GNU/Linux Operating System
Introduction
Why the GNU in front of Linux? Linux↗ is just a kernel, or the bit of code that organizes the computing machine in a way that it is usable to a human being. It provides the tools necessary to create an operating system, like device drivers and memory management, but doesn’t provide a way to use these tools in a recognizable way. GNU↗ is a collection of free software (free as in ‘freedom’, not ‘free beer’) that makes up what we call the operating system since it is the part that we actually interact with, like the shell or compiler. It uses the kernel to provide us with an interface to the machine. Without GNU, there isn’t the Linux that we know, or even a usable computer.
Does this distinction matter? Not really. When we talk about Linux we almost always mean GNU/Linux. However, it is still worth mentioning for a number of reasons:
- As a thank you to Richard Stallman↗ for his contribution to humanity
- It’s a more accurate explaination of what Linux is
- To note that GNU is not required↗ for a Linux operating system
Beyond this pedantry, this collection of Linux documentation will be highly curated since Linux, in general, is well documented both in its own manpages and on the greater internet. It focuses on some of the dark and messy corners of the Linux ecosystem.