Projects - GNU/Linux
Projects - GNU/Linux
The information about GNU, Linux and why GNU/Linux.
Hmm, what's GNU? GNU is a recursive acronym for "GNU's Not UNIX"; it is pronounced "guh-noo", "noo" being like the American "new".
The GNU Project was launched by Richard Stallman in 1984 to develop a complete UNIX like operating system which is free software. Variants of the GNU operating system, which use the kernel Linux, are now widely used; though these systems are often referred to as "Linux", they are more accurately called GNU/Linux systems.
The Free Software Foundation (FSF) is the principal organizational sponsor of the GNU Project. Here you should think of "free" as in "free speech" or "freedom" more precisely. And it refers to four kinds of freedom, for the users of the software:
Also free software are mostly released under GNU General Public License (GNU GPL) while documentation for software are mostly released under GNU Free Documentation License (GNU FDL) with the general concept of Copyleft.
I believe you have heard "Linux1" and "Linus" before, and maybe you know more knowledge than here about it. However, what I want to say is that if you did not read the article "Linux is Not Windows", you should read it now.
Linux is a free Unix-type operating system originally created by Linus Torvalds with the assistance of developers around the world. Developed under the GNU General Public License, the source code for Linux is freely available to everyone. Click on the link below to find out more about the operating system that is causing a revolution in the world of computers.2
After three decades of use, the UNI* computer operating system from Bell Labs is still regarded as one of the most powerful, versatile, and flexible operating systems (OS) in the computer world. Therefore, why GNU/Linux, why we do not use UNI*?
The reason is that it's forbidden by AT&T to get the UNIX source code since 1980s. As a main member of the MIT Artificial Intelligence Lab for about thirteen years, Richard Stallman resigned from MIT to start the GNU project in January 1984. He almost written all the programs for GNU Operating System except a kernel until 1990. In 1991, Linus Torvalds, a postgraduate student of Helsinki University, wrote a kernel named Linux. Tens of thousands of people began to use the GNU Operating System with Linux as its kernel from then on. Therefore, GNU/Linux came into being.
Actually I am still a novice about GNU/Linux because I still remember clearly that the first meet between GNU/Linux and me about one and half a year ago (since 2004/10). I had to say that I was absolutely not a good PC user two years ago (that's about 2004/05) because I had no my own computer during my four years study in OUC (that's a big pity of me) and also I was a layman about that. That's very bad for my major which was Electronic Information Engineering. So I think I wasted four years of that. Fortunately I met GNU/Linux in the first year of my graduate student of OUC (2004/10). After the first glance I completely fell in love with her (GNU/Linux ^_^) and wanted to know everything about her. I really forgot to eat, sleep and anything beyond GNU/Linux. Also because I was new about Microsoft Windows I had a big progress after a few days. However, I also took some indirect routes because I have no guide during the walk. So I think if you are a newbie about GNU/Linux and you really want to be a friend of GNU/Linux, have a look at the following experience of mine.
I hear and I forget
I see and I remember
I do and I understand
The most important thing to find a short cut to be familiar with GNU/Linux from a newbie is learning Shell programming at first. It's very important to master Shell programming if you use anything related to GNU/Linux. So I suggest to try your best to learn Shell programming first3. Also I strongly recommend a good book named Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide4 and ABS as its acronym.
There are hundreds of GNU/Linux distributions in the world, and here are the top ten distros listed in DistroWatch.Com.
1. Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds.
2. Read What's this Linux stuff about, anyway?.
3. Read Why Shell Programming.
4. Enter this page for Chinese version of ABS.
5. The distributions that I have used before.
6. The distribution that I am using now.
