Linux (
i/ˈlɪnəks/ LIN-əks[5][6] or
/ˈlɪnʊks/ LIN-uuks)
[7][8][9] is a
Unix-like computer
operating system assembled under the model of
free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of Linux is the
Linux kernel, an
operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by
Linus Torvalds.
[10][11]
Linux was originally developed as a free operating system for
Intel x86-based
personal computers. It has since been
ported to more
computer hardware platforms than any other operating system. It is a leading operating system on
servers and other
big iron systems such as
mainframe computers and
supercomputers:
[12][13][14][15] more than 90% of today's top 500 supercomputers run some variant of Linux,
[16] including the 10 fastest.
[17] Linux also runs on
embedded systems (devices where the operating system is typically built into the
firmware and highly tailored to the system) such as
mobile phones,
tablet computers, network
routers,
televisions[18][19] and
video game consoles; the
Android system in wide use on mobile devices is built on the Linux kernel.
The development of Linux is one of the most prominent examples of
free and open source software collaboration: the underlying
source code may be used, modified, and distributed—commercially or non-commercially—by anyone under licenses such as the
GNU General Public License. Typically Linux is packaged in a format known as a
Linux distribution for desktop and server use. Some popular mainstream Linux distributions include
Debian (and its derivatives such as
Ubuntu),
Fedora and
openSUSE. Linux distributions include the Linux kernel, supporting
utilities and
libraries and usually a large amount of application software to fulfill the distribution's intended use.
A distribution oriented toward desktop use will typically include the
X Window System and an accompanying
desktop environment such as
GNOME or
KDE Plasma. Some such distributions may include a less resource intensive desktop such as
LXDE or
Xfce
for use on older or less powerful computers. A distribution intended to
run as a server may omit all graphical environments from the standard
install and instead include other software such as the
Apache HTTP Server and an
SSH server such as
OpenSSH.
Because Linux is freely redistributable, anyone can create a
distribution for any intended use. Applications commonly used with
desktop Linux systems include the
Mozilla Firefox web browser, the
LibreOffice office application suite, and the
GIMP image editor.
Since the main supporting
user space system tools and libraries originated in the
GNU Project, initiated in 1983 by
Richard Stallman, the
Free Software Foundation prefers the name
GNU/Linux.
[20][21]
History
Unix
The
Unix operating system was conceived and implemented in 1969 at
AT&T's Bell Laboratories in the
United States by
Ken Thompson,
Dennis Ritchie,
Douglas McIlroy, and
Joe Ossanna. It was first released in 1971 and was initially entirely written in
assembly language, a common practice at the time. Later, in a key pioneering approach in 1973, Unix was re-written in the programming language
C by
Dennis Ritchie
(with exceptions to the kernel and I/O). The availability of an
operating system written in a high-level language allowed easier
portability
to different computer platforms. With a legal glitch forcing AT&T
to license the operating system's source code to anyone who asked,
[22]
Unix quickly grew and became widely adopted by academic institutions
and businesses. In 1984, AT&T divested itself of Bell Labs. Free of
the legal glitch requiring free licensing, Bell Labs began selling Unix
as a
proprietary product.
GNU
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.
[23] 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
Unix shell, and a windowing system) were completed, although low-level elements such as
device drivers,
daemons, and the
kernel were stalled and incomplete.
[24] Linus Torvalds has said that if the
GNU kernel had been available at the time (1991), he would not have decided to write his own.
[25]
BSD
Although not released until 1992 due to
legal complications, development of
386BSD, from which
NetBSD and
FreeBSD descended, predated that of Linux.
Linus Torvalds has said that if 386BSD had been available at the time, he probably would not have created Linux.
[26]
MINIX
MINIX is an inexpensive minimal
Unix-like operating system, designed for education in computer science, written by
Andrew S. Tanenbaum. Starting with
version 3 in 2005, MINIX has become
free and redesigned for "serious" use.
In 1991 while attending the
University of Helsinki, Torvalds became curious about the operating systems
[27]
and frustrated by the licensing of MINIX, which limited it to
educational use only. He began to work on his own operating system 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 development took place on Linux systems.
