What is Linux?
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What is Linux?
- Linux is a free operating system — the software that runs a computer, like Windows or macOS.
- But Linux is special: it is open source (anyone can read and improve it) and it is everywhere.
- You control it best by typing commands in a terminal — and that is what this course teaches.
Tux by Larry Ewing and The GIMP.
Where it came from
- In 1969, Unix was created at Bell Labs. Its ideas — small tools that combine — still shape Linux today.
- In 1991, a student named Linus Torvalds wrote the Linux core and shared it freely online.
- Thousands of volunteers and companies have improved it ever since.
Linux is all around you
- Most websites and servers on the internet run Linux.
- Android phones are built on Linux.
- Supercomputers, cars, TVs, and the cloud all run it too.
- Learning the Linux command line is a skill used by programmers and engineers every day.
The terminal
- A terminal (or shell) shows a prompt and waits for you to type a command.
- You type, press Enter, and the computer does the job and shows the result.
- The terminal below is a safe simulator — experiment freely, nothing can break.