Chapter 1. Welcome to Linux

1. Welcome to Linux

IN THIS CHAPTER

The GNU-Linux Connection	2
The Linux 2.6 Kernel	5
The Heritage of Linux: UNIX	5
What Is So Good About Linux?	6
Overview of Linux	10
Additional Features of Linux	14
Conventions Used in This Book	17

The Linux kernel was developed by Finnish undergraduate student Linus Torvalds, who used the Internet to make the source code immediately available to others for free. Torvalds released Linux version 0.01 in September 1991.

The new operating system came together through a lot of hard work. Programmers around the world were quick to extend the kernel and develop other tools, adding functionality to match that already found in both BSD UNIX and System V UNIX (SVR4) as well as new functionality.

The Linux operating system, developed through the cooperation of many, many people around the world, is a product of the Internet and is a free operating system. In other words, all the source code is free. You are free to study it, redistribute it, and modify it. As a result, the code is available free of costno charge for the software, source, documentation, or support (via newsgroups, mailing lists, and other Internet resources). As the GNU Free Software Definition (reproduced in Appendix D) puts it:

Free beer

"Free software" is a matter of liberty, not price. To understand the concept, you should think of "free" as in "free speech," not as in "free beer."