[28]
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 projects 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.
[29] Developers worked to integrate GNU components with Linux to make a fully functional and free operating system.
[24]
Commercial and popular uptake
Ubuntu, a popular Linux distribution
Main article:
Linux adoption
Today, Linux systems are used in every domain, from
embedded systems to
supercomputers,
[30][15] and have secured a place in
server installations often using the popular
LAMP application stack.
[31] Use of Linux distributions in home and enterprise desktops has been growing.
[32][33][34][35][36][37][38]
They have also gained popularity with various local and national
governments. The federal government of Brazil is well known for its
support for Linux.
[39][40]
News of the Russian military creating its own Linux distribution has
also surfaced, and has come to fruition as the G.H.ost Project.
[41] The Indian state of
Kerala has gone to the extent of mandating that all state high schools run Linux on their computers.
[42][43] China uses Linux exclusively as the operating system for its
Loongson processor family to achieve technology independence.
[44] 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.
Portugal is also using its own Linux distribution
Caixa Mágica, used in the Magalhães netbook
[45] and the e-escola government program.
[46] France and
Germany have also taken steps toward the adoption of Linux.
[47]
Linux distributions have also become popular in the
netbook market, with many devices such as the
ASUS Eee PC and
Acer Aspire One shipping with customized Linux distributions installed.
[48]
Current development
Torvalds continues to direct the development of the kernel.
[49] Stallman heads the Free Software Foundation,
[50] which in turn supports the GNU components.
[51]
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
A Linux-based system is a modular
Unix-like
operating system. It derives 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, and
peripheral and
file system access.
Device drivers are either integrated directly with the kernel or added as modules loaded while the system is running.
Separate projects that interface with the kernel provide much of the system's higher-level functionality. The GNU
userland is an important part of most Linux-based systems, providing the most common implementation of the
C library, a popular
shell, and many of the common
Unix tools which carry out many basic operating system tasks. The
graphical user interface (or GUI) used by most Linux systems is built on top of an implementation of the
X Window System.
User interface
Users operate a Linux-based system through a
command line interface (CLI), a
graphical user interface
(GUI), or through controls attached to the associated hardware, which
is common for embedded systems. For desktop systems, the default mode is
usually a graphical user interface, by which the CLI is available
through
terminal emulator windows or on a separate
virtual console. Most low-level Linux components, including the GNU
userland,
use the CLI exclusively. The CLI is particularly suited for automation
of repetitive or delayed tasks, and provides very simple
inter-process communication. A graphical
terminal emulator program is often used to access the CLI from a Linux desktop. A Linux system typically implements a CLI by a
shell,
which is also the traditional way of interacting with a Unix system. A
Linux distribution specialized for servers may use the CLI as its only
interface.
On desktop systems, the most popular user interfaces are the extensive
desktop environments KDE Plasma Desktop,
GNOME, and
Xfce,
[52] 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.
[53]
Other GUIs may be classified as simple
X window managers, such as
FVWM,
Enlightenment, and
Window Maker, which provide a
minimalist
functionality with respect to the desktop environments. A window
manager provides a means to control the placement and appearance of
individual application windows, and interacts with the X Window System.
The desktop environments include window managers as part of their
standard installations (
Mutter for GNOME,
Kwin for KDE,
Xfwm for Xfce as of January 2012) although users may choose to use a different window manager if preferred.
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.
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.
[54] 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 GPL, is a form of
copyleft, and is used for the Linux kernel and many of the components from the
GNU project.
Linux based distributions are intended by developers for
interoperability with other operating systems and established computing standards. Linux systems adhere to
POSIX,
[55] SUS,
[56] ISO, and
ANSI standards where possible, although to date only one Linux distribution has been POSIX.1 certified, Linux-FT.
[57][58]
Free software projects, although developed in a
collaborative
fashion, 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.
A
Linux distribution,
commonly called a "distro", is a project that manages 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
dpkg,
Synaptic,
YAST, or
Portage to install, remove and update all of a system's software from one central location.
