What is Linux?

Linux is an operating system. An operating system is the basic set of programs and utilities that make your computer run. Some other common operating systems are Unix (and its variants BSD, AIX, Solaris, HPUX, and others); DOS; Microsoft Windows; Amiga; and Mac OS.

Linux is Free Software?

Now, just because it's free, doesn't necessarily mean it's free. Think "free" as in "free speech," not "free beer," as we in the Free Software/Open Source community like to say. In a nutshell, software that is free as in speech, like Linux, is distributed along with its source code so that anyone who receives it is free to make changes and redistribute it. So, not only is it ok to make copies of Linux and give them to your friends, it's also fine to tweak a few lines of the source code while you're at it -- as long as you also freely provide your modified source code to everyone else. In addition to the GPL, there are many other software licenses that allow you to modify the source code. The Open Source Initiative approves these licenses and keeps a current list of them.

Useful links:
www.linux.org
www.linux.com
www.distrowatch.com


"With a world without fences, who needs gates?"