Dario Cotero
Linux Operating System Assignment
10256
7-11-10
Linux Operating System
Linux was created by a college student named Linus Torvalds from the University of Helsinki in Finland. Meant to be a hobby, Linus wanted to create a system that surpassed the Minix standards. He worked on Linux from 1991 to 1994 where he released version 0.02 and ended with version 1.0 Linux Kernel. The Kernel was released as freeware and included all the source code used by Linus to create it so that anyone could modify it as they pleased.
Linux Distributions are a combination of the Linux Kernel, which would be considered the heart of the operating system, and programs such as “word processors, spreadsheets, media players and database applications”. One Linux Distribution is openSUSE. It is user friendly although a little difficult to install. It includes YaST which helps ease installation of applications. Another Linux Distribution is Fedora. Fedora is Linus Torvalds choice of Distributtion. It has a variety of applications and functions so people can choose what they want.
One way to get Linux Distributions is to download it from one of the many websites that offer different versions. Another way is to request a CD that a company may offer. One way to install it is not to install it but to run it from the CD directly. The other way is to install it directly into the hard drive.
One popular user application is Mozilla Firefox web browser. I am currently using Firefox as my default web browser and am using it to do this report. Another popular user application is openoffice.org writer. It is a word processor program with some of the features of Microsoft Word and Corel’s WordPerfect.
One advantage of using Linux rather than Microsoft Windows is security. There are a lot of versions of Linux and a lot of people that use Linux. If there was anyone that created a virus specifically for Linux, a patch would be made by either a user or a company just because of the fact that many versions that companies create exist. It is like saying one attack on Linux leads to everyone responding to the threat. That is also because the source code is open source so basically anyone can do something about the threat. One disadvantage is that Linux customer service is pretty limited. Windows is everywhere and a majority of people use Windows. Therefore more customer service representatives are needed to handle all of the customers needs. Linux on the other has a lower user count. Therefore customer service is scarcer. There are people who will help if you can find them but having more personalized customer service is more difficult to come by.
Works Cited
Jason Fitzpatrick. “Five Best Linux Distributions.” http://lifehacker.com/5170138/five-best-linux-
distributions. Web. 15 Mar. 2009.
John Doe. “100 Popular Linux Applications.” http://toooools.com/2008/08/100-popular-linux-
applications/. Web. 6 Aug. 2008.
“5 Advantages of using Linux over Windows.” http://www.foogazi.com/2006/12/19/5-
advantages-of-using-linux-over-windows/. Web. 19 Dec. 2006.
“What is Linux.” http://www.linux.org/info/. Web. 2 Jul. 2007.