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
Novell does with
openSUSE.
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 include
cover disks including software or even complete Linux distributions.
[59][60]
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 showed 75 percent of the code from
December 2008 to January 2010 was developed by programmers working for
corporations, leaving about 18 percent to volunteers and 7%
unclassified.
[61] Some of the major corporations that contribute include
Dell,
IBM,
HP,
Oracle,
Sun Microsystems (now part of Oracle),
Novell, and
Nokia. A number of corporations, notably
Red Hat and
Novell, 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 in order 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 7.5 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 Linux distributions support dozens of
programming languages. 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++,
Java, and
Fortran. First released in 2003, the
Low Level Virtual Machine project provides an alternative 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.
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. 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,
Qt Creator and
Omnis Studio, while the long-established editors
Vim and
Emacs remain popular.
[62]
Uses
As well as those designed for general purpose use on desktops and
servers, distributions may be specialized for different purposes
including:
computer architecture support,
embedded systems, stability, security, localization to a specific region or language, targeting of specific user groups, support for
real-time applications, or commitment to a given desktop environment. Furthermore, some distributions deliberately include only
free software.
Currently, over three hundred distributions are actively developed,
with about a dozen distributions being most popular for general-purpose
use.
[63]
Linux is a widely
ported operating system kernel. The Linux kernel runs on a highly diverse range of
computer architectures: in the hand-held
ARM-based
iPAQ and the
mainframe IBM System z9,
System z10; in devices ranging from
mobile phones to
supercomputers.
[64] Specialized distributions exist for less mainstream architectures. 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 (with both
PowerPC and
Intel processors),
PDAs,
video game consoles,
portable music players, and
mobile phones.
There are several industry associations and hardware
conferences devoted to maintaining and improving support for diverse hardware under Linux, such as
FreedomHEC.
Desktop
Main article:
Desktop Linux
The popularity of Linux on standard desktop computers and laptops has been increasing over the years.
[65] Currently most distributions include a graphical user environment, with the two most popular environments being
GNOME (which can utilize additional
shells such as the default
GNOME Shell and
Ubuntu Unity), and the
KDE Plasma Desktop.
The performance of Linux on the desktop has been a controversial topic; for example in 2007
Con Kolivas
accused the Linux community of favoring performance on servers. He quit
Linux kernel development because he was frustrated with this lack of
focus on the desktop, and then gave a "tell all" interview on the topic.
[66]
Since then a significant amount of development has been undertaken in
an effort to improve the desktop experience. Projects such as
Upstart and
systemd aim for a faster boot time.
Many popular applications are available for a wide variety of operating systems. For example
Mozilla Firefox,
OpenOffice.org/
LibreOffice and
Blender
have downloadable versions for all major operating systems.
Furthermore, some applications were initially developed for Linux, such
as
Pidgin, and
GIMP, and were ported to other operating systems including
Windows and
Mac OS X due to their popularity. In addition, a growing number of proprietary desktop applications are also supported on Linux;
[67] see
List of proprietary software for Linux. In the field of animation and visual effects, most high end software, such as
Autodesk Maya, Softimage XSI and
Apple Shake, is available for Linux, Windows and/or Mac OS X. There are also
several companies that have ported their own or other companies' games to Linux.
Many types of applications available for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X are also available for Linux. Commonly, either a
free software
application will exist which does the functions of an application found
on another operating system, or that application will have a version
that works on Linux, such as with
Skype and some
video games.
[citation needed] Furthermore, the
Wine project provides a Windows compatibility layer to run unmodified Windows applications on Linux.
CrossOver is a proprietary solution based on the open source
Wine project that supports running Windows versions of
Microsoft Office,
Intuit applications such as
Quicken and
QuickBooks,
Adobe Photoshop versions through CS2, and many popular games such as
World of Warcraft and
Team Fortress 2. In other cases, where there is no Linux port of some software in areas such as
desktop publishing[68] and
professional audio,
[69][70][71] there is equivalent software available on Linux.
