computer architectures, including the hand-held ARM-based iPAQ and the IBM mainframes System z9 or System z10.[100] Specialized distributions and kernel forks exist for less mainstream architectures; for example, the ELKS kernel fork can run on Intel 8086 or Intel 80286 16-bit microprocessors, while the µClinux kernel fork may run on systems without a memory management unit. The kernel also runs on architectures that were only ever intended to use a manufacturer-created operating system, such as Macintosh computers[101][102] (with both PowerPC and Intel processors), PDAs, video game consoles, portable music players, and mobile phones.

Linux has a reputation of supporting old hardware very well by maintaining standardized drivers for a long time.[103] There are several industry associations and hardware conferences devoted to maintaining and improving support for diverse hardware under Linux, such as FreedomHEC. Over time, support for different hardware has improved in Linux, resulting in any off-the-shelf purchase having a "good chance" of being compatible.[104]

In 2014, a new initiative was launched to automatically collect a database of all tested hardware configurations.[105]

Uses

Main article: Linux range of use

Market share and uptake

Main article: Linux adoption
See also: Usage share of operating systems

Many quantitative studies of free/open-source software focus on topics including market share and reliability, with numerous studies specifically examining Linux.[106] The Linux market is growing, and the Linux operating system market size is expected to see a growth of 19.2% by 2027, reaching $15.64 billion, compared to $3.89 billion in 2019.[107] Analysts and proponents attribute the relative success of Linux to its security, reliability, low cost, and freedom from vendor lock-in.[108][109]

Desktops and laptops
According to web server statistics (that is, based on the numbers recorded from visits to websites by client devices), as of May 2022, the estimated market share of Linux on desktop computers is around 2.5%. In comparison, Microsoft Windows has a market share of around 75.5%, while macOS covers around 14.9%.[26]
Web servers
W3Cook publishes stats that use the top 1,000,000 Alexa domains,[110] which as of May 2015 estimate that 96.55% of web servers run Linux, 1.73% run Windows, and 1.72% run FreeBSD.[111]
W3Techs publishes stats that use the top 10,000,000 Alexa domains and the top 1,000,000 Tranco domains, updated monthly[112] and as of November 2020 estimate that Linux is used by 39% of the web servers, versus 21.9% being used by Microsoft Windows.[113] 40.1% used other types of Unix.[114]
IDC's Q1 2007 report indicated that Linux held 12.7% of the overall server market at that time;[115] this estimate was based on the number of Linux servers sold by various companies, and did not include server hardware purchased separately that had Linux installed on it later.
Mobile devices
Android, which is based on the Linux kernel, has become the dominant operating system for smartphones. In July 2022, 71.9% of smartphones accessing the internet worldwide used Android.[116] Android is also a popular operating system for tablets, being responsible for more than 60% of tablet sales as of 2013.[117] According to web server statistics, as of October 2021 Android has a market share of about 71%, with iOS holding 28%, and the remaining 1% attributed to various niche platforms.[118]
Film production
For years Linux has been the platform of choice in the film industry. The first major film produced on Linux servers was 1997's Titanic.[119][120] Since then major studios including DreamWorks Animation, Pixar, Weta Digital, and Industrial Light & Magic have migrated to Linux.[121][122][123] According to the Linux Movies Group, more than 95% of the servers and desktops at large animation and visual effects companies use Linux.[124]
Use in government
Linux distributions have also gained popularity with various local and national governments. News of the Russian military creating its own Linux distribution has also surfaced, and has come to fruition as the G.H.ost Project.[125] The Indian state of Kerala has gone to the extent of mandating that all state high schools run Linux on their computers.[126][127] China uses Linux exclusively as the operating system for its Loongson processor family to achieve technology independence.[128] In Spain, some regions have developed their own Linux distributions, which are widely used in education and official institutions, like gnuLinEx in Extremadura and Guadalinex in Andalusia. France and Germany have also taken steps toward the adoption of Linux.[129] North Korea's Red Star OS, developed since 2002, is based on a version of Fedora Linux.[130]

Copyright, trademark, and naming

See also: GNU/Linux naming controversy and SCO–Linux disputes

Linux kernel is licensed under the GNU General Public License (GPL), version 2. The GPL requires that anyone who distributes software based on source code under this license must make the originating source code (and any modifications) available to the recipient under the same terms.[131] Other key components of a typical Linux distribution are also mainly licensed under the GPL, but they may use other licenses; many libraries use the GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL), a more permissive variant of the GPL, and the X.Org implementation of the X Window System uses the MIT License.

Torvalds states that the Linux kernel will not move from version 2 of the GPL to version 3.[132][133] He specifically dislikes some provisions in the new license which prohibit the use of the software in digital rights management.[134] It would also be impractical to obtain permission from all the copyright holders, who number in the thousands.[135]

A 2001 study of Red Hat Linux 7.1 found that this distribution contained 30 million source lines of code.[136] Using the Constructive Cost Model, the study estimated that this distribution required about eight thousand person-years of development time. According to the study, if all this software had been developed by conventional proprietary means, it would have cost about US$1.64 billion[137] to develop in 2021 in the United States.[136] Most of the source code (71%) was written in the C programming language, but many other languages were used, including C++, Lisp, assembly language, Perl, Python, Fortran, and various shell scripting languages. Slightly over half of all lines of code were licensed under the GPL. The Linux kernel itself was 2.4 million lines of code, or 8% of the total.[136]

In a later study, the same analysis was performed for Debian version 4.0 (etch, which was released in 2007).[138] This distribution contained close to 283 million source lines of code, and the study estimated that it would have required about seventy three thousand man-years and cost US$9.16 billion[137] (in 2021 dollars) to develop by conventional means.

