Chapter 1. Getting Acquainted with Linux

In This Chapter

  • Diving into Linux origins and features

  • Telling Linux apart from the rest of the operating system pack

  • Depending on GNU and the GPL

  • Marveling at the Linux Company (or lack thereof)

  • Checking out popular Linux distributions

Ford, you’re turning into a penguin. Stop it!

—Arthur Dent

Welcome to the world of Linux, the operating system developed by more than a thousand people around the world! In this chapter, you find out about Linux itself — what it is, where it comes from, and why it gets so much attention in the news these days. Prepare to have your assumptions challenged about how software must be developed and sold, and your mind opened to new possibilities.

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