Linux is the operating system that runs the applications. It is specifically noted for its speed,minimal hardware requirements, security, and remote administration. Another great key pointabout Linux is that it’s free! Linux is a fully featured operating system that doesn’t cost you anythingto use. You can download it directly from the Internet, install it, and use it without everspending a dime (except for your own hardware of course). If you’re curious about how this ispossible, see the “Why LAMP Is Free” section later in this chapter.

Another major advantage of Linux is its ability to run with or without a graphical user interface (GUI), depending on your needs. (The non-GUI interface could almost be related to DOS mode for those Windows users who are not yet familiar with Linux.)

Linux is a project that began as a hobby by mastermind Linus Torvalds while he was a student at the University of Helsinki in Finland. Torvalds, originally working with Minix (a small Unix system), decided to create an operating system that would exceed the Minix standards. He began his development in 1991, and his first public release was version 0.02. Development of Linux continues even now with updates released as enough major changes are made to justify a new version release. Now that Torvalds has gained a much larger development team, releases are becoming more and more frequent. He is also the one who chose Tux (the penguin) to be the mascot of Linux.

Because Linux is published under the GNU (GNU stands forGNU’s Not Unix) General Public License (GPL), many companies and individuals have taken the source code and adapted it to their needs. Some (most notably Red Hat) have turned huge profits by offering support for their releases and are now closing their source to commercialize their distributions.

Linux Distributions

Debian
Debian was officially released by Ian Murdock on August 16, 1993. Debian is the self-proclaimed only Linux distribution to allow any developer to develop for. Although Debian isno newcomer to the business, it has never reached the iconic status of many of the other distributions.You can learn more about Debian atwww.debian.org.

Fedora
Fedora Linux was originally started by Warren Togami as a means of developing high-quality Red Hat Package Management system (RPM) packages for Red Hat. A 2003 announcement of Red Hat turning commercial also declared the merging of Fedora Linux into what is now the Fedora Project. You can learn more about Fedora at fedora.redhat.com.

FreeBSD
December of 1993 saw the birth of FreeBSD 1.0. It was developed based on the 4.3BSD-Lite (“Net/2”) tape from U.C. Berkeley, with many components provided by 386BSD as well.
FreeBSD was coined by David Greenman and was originally developed byJordan Hubbard, Nate Williams, and Rod Grimes. The FreeBSD website iswww.freebsd.org.

Mandrake
Created by Gaël Duval in 1998, Mandrake was begun as hobby to make Linux easier to use. July 23 of that year saw the first release and in less than 48 hours, the public responded by sending numerous ideas, one patch, and two companies announcing the sale of Mandrake on CD. Since then, Mandrake has developed into MandrakeSoft and has begun charging a small fee for their releases. The Mandrake website is www.mandrakesoft.com .

Slackware
Slackware’s first release came in April of 1993. Slackware aims to be the most “Unix-like” Linux distribution in the world, and so far has succeeded in doing so. Patrick Volkerding developed the first release with ease of use and stability as his top priorities. The Slackware website is www.slackware.com.

SuSE
SuSE Linux is the only operating system listed here apart from Red Hat and Mandrake that is not “free.” SuSE has been in development since 1992 in Germany, and their dedicated work has not gone unnoticed. As a leading provider of Linux, their interface is one of the most appealing with a long list of included features to round out their distro (geek term for distribution). The SuSE website is www.suse.com.

Red Hat
Probably the most widely spread distribution of Linux, Red Hat has now turned commercial; however, they have continued to support the open source community and freeware by spinning off a new version of Linux. Based on the Red Hat 9 release, this new version is called Fedora. The first release of Red Hat was in October of 1994; developed by Marc Ewing, it was known as the Halloween Release. 1995 saw the unveiling of the RPM system. The Red Hat website is www.redhat.com.

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