The collaborative nature of free software development allows distributed teams to perform
language localization
of some Linux distributions for use in locales where localizing
proprietary systems would not be cost-effective. For example the
Sinhalese language version of the
Knoppix distribution was available significantly before
Microsoft Windows XP was translated to Sinhalese.
[citation needed] In this case the
Lanka Linux User Group played a major part in developing the localized system by combining the knowledge of university professors,
linguists, and local developers.
Installing, updating and removing software in Linux is typically done through the use of package managers such as the
Synaptic Package Manager,
PackageKit, and
Yum Extender.
While most major Linux distributions have extensive repositories, often
containing tens of thousands of packages, not all the software that can
run on Linux is available from the official repositories.
Alternatively, users can install packages from unofficial repositories,
download pre-compiled packages directly from websites, or compile the
source code by themselves. All these methods come with different degrees
of difficulty; compiling the source code is in general considered a
challenging process for new Linux users, but it's hardly needed in
modern distributions and is not a method specific to Linux.
Servers, mainframes and supercomputers
Servers designed for Linux
Linux distributions have long been used as
server operating systems, and have risen to prominence in that area;
Netcraft reported in September 2006 that eight of the ten most reliable internet hosting companies ran Linux distributions on their
web servers.
[74] Since June 2008, Linux distributions represented five of the top ten,
FreeBSD three of ten, and
Microsoft two of ten;
[75] since February 2010, Linux distributions represented six of the top ten,
FreeBSD two of ten, and
Microsoft one of ten.
[76]
Linux distributions are the cornerstone of the
LAMP server-software combination (Linux,
Apache,
MySQL,
Perl/
PHP/
Python) which has achieved popularity among developers, and which is one of the more common platforms for website hosting.
[77]
Linux distributions have become increasingly popular on
mainframes in the last decade partly due to pricing and the open-source model.
[15][citation needed] In December 2009, computer giant
IBM reported that it would predominantly market and sell mainframe-based Enterprise Linux Server.
[78]
Linux distributions are also commonly used as
operating systems for
supercomputers: since November 2010
[update], out of the
top 500 systems, 459 (91.8%) run a Linux distribution.
[79] Linux was also selected as the operating system for the world's most powerful supercomputer, IBM's
Sequoia which was scheduled to become operational in 2011.
[80][clarification needed]
Embedded devices
Home screen displayed on
Android 4.0 "Ice Cream Sandwich"
Due to its low cost and ease of customization,
Linux is often used in
embedded systems.
Android—based on a modified version of the Linux kernel—has become a major competitor of Nokia's older
Symbian OS, found in many
smartphones.
During the third quarter of 2010, 25.5% of smartphones sold worldwide
used Android (with all Linux variants forming 27.6% of the total during
that time).
[81] Cell phones and PDAs running Linux on open-source platforms became more common from 2007; examples include the
Nokia N810,
Openmoko's
Neo1973, and the
Motorola ROKR E8. Continuing the trend,
Palm (later acquired by
HP) produced a new Linux-derived operating system,
webOS, which is built into its new line of
Palm Pre smartphones. The popular
TiVo digital video recorder also uses a customized Linux,
[82] as do several network
firewalls and
routers from such makers as
Cisco/
Linksys. The
Korg OASYS, the
Korg KRONOS, the
Yamaha Yamaha Motif XS/Motif XF
music workstations,
[83] Yamaha S90XS/S70XS, Yamaha MOX6/MOX8
synthesizers, Yamaha Motif-Rack XS
tone generator module, and Roland RD-700GX
digital piano also run Linux. Linux is also used in
stage lighting control systems, such as the WholeHogIII console.
[84]
Market share and uptake
Main article:
Linux adoption
Many quantitative studies of
free
/ open source software focus on topics including market share and
reliability, with numerous studies specifically examining Linux.
[85]
The Linux market is growing rapidly, and the revenue of servers,
desktops, and packaged software running Linux was expected to exceed
$35.7 billion by 2008.
[86]
IDC's Q1 2007 report indicated that Linux held 12.7% of the overall server market at that time.
