Welcome to a series I’m starting where I talk about computer operating systems! In this article, I am going to talk about Linux. Linux is an operating system that is based on UNIX, which is the same base for operating systems such as BSD and MacOS (Apple’s desktop operating system) and iOS (Apple’s mobile device operating system). Linux is a free and open source operating system, meaning that one, it is free for anyone to use for any purpose, and two, all the code is available to see, use, and modify. The open nature of Linux means that it is very widely used all over the world. Millions of businesses and servers use it to run their infrastructure, which is what makes up the internet. 

While Linux may be mainly used on servers, it has recently become increasingly popular to run on desktop and laptop computers. People can customize it exactly to their needs and fine tune every part, or use premade distributions (often abbreviated to distros) that anyone can install on their computer. The differences between Linux and something like Windows is that the operating system and programs are very often free of charge and are almost always able to be looked at or modified by anyone, and again you can customize it to your own needs. As well as this, the file structure, or the files that make up your operating system and your own personal files is very different. Linux organizes them like a tree, starting at the root(s) and branching out to different folders for things such as system files, the OS itself, user programs, user applications, and more. Since it is free and open source software (FOSS) and anyone can modify it, there are a lot of distributions of Linux, all being created for different purposes and to cater to different people. 

A lot of people will try one distribution, see it doesn’t work for them and then try a different one which might work great for them! Due to the variety of Linux distributions, they can be made to run on really any hardware. If you have an old computer lying around for example, that you think is too slow, Linux can very often be used to “revive it” and make it a lot faster and easier to use. As people branch out to try other operating systems, Linux is a very good option for those who just want to explore, learn, try new things, and diversify their computing knowledge.