“Open Source” software refers to a range of software that is developed for free and then modified and shared among its developers for free. Linux is one example of this type of software. Linux is an open source operating system based on the Linux operating system, an open source kernel originally developed by Linus Torvalds for the Linux operating system. The Linux operating system can be downloaded and run on many types of personal computers including desktop computers. In addition, Linux is generally packaged together with a Web server, an HTTP server, and other programs such as mail servers and e-mail servers.
Linux can be used as a desktop environment with the X Window server, and it is also a very popular choice for server-side technologies, such as Hypertext Preprocessor (HTML), Dynamic HTML (DHTML) and Templates. Because of its popularity, many developers have ported important file formats to it, such as JPEG and PNG, and have developed graphical user interface technologies using it, as well. A popular graphical user interface tool for Linux is the gimp graphic design application. One of the most widely distributed open source applications for the Linux platform is the OpenOffice suite of office applications.
One of the chief reasons that Linux has become so popular over the years is that it is an open source operating system. It is available for free and can be easily adapted to suit almost any needs that are deemed valid by the developer. For instance, it is possible to install software such as the Apache server and PHP, which are bundled in the distribution, and modify them for your own purposes. These kinds of operations would not be possible, however, if you were to try to use an OS that was not open source. Linux can also be easily used as a desktop environment because of the presence of the Unity3D graphic engine. This engine allows you to create stunning graphics using a simple drag and drop interface.
Perhaps the best thing about Linux software is the number of available packages. There are hundreds of different open source applications that you can choose from, all of which are already packaged and ready to use. For instance, if you want to develop a shopping Web site, there are dozens of different software packages that make it easy to create a shopping Web site with just a few clicks of your mouse. If you want to write a blog or an Internet news blog, there are thousands of free apps that you can find to help you get started. And if you want to develop games, there are tens of thousands of free games that you can download to play on your computer. This is just the tip of the iceberg; when you compare the amount of software available for free on Windows systems to the number of apps that are available for free on Linux systems, you quickly realize that there is no comparison to Linux apps.
Linux can also take care of a lot of your everyday office needs. For example, with a quick search on the internet you will see that not only is Linux very compatible with Microsoft Office programs like Word, Excel and PowerPoint, but it is also capable of running a wide variety of other office programs such as Microsoft Access, Lotus Notes, Outlook and much more. One of the main reasons that so many people choose to use Linux computers is because of its compatibility with the vast array of open source software that is widely used by businesses. Because there is such a large choice of open source applications available for Linux, command lines that work well with these apps are generally quite compatible with the command lines that most Windows programs use.
However, one of the main reasons why so many people choose to go with a Linux based operating system instead of, say, Windows, is because of the compatibility issue mentioned earlier. In other words, while Linux offers a large choice of pre-installed apps that are designed to be very easy to use, Windows users will have to settle for Microsoft’s default apps. And while there are a great number of third party apps that can be downloaded for free from the internet, many of them will not be as user friendly as their Windows based equivalents. This is where a Linux computer could be a real advantage; because if you are used to using Windows programs on your regular computer, but are transferred over to a Linux computer, you won’t have to learn how to use a wide variety of different, open source programs in order to get the job done.
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