{"id":12,"date":"2026-08-07T17:15:22","date_gmt":"2026-08-07T17:15:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/abilug.org\/?page_id=12"},"modified":"2026-08-07T17:15:22","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T17:15:22","slug":"what-is-linux","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/abilug.org\/index.php\/what-is-linux\/","title":{"rendered":"What is Linux?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Linux is a free, open-source operating system kernel originally created by Linus Torvalds in 1991. When people say &#8220;Linux&#8221; casually, they usually mean a full operating system built around that kernel \u2014 often called a &#8220;Linux distribution&#8221; or &#8220;distro.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Key things to know:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>The kernel<\/strong>: The core piece of software that manages a computer&#8217;s hardware \u2014 CPU, memory, storage, devices \u2014 and lets other programs run on top of it.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Distributions<\/strong>: Complete operating systems built using the Linux kernel plus other software (system tools, package managers, desktop environments, etc.). Popular ones include Ubuntu, Fedora, Debian, Arch Linux, and Linux Mint.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Open source<\/strong>: The source code is freely available for anyone to view, modify, and distribute, typically under the GNU General Public License (GPL).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Unix-like<\/strong>: Linux was inspired by Unix and shares many concepts with it \u2014 a hierarchical file system, multi-user support, and a strong command-line interface.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Where it&#8217;s used:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Servers<\/strong>: A huge share of the internet&#8217;s servers run Linux, including much of the infrastructure behind major websites and cloud platforms (AWS, Google Cloud, etc.).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Android<\/strong>: Android phones run on a modified Linux kernel.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Embedded systems<\/strong>: Routers, smart TVs, IoT devices, and even cars often run Linux.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Supercomputers<\/strong>: Nearly all of the world&#8217;s fastest supercomputers run Linux.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Desktops<\/strong>: Less common for everyday consumer use compared to Windows or macOS, but popular among developers, system administrators, and open-source enthusiasts.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Why people like it:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Free to use and modify<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Highly customizable<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Generally considered stable and secure<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Strong community support and vast software ecosystem via package managers (like <code>apt<\/code>, <code>dnf<\/code>, <code>pacman<\/code>)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Allows for different workflows<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Linux is a free, open-source operating system kernel originally created by Linus Torvalds in 1991. When people say &#8220;Linux&#8221; casually, they usually mean a full operating system built around that kernel \u2014&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-12","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/abilug.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/12","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/abilug.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/abilug.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abilug.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abilug.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/abilug.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/12\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13,"href":"https:\/\/abilug.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/12\/revisions\/13"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/abilug.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}