 
The name "Linux" is also used for a laundry detergent made by Swiss company Rösch.[139]

In the United States, the name Linux is a trademark registered to Linus Torvalds.[10] Initially, nobody registered it, but on August 15, 1994, William R. Della Croce, Jr. filed for the trademark Linux, and then demanded royalties from Linux distributors. In 1996, Torvalds and some affected organizations sued him to have the trademark assigned to Torvalds, and, in 1997, the case was settled.[140] The licensing of the trademark has since been handled by the Linux Mark Institute (LMI). Torvalds has stated that he trademarked the name only to prevent someone else from using it. LMI originally charged a nominal sublicensing fee for use of the Linux name as part of trademarks,[141] but later changed this in favor of offering a free, perpetual worldwide sublicense.[142]

The Free Software Foundation (FSF) prefers GNU/Linux as the name when referring to the operating system as a whole, because it considers Linux distributions to be variants of the GNU operating system initiated in 1983 by Richard Stallman, president of the FSF.[16][17] They explicitly take no issue over the name Android for the Android OS, which is also an operating system based on the Linux kernel, as GNU is not a part of it.

A minority of public figures and software projects other than Stallman and the FSF, notably Debian (which had been sponsored by the FSF up to 1996),[143] also use GNU/Linux when referring to the operating system as a whole.[144][145][146] Most media and common usage, however, refers to this family of operating systems simply as Linux, as do many large Linux distributions (for example, SUSE Linux and Red Hat Enterprise Linux). By contrast, Linux distributions containing only free software use "GNU/Linux" or simply "GNU", such as Trisquel GNU/Linux, Parabola GNU/Linux-libre, BLAG Linux and GNU, and gNewSense.

As of May 2011, about 8% to 13% of the lines of code of the Linux distribution Ubuntu (version "Natty") is made of GNU components (the range depending on whether GNOME is considered part of GNU); meanwhile, 6% is taken by the Linux kernel, increased to 9% when including its direct dependencies.[147]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ GNU is the primary userland used in nearly all Linux distributions.[2][3][4] The GNU userland contains system daemons, user applications, the GUI, and various libraries. GNU Core utilities are an essential part of most distributions. Most Linux distributions use the X Window system.[5] Other components of the userland, such as the widget toolkit, vary with the specific distribution, desktop environment, and user configuration.[6]
  2. ^ BusyBox is an alternative userland used in many embedded Linux distributions. BusyBox replaces most GNU Core utilities.[7] One notable Desktop distribution using BusyBox is Alpine Linux[8]
  3. ^ The name "Linux" itself is a trademark owned by Linus Torvalds.[10] and administered by the Linux Mark Institute.
  4. ^ As measured by the TOP500 list, which uses HPL to measure computational power.
  5. ^ The license excepts system calls, as any program calling on the kernel is considered a derivative work; without this exception the GPL would apply to such programs.[39][21]

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External links

  • Linux at Curlie
  • Linux kernel website and archives
  • The History of Linux in GIT Repository Format 1992–2010

