Linux is an operating system that was initially created as a hobby by a young student, Linus Torvalds, at the University of Helsinki in Finland. Linus had an interest in Minix, a small UNIX system, and decided to develop a system that exceeded the Minix standards. He began his work in 1991 when he released version 0.02 and worked steadily until 1994 when version 1.0 of the Linux Kernel was released. Linux is developed and released under the GNU General Public License and its source code is freely available to everyone. 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.
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. Well into its second decade of existence, Linux has been adopted worldwide primarily as a server platform. Its use as a home and office desktop operating system is also on the rise. The operating system can also be incorporated directly into microchips in a process called "embedding" and is increasingly being used this way in appliances and devices.
Each day, Linux use is increasing in every sector of our society. We have information about Linux deployments in government, business and the arts.
Linux operating system on Business
Linux is now more than a decade old. Throughout its history there have been many high-profile companies that have decided that Linux was the ideal operating system to handle their mission-critical computing needs. This list gets larger every day. Here are lists of some of the more notable cases of Linux use.
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