[87]
This estimate was based on the number of Linux servers sold by various
companies, and did not include server hardware purchased separately
which had Linux installed on it later. In September 2008 Microsoft CEO
Steve Ballmer admitted that 60% of web-servers run Linux versus 40% that run
Windows Server.
[88]
Primarily based on
web server statistics, various companies estimated that the desktop market share of Linux range from less than 1% to 4.8%.
[89] In comparison,
Microsoft operating systems hold more than 85%.
[32][33][34][35][36][37][38][90][91]
Analysts and proponents attribute the relative success of Linux to its security, reliability, low cost, and freedom from
vendor lock-in.
[92][93]
The
Wine compatibility layer allows users to run many programs designed for Windows under Linux.
[94] About half of Wine's code has been contributed by volunteers and half sponsored by commercial interests including
CodeWeavers, which produces a commercial version of the software. Since 2009, Google has also provided funding to the Wine project.
[95][96]
The
XO laptop
project of One Laptop Per Child is creating a new and potentially much
larger Linux community which is planned to reach millions of
schoolchildren and their families in the developing world.
[97] Major supporters of the project include
Google,
Red Hat, and
eBay.
[98] Although the XO will have a Windows option, it will be primarily deployed with
Fedora Linux while using
Sugar as the desktop environment.
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.
[99][100] Since then major studios including
Dreamworks Animation,
Pixar,
Weta Digital, and
Industrial Light & Magic have migrated to Linux.
[101][102][103]
According to the Linux Movies Group, more than 95% of the servers and
desktops at large animation and visual effects companies use Linux.
[104]
Copyright, trademark, and naming
Linux and most GNU software are
licensed under the
GNU General Public License
(GPL). The GPL requires that anyone who distributes Linux must make the
source code (and any modifications) available to the recipient under
the same terms. Other key components of a software system 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. He specifically dislikes some provisions in the
new license which prohibit the use of the software in
digital rights management,
[105][106] and it would also be impractical to obtain permission from all the copyright holders, who number in the thousands.
[107]
A 2001 study of
Red Hat Linux 7.1 found that this distribution contained 30 million
source lines of code.
[108] Using the
Constructive Cost Model,
the study estimated that this distribution required about eight
thousand man-years of development time. According to the study, if all
this software had been developed by conventional
proprietary means, it would have cost about $1.46 billion (2012 US dollars) to develop in the United States.
[108]
Most of the 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.
[108]
In a later study, the same analysis was performed for
Debian GNU/Linux version 4.0 (etch, which was released in 2007).
[109]
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$8.04 billion (in 2012 dollars) to develop
by conventional means.
In the United States, the name
Linux is a trademark registered to Linus Torvalds.
[4] Initially, nobody registered it, but on 15 August 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.
[110] The licensing of the trademark has since been handled by the
Linux Mark Institute.
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,
[111] but later changed this in favor of offering a free, perpetual worldwide sublicense.
[112]
GNU/Linux
The
Free Software Foundation views Linux distributions that use GNU software as
GNU variants and they ask that such operating systems be referred to as
GNU/Linux or
a Linux-based GNU system.
[113] The media and common usage, however, refers to this family of operating systems simply as
Linux, as do many large Linux distributions (e.g.
SUSE Linux and
Mandriva Linux). Some distributions, notably
Debian, use
GNU/Linux. The naming issue remains controversial.
See also
References
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"The Linux copyright will change: I've had a couple of requests to make
it compatible with the GNU copyleft, removing the “you may not
distribute it for money” condition. I agree. I propose that the
copyright be changed so that it confirms to GNU ─ pending approval of
the persons who have helped write code. I assume this is going to be no
problem for anybody: If you have grievances ("I wrote that code assuming
the copyright would stay the same") mail me. Otherwise The GNU copyleft
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"LMI has restructured its sublicensing program. Our new sublicense
agreement is: Free – approved sublicense holders pay no fees; Perpetual –
sublicense terminates only in breach of the agreement or when your
organization ceases to use its mark; Worldwide – one sublicense covers
your use of the mark anywhere in the world"
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