January 13, 2023
linux, this, article, about, family, operating, systems, kernel, kernel, other, uses, disambiguation, listen, nuuks, uuks, family, open, source, unix, like, operating, systems, based, kernel, operating, system, kernel, first, released, september, 1991, linus, . This article is about the family of operating systems For the kernel see Linux kernel For other uses see Linux disambiguation Linux ˈ l iː n ʊ k s listen LEE nuuks or ˈ l ɪ n ʊ k s LIN uuks 11 is a family of open source Unix like operating systems based on the Linux kernel 12 an operating system kernel first released on September 17 1991 by Linus Torvalds 13 14 15 Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution which includes the kernel and supporting system software and libraries many of which are provided by the GNU Project Many Linux distributions use the word Linux in their name but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software causing some controversy 16 17 LinuxTux the penguin the mascot of Linux 1 DeveloperCommunity contributors Linus TorvaldsWritten inC assembly languages and othersOS familyUnix likeWorking stateCurrentSource modelOpen sourceInitial releaseSeptember 17 1991 31 years ago 1991 09 17 Repositorygit wbr kernel wbr org wbr pub wbr scm wbr linux wbr kernel wbr git wbr torvalds wbr linux wbr git wbr Marketing targetCloud computing embedded devices mainframe computers mobile devices personal computers servers supercomputersAvailable inMultilingualPlatformsAlpha ARC ARM C Sky Hexagon IA 64 LoongArch m68k Microblaze MIPS Nios II OpenRISC PA RISC PowerPC RISC V s390 SuperH SPARC x86 XtensaKernel typeMonolithicUserlandGNU a BusyBox b Defaultuser interfaceUnix shell CLI Most distributions include a desktop environment GUI LicenseGPLv2 9 c Articles in the seriesLinux kernel Linux distributionPopular Linux distributions 18 19 20 include Debian Fedora Linux and Ubuntu the latter of which itself consists of many different distributions and modifications including Lubuntu and Xubuntu Commercial distributions include Red Hat Enterprise Linux and SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop Linux distributions include a windowing system such as X11 or Wayland and a desktop environment such as GNOME or KDE Plasma Distributions intended for servers may omit graphics altogether or include a solution stack such as LAMP Because Linux is freely redistributable anyone may create a distribution for any purpose 21 Linux was originally developed for personal computers based on the Intel x86 architecture but has since been ported to more platforms than any other operating system 22 Because of the dominance of the Linux based Android on smartphones Linux including Android has the largest installed base of all general purpose operating systems as of May 2022 update 23 24 25 Although Linux is as of November 2022 update used by only around 2 6 percent of desktop computers 26 the Chromebook which runs the Linux kernel based ChromeOS dominates the US K 12 education market and represents nearly 20 percent of sub 300 notebook sales in the US 27 Linux is the leading operating system on servers over 96 4 of the top 1 million web servers operating systems are Linux 28 leads other big iron systems such as mainframe computers and is used on all of the world s 500 fastest supercompters d since November 2017 having gradually displaced all competitors 29 30 31 Linux also runs on embedded systems i e devices whose operating system is typically built into the firmware and is highly tailored to the system This includes routers automation controls smart home devices video game consoles 32 televisions Samsung and LG Smart TVs 33 34 35 automobiles Tesla Audi Mercedes Benz Hyundai and Toyota 36 and spacecraft Falcon 9 rocket Dragon crew capsule and the Perseverance rover 37 38 Linux is one of the most prominent examples of free and open source software collaboration The source code may be used modified and distributed commercially or non commercially by anyone under the terms of its respective licenses such as the GNU General Public License GPL The Linux kernel for example is licensed under the GPLv2 e Contents 1 History 1 1 Precursors 1 2 Creation 1 3 Naming 1 4 Commercial and popular uptake 1 5 Current development 2 Design 2 1 User interface 2 2 Video input infrastructure 3 Development 3 1 Community 3 2 Programming on Linux 4 Hardware support 5 Uses 6 Market share and uptake 7 Copyright trademark and naming 8 See also 9 Notes 10 References 11 External linksHistory EditMain article History of Linux Precursors Edit Linus Torvalds principal author of the Linux kernel The Unix operating system was conceived and implemented in 1969 at AT amp T s Bell Labs in the United States by Ken Thompson Dennis Ritchie Douglas McIlroy and Joe Ossanna 40 First released in 1971 Unix was written entirely in assembly language as was common practice at the time In 1973 in a key pioneering approach it was rewritten in the C programming language by Dennis Ritchie with the exception of some hardware and I O routines The availability of a high level language implementation of Unix made its porting to different computer platforms easier 41 Due to an earlier antitrust case forbidding it from entering the computer business AT amp T licensed the operating system s source code as a trade secret to anyone who asked As a result Unix grew quickly and became widely adopted by academic institutions and businesses In 1984 AT amp T divested itself of its regional operating companies and was released from its obligation not to enter the computer business freed of that obligation Bell Labs began selling Unix as a proprietary product where users were not legally allowed to modify it 42 43 Onyx Systems began selling early microcomputer based Unix workstations in 1980 Later Sun Microsystems founded as a spin off of a student project at Stanford University also began selling Unix based desktop workstations in 1982 While Sun workstations didn t utilize commodity PC hardware like Linux was later developed for it represented the first successful commercial attempt at distributing a primarily single user microcomputer that ran a Unix operating system 44 45 With Unix increasingly locked in as a proprietary product the GNU Project started in 1983 by Richard Stallman had the goal of creating a complete Unix compatible software system composed entirely of free software Work began in 1984 46 Later in 1985 Stallman started the Free Software Foundation and wrote the GNU General Public License GNU GPL in 1989 By the early 1990s many of the programs required in an operating system such as libraries compilers text editors a command line shell and a windowing system were completed although low level elements such as device drivers daemons and the kernel called GNU Hurd were stalled and incomplete 47 MINIX was created by Andrew S Tanenbaum a computer science professor and released in 1987 as a minimal Unix like operating system targeted at students and others who wanted to learn operating