Linux

Linux  (Operating system)
Start	1991-09-17
The world's most popular open source operating system. "More secure than its competitors"

Linux is the world's most popular open source operating system. It is widely used where reliability or flexibility is an advantage, such as for server farms, custom hardware or embedded systems. It is not invulnerable, but "generally speaking, Linux is more secure than its competitors."

Origins

The project arose from the fusion of Richard Stallman's work creating the GNU Project and Linus Torvalds' work on an open source kernel.

Distros

Many different distributions have evolved, which vary in target audience, capabilities and business model. Many are freely available.

Uptake

Corporations were initially wary of the free status of Linux, but its perceived reliability countered that. In 2020 the South Korean government announced plans to switch all 3.3 million of its computers to Linux.

Security

Linux is generally agreed to be more secure than Windows, although zero day exploits do exist.

Microsoft

In the 2000's Microsoft was in opposition to Linux, running add campaigns against it.

Developing Vaccine Passport

In December 2020, the Linux Foundation has partnered with IBM, the COVID-19 Credentials Initiative and the World Economic Forum's CommonPass, a digital “health passport,” in order to develop vaccine credential apps that will be applicable globally. If the initiative is successful, people will be required to pull up a vaccine certificate on their phone showing when and where they were vaccinated, along with which type of vaccine, in order to get on a plane or attend an indoor event, such as a concert, for starters.

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