Is linux free?

Linux is a Unix-like operating system that is free to use and spread freely. It is a multi-user, multi-tasking, multi-threading and multi-CPU operating system based on POSIX and Unix. operating system. In 1994, the GPL open source license was officially adopted. (Recommended learning: linux tutorial)

It can run major Unix tool software, applications and network protocols. It supports 32-bit and 64-bit hardware. Linux inherits the network-centric design philosophy of Unix and is a multi-user network operating system with stable performance.

With the development of the Internet, Linux has received support from software enthusiasts, organizations, and companies around the world. In addition to maintaining a strong momentum of development in server operating systems, it has also made great progress in personal computers and embedded systems.

Users can not only intuitively obtain the implementation mechanism of the operating system, but also modify and improve the operating system according to their own needs to maximize it to meet the needs of users.

Linux not only has stable system performance, but is also an open source software. Its core firewall components have high performance and simple configuration, ensuring system security.

In many enterprise networks, in order to pursue speed and security, the Linux operating system is not only used as a server by network operation and maintenance personnel. Linux can be used as both a server and a network firewall. It is a highlight of Linux.

Compared with other operating systems, Linux has the characteristics of open source, no copyright, and a large number of users in the technical community. Open source allows users to tailor it freely, has high flexibility, powerful functions, and low cost.

In particular, the network protocol stack is embedded in the system, and the function of the router can be realized after appropriate configuration. These characteristics make Linux an ideal development platform for developing routing and switching equipment.

The birth, development and growth process of the Linux operating system has always relied on five important pillars: Unix operating system, MINIX operating system, GNU project, POSIX standard and Internet network.

In the 1980s, the performance of computer hardware continued to improve, and the PC market continued to expand. At that time, the main operating systems available for computers were Unix, DOS and MacOS.

Unix is ​​expensive and cannot run on PCs; DOS is crude and its source code is strictly confidential by software manufacturers; MacOS is an operating system specially used for Apple computers.

At this time, the field of computer science urgently needs a more complete, powerful, cheap and fully open operating system. Since there are few typical operating systems for teaching use, Andrew S. Tanenbaum, an American who was a professor in the Netherlands at the time, wrote an operating system called MINIX in order to teach students about the inner workings of the operating system.

Although MINIX is good, it is only a simple operating system for teaching purposes, not a powerful practical operating system. However, the biggest advantage is that the source code is open.

Computer students all over the world study the MINIX source code to understand the MINIX operating system running on the computer. Linus Torvalds, a second-year student at the University of Helsinki in Finland, is one of them. On the basis of absorbing the essence of MINIX , Linus wrote his own Linux operating system in 1991, version Linux0.01, which marked the beginning of the Linux era.

He used the core of Unix, removed the complicated core programs, rewritten it into an x86 system suitable for general computers, and put it on the Internet for everyone to download. In 1994, he launched the complete core Version 1.0. At this point, Linux It has gradually become a fully functional and stable operating system and is widely used.

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