Question about Linux.

What is it? saying it's good for servers doesn't say much. Why is it good for servers, and what else is it good for? I don't understand what open source means either. I know that some versions of Linux are free, but what else is appealing about it. I appreciate any response to these very ignorant questions.

-ad

 

Hi,

Here's a link to get you started: http://www.linux.org/

From the main page:

For more information on the GNU General Public License, you can go to GNU's web page: http://www.gnu.org/

Open Source means that the source code for the program is freely available. The source code for a progam contains the instructions that make the program work the way it does. Source code cannot be directly run by a computer, it must be either compiled into binary (in the case of languages such as C and C++) , or interpreted at runtime by an interpreter (most scripting languages such as Perl are interpreted).

Well, there's free, and then there's free. The hardcore Linux crowd generally qualify the word free when using it: Free (as in beer) and Free (as in speech).

Here's a link to good article: http://news.com.com/2010-1071-954384.html?tag=fd_nc_1

Hope this helps!

Regards,

dj