Linux

Linux is a computer operating system, much like the more famous Windows and Macintosh systems. Unlike these two systems, however, Linux is freeware, meaning that it can be freely distributed among users for no cost whatsoever. It is also an "open source," meaning that it can be easily altered and added to by competent users.

The easiest way to think of operating systems is by imagining a gigantic valet parking lot. When new cars come in, valets are dispatched to an appropriate open space; likewise, when the car's owner returns, valets go out and bring the car back, safe and sound. In the same way, an operating system is like a bunch of different smaller programs (valets), each of which works together to manage the various pieces of information (cars) its users allot to it.

Linux began as a simple experiment in open code, produced by a Finnish student named Linus Torvalds. Since its internet release, however, it has quickly become a popular alternative to more commercial operating systems. It is especially popular among computer programmers, and those who have the knowledge and ability to alter the source code along their own desires and specifications.

Linux can be downloaded for free from the Internet and then installed on most desktops; alternately, it can be bought on CD and then installed. Few programs are designed with Linux in mind, but there are a few programs that allow users to run other-OS programs on a Linux computer. Its ease and versatility have ensured it a solid, if somewhat small, popularity among those users familiar with it.