An alternative operating system to that of windows or mac. Can be used for servers, mobile phones and digital tv recievers. Can be customised to suit the user. Is based on Unix, Written by Linus Torvalds.
There are about a hundred different versions of linux distributed to millions of people on billions of computers-so you can bet your ass that one os will be different from the next. Linux allows the user to re-program the software to suit them-this is how many software glitches are sorted out with one person programming one part of the system while another person focusses on another part. Windows only allows this to an extent (ie changing a user name or startup sounds or desktop background etc) so for this reason many software bugs cannot be fixed and hence windows being so unstable. Linux is good for driving mobile phones or powering servers but is impractical for use with the average computer gamer/secretary/photo editor. In other words, a person with programming experience would opt for Linux as they can customise it to suit them, whereas a person wishing to read email or surf net would opt for Windows or Mac as they will not have to know anything about programming first.
Newer versions of linux can make applications (ie Windows media player or Mac video editor) run with Linux.
Note: A particularly bad combination is: Dell computer, Pentium 4 CPU and Windows XP. Try switching the combination (ie fit an AMD Athlon CPU)-this i am pointing out as many unstabilities are rooted to the CPU and combination of hardware components, rather than the actual software itself.
Newer versions of linux can make applications (ie Windows media player or Mac video editor) run with Linux.
Note: A particularly bad combination is: Dell computer, Pentium 4 CPU and Windows XP. Try switching the combination (ie fit an AMD Athlon CPU)-this i am pointing out as many unstabilities are rooted to the CPU and combination of hardware components, rather than the actual software itself.
by Stevie RC July 22, 2005
Most Linux users understand the ups and downs of all OS possibilities. Linux is lacking in some areas (ie. gaming and ease), but is slowly making it's way into the home. It has the potential to be more stable and secure if you know what you are doing with it. I have found a happy medium. I use Slackware Linux 9.1 for servers and web browsing, MacOS 9.1 for graphics, and Windows XP for gaming.
by Matt January 19, 2004
Equals liberty and your own personal privacy. Have any of you Windoze FUDders ever heard about how Windows Media Player sends data back to Microsoft about all those MP3 files you are playing? Or that Windows itself has a backdoor that lets the NSA snoop around your computer and find out about you? Get a friggin life and wake up!
by Linux Forever April 15, 2003
Short term for GNU/Linux. This operating system is created to be stable, fast, and secure. It comes in different flavors "distros" to suit everybody's needs. Help is available everywhere except from the Windows idiot. Linux is a made as open-source to allow people to edit linux itself to suit their own needs. Linux will only crash if you are too attach to windows to let go of it.
Windows in the other hand is EXPENSIVE! Windows comes with little good software, and extra applications will cost you big time. That nice noise they have when you boot is important, cause you'll have to hear that alot in one day.
Has different window managers and different desktops for different people to use. You could even make you're own window manager or desktop.
When I installed Mandrake Linux. It was easy and simple to use. I had it barely configured and used it only to help me on my homework. Then I got Nvidia drivers for my video card, and started gaming and other stuff. Now, Linux is the only thing I ever need.
Windows is a piece of crap and some nice alternatives are BSD, Mac OS X, and Solaris. These are UNIX based and are some of the best operating systems.
Windows in the other hand is EXPENSIVE! Windows comes with little good software, and extra applications will cost you big time. That nice noise they have when you boot is important, cause you'll have to hear that alot in one day.
Has different window managers and different desktops for different people to use. You could even make you're own window manager or desktop.
When I installed Mandrake Linux. It was easy and simple to use. I had it barely configured and used it only to help me on my homework. Then I got Nvidia drivers for my video card, and started gaming and other stuff. Now, Linux is the only thing I ever need.
Windows is a piece of crap and some nice alternatives are BSD, Mac OS X, and Solaris. These are UNIX based and are some of the best operating systems.