system principles Although the complete source code of MINIX was freely available the licensing terms prevented it from being free software until the licensing changed in April 2000 48 Although not released until 1992 due to legal complications development of 386BSD from which NetBSD OpenBSD and FreeBSD descended predated that of Linux Linus Torvalds has stated on separate occasions that if the GNU kernel or 386BSD had been available at the time 1991 he probably would not have created Linux 49 50 Creation Edit While attending the University of Helsinki in the fall of 1990 Torvalds enrolled in a Unix course 51 The course utilized a MicroVAX minicomputer running Ultrix and one of the required texts was Operating Systems Design and Implementation by Andrew S Tanenbaum This textbook included a copy of Tanenbaum s MINIX operating system It was with this course that Torvalds first became exposed to Unix In 1991 he became curious about operating systems 52 Frustrated by the licensing of MINIX which at the time limited it to educational use only 48 he began to work on his own operating system kernel which eventually became the Linux kernel Torvalds began the development of the Linux kernel on MINIX and applications written for MINIX were also used on Linux Later Linux matured and further Linux kernel development took place on Linux systems 53 GNU applications also replaced all MINIX components because it was advantageous to use the freely available code from the GNU Project with the fledgling operating system code licensed under the GNU GPL can be reused in other computer programs as long as they also are released under the same or a compatible license Torvalds initiated a switch from his original license which prohibited commercial redistribution to the GNU GPL 54 Developers worked to integrate GNU components with the Linux kernel creating a fully functional and free operating system 55 Naming Edit 5 25 inch floppy disks holding a very early version of Linux Linus Torvalds had wanted to call his invention Freax a portmanteau of free freak and x as an allusion to Unix During the start of his work on the system some of the project s makefiles included the name Freax for about half a year Initially Torvalds considered the name Linux but dismissed it as too egotistical 56 To facilitate development the files were uploaded to the FTP server ftp funet fi of FUNET in September 1991 Ari Lemmke Torvalds coworker at the Helsinki University of Technology HUT who was one of the volunteer administrators for the FTP server at the time did not think that Freax was a good name so he named the project Linux on the server without consulting Torvalds 56 Later however Torvalds consented to Linux According to a newsgroup post by Torvalds 11 the word Linux should be pronounced ˈ l ɪ n ʊ k s listen LIN uuks with a short i as in print and u as in put To further demonstrate how the word Linux should be pronounced he included an audio guide listen help info with the kernel source code 57 However in this recording he pronounces Linux ˈ l i n ʊ k s listen LEEN uuks with a short but close front unrounded vowel Commercial and popular uptake Edit Main article Linux adoption Ubuntu a popular Linux distribution Nexus 5X running Android Adoption of Linux in production environments rather than being used only by hobbyists started to take off first in the mid 1990s in the supercomputing community where organizations such as NASA started to replace their increasingly expensive machines with clusters of inexpensive commodity computers running Linux Commercial use began when Dell and IBM followed by Hewlett Packard started offering Linux support to escape Microsoft s monopoly in the desktop operating system market 58 Today Linux systems are used throughout computing from embedded systems to virtually all supercomputers 31 59 and have secured a place in server installations such as the popular LAMP application stack Use of Linux distributions in home and enterprise desktops has been growing 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 Linux distributions have also become popular in the netbook market with many devices shipping with customized Linux distributions installed and Google releasing their own ChromeOS designed for netbooks Linux s greatest success in the consumer market is perhaps the mobile device market with Android being the dominant operating system on smartphones and very popular on tablets and more recently on wearables Linux gaming is also on the rise with Valve showing its support for Linux and rolling out SteamOS its own gaming oriented Linux distribution and later the Steam Deck platform Linux distributions have also gained popularity with various local and national governments such as the federal government of Brazil 67 Current development Edit In flight entertainment system booting up displaying the Linux logo Greg Kroah Hartman is the lead maintainer for the Linux kernel and guides its development 68 William John Sullivan is the executive director of the Free Software Foundation 69 which in turn supports the GNU components 70 Finally individuals and corporations develop third party non GNU components These third party components comprise a vast body of work and may include both kernel modules and user applications and libraries Linux vendors and communities combine and distribute the kernel GNU components and non GNU components with additional package management software in the form of Linux distributions Design EditSee also Linux kernel Architecture and features Many open source developers agree that the Linux kernel was not designed but rather evolved through natural selection Torvalds considers that although the design of Unix served as a scaffolding Linux grew with a lot of mutations and because the mutations were less than random they were faster and more directed than alpha particles in DNA 71 Eric S Raymond considers Linux s revolutionary aspects to be social not technical before Linux complex software was designed carefully by small groups but Linux evolved in a completely different way From nearly the beginning it was rather casually hacked on by huge numbers of volunteers coordinating only through the Internet Quality was maintained not by rigid standards or autocracy but by the naively simple strategy of releasing every week and getting feedback from hundreds of users within days creating a sort of rapid Darwinian selection on the mutations introduced by developers 72 Bryan Cantrill an engineer of a competing OS agrees that Linux wasn t designed it evolved but considers this to be a limitation proposing that some features especially those related to security 73 cannot be evolved into this is not a biological system at the end of the day it s a software system 74 A Linux based system is a modular Unix like operating system deriving much of its basic design from principles established in Unix during the 1970s and 1980s Such a system uses a monolithic kernel the Linux kernel which handles process control networking access