Do you know Linux?

Linux is incredibly sexy. I love it. Here's a basic introduction for those who are not familiar with it yet.

What is Linux?


"Linux" is a generic name for lots of different computer operating systems. Those are all based on the Linux kernel. The kernel is the hard core of an operating system. The Linux kernel was originally programmed by a guy called Linus Torvalds. That's where the name "Linux" comes from.

The project grew rapidly and since then many programmers have contributed to developing both the kernel and various Linux distributions. (A Linux distribution is a complete Linux system, including lots of programs, ready to be installed on a computer.)

For example Debian, which I use, is being programmed by hundreds of volunteers all around the world! Isn't that beautiful? :-)

Some Linux versions are the collective creation of communities, like Debian or Gentoo. Others have been developed by companies, for example SuSe, RedHat, Mandriva, or Ubuntu. There are many different distributions, both commercial and non-commercial.

Why so many Linuxes?


Linux is free software. Some distributions contain or give access to pieces of non-free software, but most of the stuff, including the kernel, is free.

Free software means that everybody is free to use it, to see the source code, to modify it, to sell it or give it away to others for free, both in its original or in a modified form - basically to do whatever the heck they want with it. The only restriction is that when the software, in whatever form, is sold or given for free, the persons who buy or receive it also have the same right to get the source code and do with it whatever the heck they want.

So for example I am free to download a Linux version of minesweeper, to replace the flags with chocolate cakes, and then to sell my chocolate cake minesweeper to you for a thousand dollars. And you in turn are free to put it on your website for everybody to download it for free.

This explains why there are so many different Linux distributions. Everybody is free to make their own!

Free software is not necessarily free as in costing nothing. Most of the time this is the case though. You can download many Linux distributions and programs free of charge.

I love the concept!

What does Linux look like?

Linux desktops can look in all kinds of ways. Unlike in Windows, where there is only one possible graphical user interface, in Linux you can choose among many different window managers and desktop environments. (These are the programs that take care of all the graphical stuff.) So you have a huge choice of different looks available to you. You can even pick a different one every time you log in.

Here just a few examples:

This is what the desktop on my previous computer, Antonio, looked like.


It is a window manager called fvwm2. No menus, no panels, no icons, nothing. No mouse either. I controlled it completely over the keyboard.

This wasn't the original configuration of fvwm2 - but since all files are accessible, if you don't like something, you just change it!

Those windows you are seeing are called shells. They allow you to enter text commands instead of clicking on menus and icons. I love using shells.

This other one is very simple and elegant as well. It's called Twm. To access the menus you just click on the background. Here with a white shell, on my new computer, Protein.


There are also more complex and comfortable desktop environments, which work exactly the way Windows would. The following one is called KDE.


KDE is quite flexible. You can add fancy wallpapers, more panels at the bottom and on the sides of the desktop, icons all over the place, etc. It can look a lot like Windows, too. Look:


And this is Gnome. It's the one I'm currently using. Here too you can have lots of menus, panels, icons and all that. I personally enjoy simplicity, so I keep it clean.


If you pay attention to the panel in KDE, you'll see in both pictures this grid with numbers. 1-4 in the first one, 1-10 in the second one. The same is visible in the bottom right corner of Gnome, just without numbers. In my fvwm2 (the black screen above) they were not visible, but I had nine of them. These are virtual desktops.

Unlike in Windows, where you have to squeeze all of your programs on one desktop, in Linux there are several desktops, and you can switch between them at will. I love virtual desktops. They are so incredibly practical!

As you can see, Linux is very nice. :-)

I'd like to say a few words about its inventor, or else something would be missing.

Who is Linus Torvalds?

In the early 90's Linus Torvalds was a Finnish computer science student at the University of Helsinki. He programmed his system instead of studying. This is a great example of how going for what you truly love instead of doing what's expected can lead to huge success.

I read his biography a few years ago. If I remember well, he said he programmed the Linux kernel in his bedroom, eating junk food and skipping the classes. After Linux had become famous, the university gave him a diploma anyway. At the time the book was written, he was working in the US and earning lots of money. Since then he has quit his job though, and now works for the Linux Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting and developing Linux.

One anecdote in the book that I remember very well is how Linus met his wife. He was giving a computer science course at university and asked his students to write him an email as an exercise. Back then this wasn't as trivial as it is today. A female student used this exercise to ask him out in her email. I remember the sentence "I married the first woman who asked me out electronically", which I found cute.

If you're interested in reading the biography, here it is: Just for Fun, the story of an accidental revolutionary. The book certainly is not earth-shattering. If you want to learn about Linus as a person, it is an easy and pleasant read.