• is a Unix-like computer operating system• one of the most prominent examples of free

software and open source development: typically all underlying source code can be freely modified, used, and redistributed by anyone

• The name "Linux" comes from the Linux kernel, started in 1991 by Linus Torvalds

• Predominantly known for its use in servers• supported by corporations such as Dell, Hewlett-

Packard, IBM, Novell, Oracle Corporation, Red Hat, and Sun Microsystems

• used as an operating system for a wide variety of computer hardware, including desktop computers, supercomputers, video game systems, such as the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation 3, several arcade games, and embedded devices such as mobile phones, routers, wristwatches, and stage lighting systems

• Unix operating system was conceived and implemented in the 1960s and first released in 1970

• Its wide availability and portability meant that it was widely adopted, copied and modified by academic institutions and businesses

• The GNU Project, started in 1984, had the goal of creating a "complete Unix-compatible software system" made entirely of free software

• MINIX, a Unix-like system intended for academic use, was released by Andrew S. Tanenbaum in 1987

• In 1991, Linus Torvalds began to work on a non-commercial replacement for MINIX while he was attending the University of Helsinki

• This eventually became the Linux kernel• 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

Developed the linux kernel in 1991

• Today Linux is used in numerous domains, from embedded systems to supercomputers, and has secured a place in server installations with the popular LAMP application stack

• LAMP(Linux, Apache, MySQL,

Perl/PHP/Python)

• Linux is a modular Unix-like operating system• uses a monolithic kernel, the Linux kernel,

which handles process control, networking, and peripheral and file system access

• Linux can be controlled by– text-based command line interface (CLI)– graphical user interface (GUI) (usually the default

for desktop)– through controls on the device itself (common on

embedded machines)

• On desktop machines, KDE, GNOME and Xfce are the most popular user interfaces

• The Linux market is growing rapidly, and the revenue of servers, desktops, and packaged software running Linux is expected to exceed $35.7 billion by 2008

• IDC's report for Q1 2007 says that Linux now holds 12.7% of the overall server market

• Proponents and analysts attribute the relative success of Linux to its:– security– reliability– low cost– and freedom from vendor lock-in

• Frictional cost of switching operating systems• Lack of support for certain hardware and

application programs designed for Microsoft Windows– recently Google has begun to fund Wine, which

acts as a compatibility layer, allowing users to run some Windows programs directly under Linux

• A 2001 study of Red Hat Linux 7.1 found that this distribution contained 30 million source lines of code.

• Using the Constructive Cost Model, the study estimated that this distribution required about eight thousand man-years of development time.

• If all this software had been developed by conventional proprietary means, it would have cost about 1.08 billion dollars (year 2000 U.S. dollars) to develop in the United States.

• community developed operating system that is perfect for laptops, desktops and servers most popular of the many Linux distributions

• free of charge• Everything you need on one CD• Ubuntu's goals include providing an up-to-

date yet stable operating system for the average user and having a strong focus on usability and ease of installation

• sponsored by Canonical Ltd, owned by South African entrepreneur Mark Shuttleworth

• The name of the distribution comes from the African concept of ubuntu which may be rendered roughly as "humanity toward others", "we are people because of other people", or "I am who I am because of who we all are“

• is free software and can be shared by any number of users

• releases new versions every six months, and supports those releases for 18 months with daily security fixes and patches to critical bugs

• LTS (Long Term Support) releases are supported for 3 years for desktops and 5 years for servers

• The most recent version, Ubuntu 8.04 (Hardy Heron), was released on 24 April 2008

• The next major version will be 8.10 (Intrepid Ibex), scheduled for release in October 2008.

• Productivity tools• Browsing• Photos• Music and video• Office applications• Accessibility

• Email• Calendar• Contacts.• Tasks• Instant messaging– Pidgin IM is the extremely popular open source

messaging tool

Rhythmbox Music and Totem video players– Stream live radio– Access (truly) free music stores– Plug in your devices– Share your music across a network– Video

Photos with F-Spot manager– Organise your photos (but in a fun way)– Export to your favourite online photo gallery– Edit Your Photos

Firefox 3 (Beta 5)– Enhanced bookmarking, tagging and history– Safer than ever– Wonderful world of add-ons– Improved address prompting in location bar– No more pop-ups, forced add-ons and other

irritations

Office tools with OpenOffice.org and more!

• Word processing– Writer is for anything from writing a quick letter to

producing an entire book.

• Spreadsheet – a tool to calculate, analyze, and present your data

in numerical reports or charts.

• Presentation– Impress is an easy, and powerful tool for creating

effective multimedia presentations.

• Orca Assistive Technologies For sight impaired users

• Slow Keys and Gesture Support