to the peripherals and file systems Device drivers are either integrated directly with the kernel or added as modules that are loaded while the system is running 75 The GNU userland is a key part of most systems based on the Linux kernel with Android being the notable exception The Project s implementation of the C library works as a wrapper for the system calls of the Linux kernel necessary to the kernel userspace interface the toolchain is a broad collection of programming tools vital to Linux development including the compilers used to build the Linux kernel itself and the coreutils implement many basic Unix tools The project also develops Bash a popular CLI shell The graphical user interface or GUI used by most Linux systems is built on top of an implementation of the X Window System 76 More recently the Linux community seeks to advance to Wayland as the new display server protocol in place of X11 Many other open source software projects contribute to Linux systems Various layers within Linux also showing separation between the userland and kernel space User mode User applications bash LibreOffice GIMP Blender 0 A D Mozilla Firefox System components init daemon OpenRC runit systemd System daemons polkitd smbd sshd udevd Window manager X11 Wayland SurfaceFlinger Android Graphics Mesa AMD Catalyst Other libraries GTK Qt EFL SDL SFML FLTK GNUstep C standard library a href Fopen html class mw redirect title Fopen fopen a a href Exec system call html title Exec system call execv a a href Malloc html class mw redirect title Malloc malloc a a href Memcpy html class mw redirect title Memcpy memcpy a a href Localtime html class mw redirect title Localtime localtime a a href Pthread create html class mw redirect title Pthread create pthread create a up to 2000 subroutines glibc aims to be fast musl aims to be lightweight uClibc targets embedded systems bionic was written for Android etc All aim to be POSIX SUS compatible Kernel mode Linux kernel a href Stat system call html title Stat system call stat a a href Splice system call html title Splice system call splice a a href Dup system call html title Dup system call dup a a href Read system call html title Read system call read a a href Open system call html title Open system call open a a href Ioctl html title Ioctl ioctl a a href Write system call html title Write system call write a a href Mmap html title Mmap mmap a a href Close system call html title Close system call close a a href Exit system call html title Exit system call exit a etc about 380 system calls The Linux kernel System Call Interface SCI aims to be POSIX SUS compatible 77 Process schedulingsubsystem IPCsubsystem Memory managementsubsystem Virtual filessubsystem NetworksubsystemOther components ALSA DRI evdev klibc LVM device mapper Linux Network Scheduler NetfilterLinux Security Modules SELinux TOMOYO AppArmor SmackHardware CPU main memory data storage devices etc Installed components of a Linux system include the following 76 78 A bootloader for example GNU GRUB LILO SYSLINUX or systemd boot This is a program that loads the Linux kernel into the computer s main memory by being executed by the computer when it is turned on and after the firmware initialization is performed An init program such as the traditional sysvinit and the newer systemd OpenRC and Upstart This is the first process launched by the Linux kernel and is at the root of the process tree in other terms all processes are launched through init It starts processes such as system services and login prompts whether graphical or in terminal mode Software libraries which contain code that can be used by running processes On Linux systems using ELF format executable files the dynamic linker that manages the use of dynamic libraries is known as ld linux so If the system is set up for the user to compile software themselves header files will also be included to describe the interface of installed libraries Besides the most commonly used software library on Linux systems the GNU C Library glibc there are numerous other libraries such as SDL and Mesa C standard library is the library needed to run C programs on a computer system with the GNU C Library being the standard For embedded systems alternatives such as the musl EGLIBC a glibc fork once used by Debian and uClibc which was designed for uClinux have been developed although the last two are no longer maintained Android uses its own C library Bionic Basic Unix commands with GNU coreutils being the standard implementation Alternatives exist for embedded systems such as the copyleft BusyBox and the BSD licensed Toybox Widget toolkits are the libraries used to build graphical user interfaces GUIs for software applications Numerous widget toolkits are available including GTK and Clutter developed by the GNOME project Qt developed by the Qt Project and led by The Qt Company and Enlightenment Foundation Libraries EFL developed primarily by the Enlightenment team A package management system such as dpkg and RPM Alternatively packages can be compiled from binary or source tarballs User interface programs such as command shells or windowing environments User interface Edit The user interface also known as the shell is either a command line interface CLI a graphical user interface GUI or controls attached to the associated hardware which is common for embedded systems For desktop systems the default user interface is usually graphical although the CLI is commonly available through terminal emulator windows or on a separate virtual console CLI shells are text based user interfaces which use text for both input and output The dominant shell used in Linux is the Bourne Again Shell bash originally developed for the GNU project Most low level Linux components including various parts of the userland use the CLI exclusively The CLI is particularly suited for automation of repetitive or delayed tasks and provides very simple inter process communication On desktop systems the most popular user interfaces are the GUI shells packaged together with extensive desktop environments such as KDE Plasma GNOME MATE Cinnamon LXDE Pantheon and Xfce though a variety of additional user interfaces exist Most popular user interfaces are based on the X Window System often simply called X It provides network transparency and permits a graphical application running on one system to be displayed on another where a user may interact with the application however certain extensions of the X Window System are not capable of working over the network 79 Several X display servers exist with the reference implementation X Org Server being the most popular Server distributions might provide a command line interface for developers and administrators but provide a custom interface towards end users designed for the use case of the system This custom interface is accessed through a client that resides on another system not necessarily Linux based Several types of window managers exist for X11 including tiling dynamic stacking and compositing