I can play Unreal Tournament with 1024x768 highest quality with a stable 15 fps on my Intel Celeron 500mhz, 196 mbs of ram, geforce 2 420 computer while on Linux. Windows, I can only run it with 640x480, lowest quality, with only about 8 fps.
Linux is the perfect machine for games! Nintendo and Sony, make a new console with Linux and you'll school any X-Box 2!
Linux is the perfect machine for games! Nintendo and Sony, make a new console with Linux and you'll school any X-Box 2!
by Linux!!! September 25, 2004
A half-finished piece of shit for an operating system that's a pain in the ass to install, a pain in the ass to use, and a pain in the ass to remove from the hard drive.
On the bright side, Linux makes an excellent disk partitioning tool.
If Linux was designed primarily for network servers, then it doesn't make any sense to market it as a desktop replacement, especially if the applications suck, and hardware detection is nonexistent.
I wasted half of a 14 CDRs of a 25-CD spindle on 9 variants of Linux. 6 of them didn't work because the computer shut down when the installation detected my video card. 2 variants wouldn't detect my soundcard, modem, USB scanner, and USB drive. Driver installation didn't do jack shit to solve the problem. The ninth variant detected my modem and USB drive, but kept playing this wierd, chaotic, repeating tune through my soundcard. Unfortunately, there were no sound drivers to resolve the issue.
Windows 98 beta detected all my hardware, and driver installation was a cakewalk.
Thank GOD I bought my CDRs cheap from Big Lots. But still that was a waste of CDs that I could have filled with MP3s and the best freeware programs available for Windows.
May the Linux programmers burn in Hell.
On the bright side, Linux makes an excellent disk partitioning tool.
If Linux was designed primarily for network servers, then it doesn't make any sense to market it as a desktop replacement, especially if the applications suck, and hardware detection is nonexistent.
I wasted half of a 14 CDRs of a 25-CD spindle on 9 variants of Linux. 6 of them didn't work because the computer shut down when the installation detected my video card. 2 variants wouldn't detect my soundcard, modem, USB scanner, and USB drive. Driver installation didn't do jack shit to solve the problem. The ninth variant detected my modem and USB drive, but kept playing this wierd, chaotic, repeating tune through my soundcard. Unfortunately, there were no sound drivers to resolve the issue.
Windows 98 beta detected all my hardware, and driver installation was a cakewalk.
Thank GOD I bought my CDRs cheap from Big Lots. But still that was a waste of CDs that I could have filled with MP3s and the best freeware programs available for Windows.
May the Linux programmers burn in Hell.
An everyday example of how Linux dependency/lib file Hell prevents people from using Linux:
1) You download libkmidiplayer2.2.4 for Linux, but to install it, you need :
libmidi.so.1
libsound.so.2
2) You download the two libfiles, but in order to install libmidi.so.1 you need;
libc.so.6
libkernel.so.3
libsynth.so.0
alsa2.1.3
libfm.so.0
3) To install libfm.so.0, you need:
libkmidiplayer2.2.4
4) What the fuck?
1) You download libkmidiplayer2.2.4 for Linux, but to install it, you need :
libmidi.so.1
libsound.so.2
2) You download the two libfiles, but in order to install libmidi.so.1 you need;
libc.so.6
libkernel.so.3
libsynth.so.0
alsa2.1.3
libfm.so.0
3) To install libfm.so.0, you need:
libkmidiplayer2.2.4
4) What the fuck?
by Bert March 17, 2005
Possibly the best OS ever.
1.)Linux
2.)BeOS
3.)Unix
943.)Windows
Why would you rather have a window than a penguin?
1.)Linux
2.)BeOS
3.)Unix
943.)Windows
Why would you rather have a window than a penguin?
by kamo December 14, 2003
Simply put, it's an operating system that you can download (legally.) I's most commonly used by experienced computer users because it doesn't hold your hand as much as Windows does. It also requires emulators to run Windows programs. The source code for the kernel is available somewhere. The kernel was written in the early 90s by one Linus Torvalds in Finland, and is released under a "General Public License."
by Utz89 June 27, 2005