this post was submitted on 02 Nov 2021
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Linux
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
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What does Linux do exactly?
Must have asked this and not understood the answer hundreds of times now.
Does this Wikipedia article provide a starting point? I do realise there are a lot of links to pages on terminology you do not know (yet), but I would not know a better way to start than that WP article does.
Interesting. To be fair, Wikipedia is generally good for non-political stuff, even if it simplifies things too much (but of course, sometimes you have to start with the incomplete "simple" explanations before you can move on to the more in-depth ones).
So basically a computer is just a blank device with no real use unless you install an Operating System on it, like Windows or Linux. That controls how your computer actually behaves: how you install programs, what you see on the screen, how your hardware is managed... Most computers come preinstalled with Windows, but you can install Linux (or other systems), and many people find it works better for them. You can also install both, and also there are many variants of Linux to choose from, so there's more to it. Hope this helps.
Actually, yeah, this helps. Thanks!