What
is Linux and what are its advantages?
Linux
is a computer operating system that is very similar to UNIX. It
runs on many different computer systems including the PC and the
Mac (it also runs on PDA's and other embedded systems).
The
main advantages of Linux are
- it
is Open-Source software so all of the source code is freely
available;
- it
is a multi-user operating system with all software necessary
to run an advanced Internet server with e-mail, web servers,
domain name service (DNS), and many other services;
- it
is free and can be downloaded from many sites (some sites charge
if you want hardcopy documentation and a CD-ROM);
- since
the source is freely available, bugs and security problems are
patched quickly and made available for download.
Many
organizations are using Linux as a server operating system since
it runs on relatively inexpensive PC's.