Linux

For those unaware, Linux is the central foundation, or kernel, of a robust computer operating system. Often, the term "Linux" is also applied to any complete operating system based on this kernel. Linux systems offer comparable functionality to operating systems by companies such as Apple, Microsoft, or Sun. However, most components of a Linux system explicitly grant anyone the freedom to modify, improve, and share them. In contrast, many other systems obfuscate and prohibit such freedom, and exploit copyright law to enforce elimination of such freedom. (Some system licenses that forbid sharing reiterate that violation of copyright law may be punishable by fines or prison.)

Today, a number of different companies and organizations distribute ready-to-install Linux systems. Some popular distribution choices are Redhat, Debian, and SUSE. While most applications written for Linux work on any Linux distribution with few to no changes, each distribution maintains its own set of prepared packages for direct installation.

More information is available through my Linux links page.