Happy Trails Computer Club

Linux has more flavors than Baskin-Robbins. Red Hat, Mandrake, SuSE, Debian, Slackware and Gentoo are just a few of them. These "distributions" all have the same Linux at their core, or "kernel" as it's called. I've tried PhatLinux and Mandrake so far. Along the way, I became a "registered Linux user". Hey, it was free and has no benefits.

What is Linux?

If you arrived at this page more or less by chance, you may have never heard of Linux before. The short answer: Linux is an operating system (Windows is a better know example). An operating system controls the computer hardware -- the CPU, hard disk, memory, modem, CD drives, etc. -- and loads and runs programs. It also handles input and output -- the keyboard, mouse, display, files, network connections, etc.

Linus Torvalds started writing Linux in 1991 when he was a student in Finland. Linus created his operating system just for fun. His first computer was based on Intel architecture, in other words a standard PC with no software installed. The computer cost him around $3,000, part of which was eventually contributed by fans of Linux. It had a 33 MHz CPU, 4 MB of RAM and eventually a pair of 40 MB (not GB) hard drives. A typical $3,000 computer today runs at 3,300 MHz (100 times faster) and has roughly 1,000 times as much memory and hard drive space. If things scaled in the other direction, his original computer would now sell for something like $15.

Linus released Linux as "Open Source" software in 1992. That meant anyone could have access to the source code, and could also make corrections or extend its cabilities. Hundreds of programmers around the world were soon collaborating on Linux. That number has now grown to tens of thousands. Linux does not belong to anyone or any company (but Linus owns the copyright). You can download Linux from the Internet for free (most users pay for one of the distributions though). Most of the programs for Linux -- word processors, spreadsheets, CD burning, browsers, email clients, and hundreds more -- are also free.

Linus combined his kernel with the "GNU" modules to form what is properly called "GNU/Linux". GNU is formed from the first letters of "GNU is Not Unix" -- just a little inside joke from the world of computer science. The GNU modules make up the essential software that bridges between the kernel and the applications (programs).

Unix had been the dominant operating system for "serious" computing for many years. Now, open source Linux has become the fastest growing operating system in the same segment. It's used organizations, government and enterprises of all sizes. The server that hosts this Web site runs on Linux, for example.

GNU/Linux has been under continuous development from the beginning and now goes well beyond the capabilities of Unix. Linux follows "lean-and-mean" design principles, but has become more powerful and flexible than Unix. Interestingly, it's still suitable for small-scale computers -- it will still run on 4 MB of RAM, for example. In contrast, Windows continues to pile complexity upon complexity. And each new version requires ever more powerful hardware to support the bloat.

Linux is just emerging on desktops and laptops. It's already running on 7% of them, and may reach 14% by next year (2004). It could become serious competition for Microsoft on PCs as it already is on big computers. Technically, the competition is no contest. Linux is without question the superior operating system. There are many other factors that will determine the outcome though -- not the least of which is the staying power of an un-named monopoly. We'll see what happens.

What's a Linux PC?

When you hear "PC", you probably get an image of a desktop or laptop running Windows. You could call it a Windows PC. Now you know what a Linux PC is too. On the surface, a Linux PC looks and acts pretty much like a Windows PC. They both run on the same hardware. I'm running both Linux and Windows on this computer -- not at the same time of course.

Both Linux and Windows PCs use "desktops" as their graphical user interface. Equivalent applications (programs) are available for each one, and they do tasks in pretty much the same way. Both Linux and Windows take a while to start and to shutdown (a frustration that some smart manufacturer is going to remove some day). Either PC is well suited to ordinary "office" situations.

The club has its own Linux connection. Donna and Mel Hearth's son-in-law Chris has written a serious Linux book -- Red Hat Linux Bible -- and a for-fun Linux book -- Linux Toys, which is about computer projects using old computers and Linux. WebTalkGuys recently interviewed Chris.