Window managers provide means to control the placement and appearance of individual application windows and interact with the X Window System Simpler X window managers such as dwm ratpoison i3wm or herbstluftwm provide a minimalist functionality while more elaborate window managers such as FVWM Enlightenment or Window Maker provide more features such as a built in taskbar and themes but are still lightweight when compared to desktop environments Desktop environments include window managers as part of their standard installations such as Mutter GNOME KWin KDE or Xfwm xfce although users may choose to use a different window manager if preferred Wayland is a display server protocol intended as a replacement for the X11 protocol as of 2022 update it has received relatively wide adoption 80 Unlike X11 Wayland does not need an external window manager and compositing manager Therefore a Wayland compositor takes the role of the display server window manager and compositing manager Weston is the reference implementation of Wayland while GNOME s Mutter and KDE s KWin are being ported to Wayland as standalone display servers Enlightenment has already been successfully ported since version 19 81 Video input infrastructure Edit Main article Video4Linux Linux currently has two modern kernel userspace APIs for handling video input devices V4L2 API for video streams and radio and DVB API for digital TV reception 82 Due to the complexity and diversity of different devices and due to the large number of formats and standards handled by those APIs this infrastructure needs to evolve to better fit other devices Also a good userspace device library is the key of the success for having userspace applications to be able to work with all formats supported by those devices 83 84 Development Edit Simplified history of Unix like operating systems Linux shares similar architecture and concepts as part of the POSIX standard but does not share non free source code with the original Unix or MINIX Main articles Linux distribution and Free software The primary difference between Linux and many other popular contemporary operating systems is that the Linux kernel and other components are free and open source software Linux is not the only such operating system although it is by far the most widely used 85 Some free and open source software licenses are based on the principle of copyleft a kind of reciprocity any work derived from a copyleft piece of software must also be copyleft itself The most common free software license the GNU General Public License GPL is a form of copyleft and is used for the Linux kernel and many of the components from the GNU Project 86 Linux based distributions are intended by developers for interoperability with other operating systems and established computing standards Linux systems adhere to POSIX 87 SUS 88 LSB ISO and ANSI standards where possible although to date only one Linux distribution has been POSIX 1 certified Linux FT 89 90 Free software projects although developed through collaboration are often produced independently of each other The fact that the software licenses explicitly permit redistribution however provides a basis for larger scale projects that collect the software produced by stand alone projects and make it available all at once in the form of a Linux distribution Many Linux distributions manage a remote collection of system software and application software packages available for download and installation through a network connection This allows users to adapt the operating system to their specific needs Distributions are maintained by individuals loose knit teams volunteer organizations and commercial entities A distribution is responsible for the default configuration of the installed Linux kernel general system security and more generally integration of the different software packages into a coherent whole Distributions typically use a package manager such as apt yum zypper pacman or portage to install remove and update all of a system s software from one central location 91 Community Edit See also Free software community and Linux User Group A distribution is largely driven by its developer and user communities Some vendors develop and fund their distributions on a volunteer basis Debian being a well known example Others maintain a community version of their commercial distributions as Red Hat does with Fedora and SUSE does with openSUSE 92 93 In many cities and regions local associations known as Linux User Groups LUGs seek to promote their preferred distribution and by extension free software They hold meetings and provide free demonstrations training technical support and operating system installation to new users Many Internet communities also provide support to Linux users and developers Most distributions and free software open source projects have IRC chatrooms or newsgroups Online forums are another means for support with notable examples being LinuxQuestions org and the various distribution specific support and community forums such as ones for Ubuntu Fedora and Gentoo Linux distributions host mailing lists commonly there will be a specific topic such as usage or development for a given list There are several technology websites with a Linux focus Print magazines on Linux often bundle cover disks that carry software or even complete Linux distributions 94 95 Although Linux distributions are generally available without charge several large corporations sell support and contribute to the development of the components of the system and of free software An analysis of the Linux kernel in 2017 showed that well over 85 of the code developed by programmers who are being paid for their work leaving about 8 2 to unpaid developers and 4 1 unclassified 96 Some of the major corporations that provide contributions include Intel Samsung Google AMD Oracle and Facebook 97 A number of corporations notably Red Hat Canonical and SUSE have built a significant business around Linux distributions The free software licenses on which the various software packages of a distribution built on the Linux kernel are based explicitly accommodate and encourage commercialization the relationship between a Linux distribution as a whole and individual vendors may be seen as symbiotic One common business model of commercial suppliers is charging for support especially for business users A number of companies also offer a specialized business version of their distribution which adds proprietary support packages and tools to administer higher numbers of installations or to simplify administrative tasks Another business model is to give away the software to sell hardware This used to be the norm in the computer industry with operating systems such as CP M Apple DOS and versions of Mac OS prior to 7 6 freely copyable but not modifiable As computer hardware standardized throughout the 1980s it became more difficult for hardware manufacturers to profit from this tactic as the OS would run on any manufacturer s computer that