What is Linux?
Pronounced "lee-nucks", Linux
is an operating system that was initially created as a hobby by a
student by the name of Linus Torvalds, at the University of Helsinki in
Finland. The heart of the operating system, or the "kernel",
is developed and released under the GNU General Public License and its source code is freely available to everyone. It is this kernel that
forms the base around which a Linux operating system is developed. There
are now literally hundreds of companies and organizations and an equal number of
individuals that have released their own versions of operating systems
based on the Linux kernel. Linux can even be installed on devices such as the Sony PlayStation and the Apple iPod!
Linux has an official mascot called Tux the penguin (see Tux at the top of this page).
Apart from the fact that it's freely distributed, Linux's
functionality, adaptability and robustness, has made it the main
alternative for proprietary Unix and Microsoft
operating systems. IBM, Hewlett-Packard and other giants of the
computing world have embraced Linux and support its ongoing
development. More than a decade after its initial release, Linux is
being adopted worldwide as
a server platform primarily. The operating system can also be enbedded
directly into microchips and is increasingly being used this way in
appliances and devices such as mobile phones, PDAs, home appliances and
more.
Linux
is used in more applications than you may be aware. Because of its
performance and reliability, Linux is chosen (for example) to power
more commerical websites that any other operating system. Apart from
Linux versions of software from graphic arts vendors such as Dalim
Software, Helios, Adobe and Xinet,
Linux is used in applications such as 3D modelling and rendering,
online video editing, CAD/CAM, networking (firewalls, anti-SPAM, email,
ftp, DNS servers, etc.), Databasing, financial and various scientific
applications such as astronomy, biology and mathematics.
Linux
is often chosen because of its performance: Linux-based hardware can
often run much faster than the same hardware running a non-Linux OS.
The main reason for this is that the operating system can be optimised
for the particular hardware that it's running on.
Dalim Software
have been supplying Linux versions of our applications since 2000, so
have greater Linux experience than any other premedia production
workflow vendor. For large-scale system deployments, multi-site
production, high-availability and so-called "mission-criticial"
applications, Linux is hard to beat.
Want to know more?
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