This Operating System is so good that it spawned an whole software movement. It is stable, customizable, and best of all it is FREE!!!. It is the Operating System that has not only used the Internet, but depended on it to get the word out about this great operating system.

Linux was initially created as a hobby by Linus Torvalds, at the University of Helsinki, Finland. Linus had an interest in Minix, a small UNIX system, and decided to develop a system that exceeded the Minix standards. He began in 1991 when he released version 0.02 and worked steadily until 1994 when version 1.0 of the Linux Kernel was released. The current full-featured version is 2.0, and development continues with several updates that are available for public use.

Linux is developed under the GNU General Public License and its source code is freely available to everyone. This however, doesn't mean that Linux and it's assorted distributions are free -- companies and developers may charge money for it as long as the source code remains available. Linux may be used for a wide variety of purposes including networking, software development, and as an end-user platform. Linux is often considered an excellent, low-cost alternative to other more expensive operating systems.