shared the same architecture Programming on Linux Edit Most programming languages support Linux either directly or through third party community based ports 98 The original development tools used for building both Linux applications and operating system programs are found within the GNU toolchain which includes the GNU Compiler Collection GCC and the GNU Build System Amongst others GCC provides compilers for Ada C C Go and Fortran Many programming languages have a cross platform reference implementation that supports Linux for example PHP Perl Ruby Python Java Go Rust and Haskell First released in 2003 the LLVM project provides an alternative cross platform open source compiler for many languages Proprietary compilers for Linux include the Intel C Compiler Sun Studio and IBM XL C C Compiler BASIC in the form of Visual Basic is supported in such forms as Gambas FreeBASIC and XBasic and in terms of terminal programming or QuickBASIC or Turbo BASIC programming in the form of QB64 A common feature of Unix like systems Linux includes traditional specific purpose programming languages targeted at scripting text processing and system configuration and management in general Linux distributions support shell scripts awk sed and make Many programs also have an embedded programming language to support configuring or programming themselves For example regular expressions are supported in programs like grep and locate the traditional Unix MTA Sendmail contains its own Turing complete scripting system and the advanced text editor GNU Emacs is built around a general purpose Lisp interpreter Most distributions also include support for PHP Perl Ruby Python and other dynamic languages While not as common Linux also supports C via Mono Vala and Scheme Guile Scheme acts as an extension language targeting the GNU system utilities seeking to make the conventionally small static compiled C programs of Unix design rapidly and dynamically extensible via an elegant functional high level scripting system many GNU programs can be compiled with optional Guile bindings to this end A number of Java virtual machines and development kits run on Linux including the original Sun Microsystems JVM HotSpot and IBM s J2SE RE as well as many open source projects like Kaffe and JikesRVM GNOME and KDE are popular desktop environments and provide a framework for developing applications These projects are based on the GTK and Qt widget toolkits respectively which can also be used independently of the larger framework Both support a wide variety of languages There are a number of Integrated development environments available including Anjuta Code Blocks CodeLite Eclipse Geany ActiveState Komodo KDevelop Lazarus MonoDevelop NetBeans and Qt Creator while the long established editors Vim nano and Emacs remain popular 99 Hardware support Edit Linux is ubiquitously found on various types of hardware See also List of Linux supported computer architectures The Linux kernel is a widely ported operating system kernel available for devices ranging from mobile phones to supercomputers it runs on a highly diverse range of computer architectures including the hand held ARM based iPAQ and the IBM mainframes System z9 or System z10 100 Specialized distributions and kernel forks exist for less mainstream architectures for example the ELKS kernel fork can run on Intel 8086 or Intel 80286 16 bit microprocessors while the µClinux kernel fork may run on systems without a memory management unit The kernel also runs on architectures that were only ever intended to use a manufacturer created operating system such as Macintosh computers 101 102 with both PowerPC and Intel processors PDAs video game consoles portable music players and mobile phones Linux has a reputation of supporting old hardware very well by maintaining standardized drivers for a long time 103 There are several industry associations and hardware conferences devoted to maintaining and improving support for diverse hardware under Linux such as FreedomHEC Over time support for different hardware has improved in Linux resulting in any off the shelf purchase having a good chance of being compatible 104 In 2014 a new initiative was launched to automatically collect a database of all tested hardware configurations 105 Uses EditMain article Linux range of useMarket share and uptake EditMain article Linux adoption See also Usage share of operating systems Many quantitative studies of free open source software focus on topics including market share and reliability with numerous studies specifically examining Linux 106 The Linux market is growing and the Linux operating system market size is expected to see a growth of 19 2 by 2027 reaching 15 64 billion compared to 3 89 billion in 2019 107 Analysts and proponents attribute the relative success of Linux to its security reliability low cost and freedom from vendor lock in 108 109 Desktops and laptops According to web server statistics that is based on the numbers recorded from visits to websites by client devices as of May 2022 update the estimated market share of Linux on desktop computers is around 2 5 In comparison Microsoft Windows has a market share of around 75 5 while macOS covers around 14 9 26 Web serversW3Cook publishes stats that use the top 1 000 000 Alexa domains 110 which as of May 2015 update estimate that 96 55 of web servers run Linux 1 73 run Windows and 1 72 run FreeBSD 111 W3Techs publishes stats that use the top 10 000 000 Alexa domains and the top 1 000 000 Tranco domains updated monthly 112 and as of November 2020 estimate that Linux is used by 39 of the web servers versus 21 9 being used by Microsoft Windows 113 40 1 used other types of Unix 114 IDC s Q1 2007 report indicated that Linux held 12 7 of the overall server market at that time 115 this estimate was based on the number of Linux servers sold by various companies and did not include server hardware purchased separately that had Linux installed on it later Mobile devices Android which is based on the Linux kernel has become the dominant operating system for smartphones In July 2022 71 9 of smartphones accessing the internet worldwide used Android 116 Android is also a popular operating system for tablets being responsible for more than 60 of tablet sales as of 2013 117 According to web server statistics as of October 2021 update Android has a market share of about 71 with iOS holding 28 and the remaining 1 attributed to various niche platforms 118 Film production For years Linux has been the platform of choice in the film industry The first major film produced on Linux servers was 1997 s Titanic 119 120 Since then major studios including DreamWorks Animation Pixar Weta Digital and Industrial Light amp Magic have migrated to Linux 121 122 123 According to the Linux Movies Group more than 95 of the servers and desktops at large animation and visual effects companies use Linux 124 Use in government Linux distributions have also gained popularity with various local and national governments News of