What is Linux?
There are a number of Web hosting companies which list on their site that their server uses the operating system known as Linux. Although some may be familiar with Linux on their desktop computers, many people may know relatively little about this system, so a brief overview is given here.
Linus Torvalds, a student of the University of Helsinki in Finland, developed the Linux system as a hobby while studying. Although it was never originally intended to be used for anything other than his own personal computer, Torvalds decided in 1991 to release the source code under an open license. This allowed any developed who so desired to contribute to the development of the program, which resulted in a significant extension of the capabilities of the program. The system has now gone from the original Version 0.01 all the way to version 2.6.23.16.
After it became clear that there were others interested in further developing the capabilities of Linux, Torvalds switched the license for Linux to a GNU General Public License. The benefits of this were that developers were then able to integrate code from the existing GNU library, which greatly increased the possibilities which could be pursued. Linux is free software, although there are some stipulations on the license which mean that developers are not able to charge for copies of the operating system which are issued with the source code. Companies such as Debian and Gentoo still distribute the Linux operating system software for free. There are also a number of different commercial sources, including RedHat and SUSE from which the system can also be obtained. The main appeal in the use of the Linux operating system to the general public lies in the fact that it may be used on any computer platform, making it more portable than other such systems.
Most home computers still do not use the Linux operating system, although there are a number of companies which now offer this as an alternative to Windows on their models, and it seems to be increasing in popularity. Linux is also the operating system of choice for many of the world’s supercomputers as well as being found in a modified form in many common devices. For example many people may not realize that the Linux operating system is the operating system used in many mobile phones as well as the TiVo digital television recording system. The Playstation 3 gaming system also offers Linux as an option.
The place where Linux has really made its mark however is in its use in server operating systems. Most server systems which use Linux as their operating system use it in collaboration with a number of other programs which are known by the acronym LAMP. The other programs which are included in this software bundle in addition to Linux are Apache, which is a type of Web server software, MySQL, a type of database software, and PHP, which is a programming language. Every one of these programs is open source, which means that they are available either for free or very little cost. This is probably the reason why they have become so popular with the hosting companies!
In addition to being low cost, there are also a number of other benefits to the use of Linux. For example it is generally considered to be more stable than alternatives such as Windows and UNIX. Therefore when the different benefits are taken into account it would be assumed that Linux will remain the choice of Web hosting companies for some time to come.