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In computing, the Linux kernel is a free Unix-like operating system kernel created by Linus Torvalds in 1991 and subsequently improved with the assistance of developers around the world.
It was originally developed for the Intel 80386 processor but has since been ported to many other platforms. It is written almost entirely in C with some GNU C language extensions and AT&T assembly language.
Developed under the GNU General Public LicenseThe GNU General Public License is a free software license, created by the Free Software Foundation, version 2 was released in 1991. It is also referred to as the GNU GPL or, simply the GPL . The purpose of the GPL is to grant any user the right to copy, m, the source codeSource code (commonly just source or code is any series of statements written in some human-readable computer programming language. In modern programming languages, the source code which constitutes a software program is usually in several text files, but for Linux is free software.
The kernel is best known as the core of LinuxThis article is about Linux-based operating systems, GNU/Linux, and related topics. See Linux kernel for the kernel itself. See Linux (washing powder) for the Swiss brand of washing powder. Tux, a plump penguin, is the official Linux mascot Linux is the n operating systems. Distributions of software based on this kernel are called Linux distributionA Linux distribution or GNU/Linux distribution (or a distro is a Unix-like operating system plus application software comprising the Linux kernel, the GNU operating system, assorted free software and sometimes proprietary software, all created by individus.
See also: Timeline of Linux developmentThis timeline shows the development of the Linux kernel. External links http://web. org/web/19990117070510/www. com/forbes/98/0810/6203094a. htm http://old. net/2001/features/Timeline/ http://www. edu/~ljordan/linux/tuxhistory. html http://www. linuxjourn
The project was launched in 1991 with a famous post to the UsenetUsenet or Unix User Network is a communications medium in which users read and post textual messages (called "articles") to a number of distributed newsgroups (incorrectly called bulletin boards because of their similarity for the unaware observer). The m newsgroup comp.os.minix that includes this sentence:
At the time, the GNU project had created many of the components required for a free operating system, but its own kernel, the GNU Hurd, was incomplete and unavailable. The BSD operating system had not yet freed itself from legal encumberances. This left a space for the Linux kernel to fill, and despite the limited functionality of the early versions it rapidly accumulated developers and users. Early on, Minix hackers contributed code and ideas to the Linux kernel, and today it has received contributions from thousands of programmers.
Originally, "Linux" was only the name of the kernel. The term "kernel" properly refers to the low-level system software that provides a hardware abstraction layer,
disk and filesystem control, multi-tasking, load-balancing, networking and security enforcement. A kernel is not a complete operating system (as the term is usually understood). A complete system built around the Linux kernel is commonly known as the Linux operating system, although some prefer to call the system GNU/Linux and there is some controversy on the point. People often confuse the kernel with the operating system, leading to many mistaken notions, e.g. the idea that Torvalds wrote or coordinates other parts of the system than the kernel.