the Russian military creating its own Linux distribution has also surfaced and has come to fruition as the G H ost Project 125 The Indian state of Kerala has gone to the extent of mandating that all state high schools run Linux on their computers 126 127 China uses Linux exclusively as the operating system for its Loongson processor family to achieve technology independence 128 In Spain some regions have developed their own Linux distributions which are widely used in education and official institutions like gnuLinEx in Extremadura and Guadalinex in Andalusia France and Germany have also taken steps toward the adoption of Linux 129 North Korea s Red Star OS developed since 2002 is based on a version of Fedora Linux 130 Copyright trademark and naming EditSee also GNU Linux naming controversy and SCO Linux disputes Linux kernel is licensed under the GNU General Public License GPL version 2 The GPL requires that anyone who distributes software based on source code under this license must make the originating source code and any modifications available to the recipient under the same terms 131 Other key components of a typical Linux distribution are also mainly licensed under the GPL but they may use other licenses many libraries use the GNU Lesser General Public License LGPL a more permissive variant of the GPL and the X Org implementation of the X Window System uses the MIT License Torvalds states that the Linux kernel will not move from version 2 of the GPL to version 3 132 133 He specifically dislikes some provisions in the new license which prohibit the use of the software in digital rights management 134 It would also be impractical to obtain permission from all the copyright holders who number in the thousands 135 A 2001 study of Red Hat Linux 7 1 found that this distribution contained 30 million source lines of code 136 Using the Constructive Cost Model the study estimated that this distribution required about eight thousand person years of development time According to the study if all this software had been developed by conventional proprietary means it would have cost about US 1 64 billion 137 to develop in 2021 in the United States 136 Most of the source code 71 was written in the C programming language but many other languages were used including C Lisp assembly language Perl Python Fortran and various shell scripting languages Slightly over half of all lines of code were licensed under the GPL The Linux kernel itself was 2 4 million lines of code or 8 of the total 136 In a later study the same analysis was performed for Debian version 4 0 etch which was released in 2007 138 This distribution contained close to 283 million source lines of code and the study estimated that it would have required about seventy three thousand man years and cost US 9 16 billion 137 in 2021 dollars to develop by conventional means The name Linux is also used for a laundry detergent made by Swiss company Rosch 139 In the United States the name Linux is a trademark registered to Linus Torvalds 10 Initially nobody registered it but on August 15 1994 William R Della Croce Jr filed for the trademark Linux and then demanded royalties from Linux distributors In 1996 Torvalds and some affected organizations sued him to have the trademark assigned to Torvalds and in 1997 the case was settled 140 The licensing of the trademark has since been handled by the Linux Mark Institute LMI Torvalds has stated that he trademarked the name only to prevent someone else from using it LMI originally charged a nominal sublicensing fee for use of the Linux name as part of trademarks 141 but later changed this in favor of offering a free perpetual worldwide sublicense 142 The Free Software Foundation FSF prefers GNU Linux as the name when referring to the operating system as a whole because it considers Linux distributions to be variants of the GNU operating system initiated in 1983 by Richard Stallman president of the FSF 16 17 They explicitly take no issue over the name Android for the Android OS which is also an operating system based on the Linux kernel as GNU is not a part of it A minority of public figures and software projects other than Stallman and the FSF notably Debian which had been sponsored by the FSF up to 1996 143 also use GNU Linux when referring to the operating system as a whole 144 145 146 Most media and common usage however refers to this family of operating systems simply as Linux as do many large Linux distributions for example SUSE Linux and Red Hat Enterprise Linux By contrast Linux distributions containing only free software use GNU Linux or simply GNU such as Trisquel GNU Linux Parabola GNU Linux libre BLAG Linux and GNU and gNewSense As of May 2011 update about 8 to 13 of the lines of code of the Linux distribution Ubuntu version Natty is made of GNU components the range depending on whether GNOME is considered part of GNU meanwhile 6 is taken by the Linux kernel increased to 9 when including its direct dependencies 147 See also Edit Free and open source software portal Linux portalComparison of Linux distributions Comparison of open source and closed source Comparison of operating systems Comparison of X Window System desktop environments Criticism of Linux Linux Documentation Project Linux From Scratch Linux Software Map List of Linux distributions List of games released on Linux List of operating systems Loadable kernel module Usage share of operating systems Timeline of operating systemsNotes Edit GNU is the primary userland used in nearly all Linux distributions 2 3 4 The GNU userland contains system daemons user applications the GUI and various libraries GNU Core utilities are an essential part of most distributions Most Linux distributions use the X Window system 5 Other components of the userland such as the widget toolkit vary with the specific distribution desktop environment and user configuration 6 BusyBox is an alternative userland used in many embedded Linux distributions BusyBox replaces most GNU Core utilities 7 One notable Desktop distribution using BusyBox is Alpine Linux 8 The name Linux itself is a trademark owned by Linus Torvalds 10 and administered by the Linux Mark Institute As measured by the TOP500 list which uses HPL to measure computational power The license excepts system calls as any program calling on the kernel is considered a derivative work without this exception the GPL would apply to such programs 39 21 References Edit Linux Online 2008 Linux Logos and Mascots Archived from the original on August 15 2010 Retrieved August 11 2009 GNU Userland Archived from the original on March 8 2016 Unix Fundamentals System Administration for Cyborgs Archived from the original on October 5 2016 Operating Systems Introduction to Information and Communication Technology Archived from the original on February 21 2016 The X Window System Archived from the original on January 20 2016 PCLinuxOS Magazine HTML Archived from the original on May 15 2013 The Busybox 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