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<sect1 id="what-is-linux">
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<title>What is GNU/Linux?</title>
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Linux is an operating system: a series of programs that let you
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interact with your computer and run other programs.
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An operating system consists of various fundamental programs which are
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needed by your computer so that it can communicate and receive
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instructions from users; read and write data to hard disks, tapes, and
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printers; control the use of memory; and run other software. The most
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important part of an operating system is the kernel. In a GNU/Linux
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system, Linux is the kernel component. The rest of the system
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consists of other programs, many of which were written by or for the
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GNU Project. Because the Linux kernel alone does not form a working
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operating system, we prefer to use the term <quote>GNU/Linux</quote>
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to refer to systems that many people casually refer to as
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Linux is modelled on the Unix operating system. From the start, Linux
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was designed to be a multi-tasking, multi-user system. These facts are
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enough to make Linux different from other well-known operating
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systems. However, Linux is even more different than you might
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imagine. In contrast to other operating systems, nobody owns
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Linux. Much of its development is done by unpaid volunteers.
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Development of what later became GNU/Linux began in 1984, when the
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<ulink url="http://www.gnu.org/">Free Software Foundation</ulink>
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began development of a free Unix-like operating system called GNU.
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The GNU Project has developed a comprehensive set of free software
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tools for use with Unix™ and Unix-like operating systems such as
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Linux. These tools enable users to perform tasks ranging from the
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mundane (such as copying or removing files from the system) to the
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arcane (such as writing and compiling programs or doing sophisticated
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editing in a variety of document formats).
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While many groups and individuals have contributed to Linux, the
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largest single contributor is still the Free Software Foundation,
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which created not only most of the tools used in Linux, but also the
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philosophy and the community that made Linux possible.
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The <ulink url="&url-kernel-org;">Linux kernel</ulink> first
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appeared in 1991, when a Finnish computing science student named Linus
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Torvalds announced an early version of a replacement kernel for Minix
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to the Usenet newsgroup <userinput>comp.os.minix</userinput>. See
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<ulink url="&url-linux-history;">Linux History Page</ulink>.
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Linus Torvalds continues to coordinate the work of several hundred
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developers with the help of a few trusty deputies. An excellent
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weekly summary of discussions on the
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<userinput>linux-kernel</userinput> mailing list is
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<ulink url="&url-kernel-traffic;">Kernel Traffic</ulink>.
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More information about the <userinput>linux-kernel</userinput> mailing
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list can be found on the
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<ulink url="&url-linux-kernel-list-faq;">linux-kernel mailing list FAQ</ulink>.
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Linux users have immense freedom of choice in their software. For
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example, Linux users can choose from a dozen different command line
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shells and several graphical desktops. This selection is often
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bewildering to users of other operating systems, who are not used to
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thinking of the command line or desktop as something that they can
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Linux is also less likely to crash, better able to run more than one
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program at the same time, and more secure than many operating
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systems. With these advantages, Linux is the fastest growing operating
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system in the server market. More recently, Linux has begun to be
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popular among home and business users as well.