this post was submitted on 06 Apr 2024
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Linux

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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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[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago (1 children)

The issue started when Mr. Root Mean Square came up with the term "Free Software". It should have been called "freedom respecting software" and we would not have to deal with people confusing free software with Free Software.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago

Yeah, but there's also the term "freeware", which means closed source but free to use.

I'll edit my comment for clarity, thanks for the heads up.