What Is Linux?

[ququ]

I have been hearing a lot about the operating system Linux. I don't understand what makes it so great. Isn't it pretty much Windows? Someone Please explain this to me.

[jmcilhinney]

Linux is no more Windows than Mac OS X is Windows. They are all similar because they provide a similar GUI but the implementations and many of the details are all completely different. One of the primary features of Linux is that it is open-source, allowing basically anyone to change and customise it in any way they see fit.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux

[ququ]

So by the sounds of it Linux is just a waste of time and money since computers come with windows on it and especially since Windows 7 is pretty much better?

[jmcilhinney]

So by the sounds of it Linux is just a waste of time and money since computers come with windows on it and especially since Windows 7 is pretty much better?

Do you really need an answer to that? Do you think that there should only be one brand of car in the world? Do you think that there should only be one brand of any product in the world? A lot of Linux users would say that Windows is a waste of time and money. If Linux and other OSes didn't exist, would Windows 7 necessarily ever have been created? What incentive would there be for Microsoft to make something better if there was no competition?

[penagate]

This thread is ridiculous.