If you are using the internet, I am sure you heared about Linux. So you might know that it was “invented” by Linus Torvalds in 1991. I prefer to say invented, because the idea was his first, even if some of my friends would say he copied the kernel and made some changes to it. But that’s far beyond the purpose of this article, if you are interested you can find more on Wikipedia – History of Linux .

The Penguin

If you are searching the “linux” word on Google, you’ll notice a lot of penguins everywhere, that’s beacause as you might guess the penguin is the Linux mascot, named Tux. Avoid saying  it “logo”, because nowadays  every distribution has it’s own logo, or, should we say, it’s own brand. But Tux is commonly accepted as mascot since is still associated with the Linux kernel project.

It’s a weird story about how it was adopted, but it’s cute isn’t it?

The Freedom

It’s pretty hard to imagine then, in 1991, when everybody was seeing the OS and computers market as a tremendous business opportunity, including Bill Gates (Microsoft), IBM, Apple, Compaq, Dell and so on, somebody was thinking completely different. So our guy, Torvalds, thought the software should be something “open”.  Let me explain you this… as me personally took some years to understand :
So one day you want to rearrange some furniture items in your home.  You start moving things, the you realize somewhere is a pipe left out. Course you’ll want probably to cover it with something, or moving it to another part of the house, where it won’t bother you more. Thinking of this you remember your neighbour is a plumber and could help you fix it in minutes. That’s more better then calling to the nearest company offering this service plus it’s free, and you always enjoy having a drink with your neighbour.
Seems this a real scenario? Now imagine this scenario applied to your computer. You buy a brand new one, with a proprietary OS already installed. It works prefect for the first few months but then you realise some day, something might be done to make it work faster for you, or just misses one feature you need. But even if your neighbour or you would know how to make it better to fit your needs, you can’t because it’s proprietary, and in it states in it’s license, you are not allowed to modify and/or alter the code.
That way was thinking Linus back in 1991. Quite interesting isn’t? So Linux has been licensed under the GNU General Public License, as a free open-source software.

The Kernel

The kernel is the core component of the majority of operating systems. It makes the link between the hardware components and software proceses as well as offering an abstraction layer for hardware. It also facilitates the communications between different proceses and controls the data flow and timing actions.
It’s a bit difficult to understand, I know but you don’t have to understand that, unless you are involved in an OS kernel project. But you’ll have to keep in mind that that actually what Linux is, and what the Linux Kernel Project is aimed to. Linux was not thought as a full-featured operating system, but a kernel that would allow software engineers to build on it their own operating systems – called distributions.
The Linux Kernel Project is solving some of the painful and repetitive problems for software developers. Issues like hardware drivers, video 2d and 3d acceleration, hardware clock and so on. Plus it’s free and open-source.