Linux International

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Linux International (LI) is a non-profit, international organization promoting Linux and Free Software .

history

The organization Linux International promotes understanding and use of free software in the original sense, licensed as free and open source software at the same time, also known as Free / Libre Open Source Software (FLOSS / FOSS), the source code for each user. B. is freely accessible for further development. Free software means that users have the freedom to run, copy, distribute, study, modify, and also improve the software.

"Free software" is a matter of liberty, not price. "Free" as in "free speech", not as in "free beer".

“Free software” is a question of freedom, not price. »Free« in the sense of »freedom of speech«, not in the sense of »free beer« "

- Richard Matthew Stallman : Quotez.net, Collection of Famous Quotes

The organization takes the position that open source software should always be placed under a free license and is directed against the commercial marketing of open source software. B. is restricted by licensing. The organization therefore supports the development and distribution of the completely free operating system Linux.

Jon "Maddog" Hall, 2016

Linux International has been headed since 1995 by the US programmer Jon "Maddog" Hall . He originally worked as a systems administrator at Bell Laboratories , the former research division of the AT&T telephone company . According to his official biography, Hall has been using Unix since 1977 and Linux since 1994.

backgrounds

Unix

The company AT&T made its own Unix operating system including source code available in 1975 as Research Unix for universities at cost price for the data carrier. As early as version 6, the company began to market Unix commercially and demanded $ 200 from universities and otherwise $ 20,000 per license. Version 7, released in 1979, was the last Unix operating system with free source code. This represented a turning point in the history of Unix and favored the development of Unix derivatives such as Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD) and Unix-like systems such as GNU / Linux.

BSD

In 1977 the Unix distribution BSD was created at the University of California at Berkeley (UCB) based on the open source Unix version 6 from AT&T. This was initially still open source until the company demanded high license payments through a legal dispute against the university in 1992/1993, as part of the code of the BSD operating system came from AT&T.

GNU project

From 1980 the source code of AT & Ts Unix was no longer publicly available. The unavailability of the source code caused Richard Stallman to start the GNU project in 1983 . The aim of the project was to create a free Unix-compatible operating system. Applications and libraries were developed, as well as the GNU C compiler and the Hurd operating system kernel , although its completion took years. All developments of the GNU project are under the GNU General Public License (GPL), which secures the freedom rights of the software.

Linux

In 1991, Linus Torvalds began developing a kernel in Helsinki , which was later called Linux. The Linux kernel is also under the GNU General Public License (GPL). The free software of the GNU project is used today together with the free Linux kernel. This combination is the GNU / Linux operating system, which is often referred to as Linux for short . Linux is a completely free operating system, which is why Linux International fully supports the development and distribution of Linux.

Windows

The Windows operating system also benefited from BSD's source openness. BSD's internet protocol TCP / IP stack was used in the source code of Windows 2000 and then placed under lock and key. Linux International speaks out against such practices.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Free software. What's this? on GNU.org
  2. ↑ Famous Quotes: Richard Matthew Stallman on Quotez.net
  3. ↑ Via Jon "Maddog" Hall
  4. ↑ a b c The history of Unix
  5. ↑ AT & T's Research Unix (English)
  6. ↑ Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD)
  7. ↑ SCO: Trouble with the Berkeley Connection , Linux Magazine, June 2004.
  8. ↑ UNIX derivatives and Unix-like operating systems
  9. ↑ The GNU Project
  10. ↑ The History of Linux
  11. ↑ Microsoft: We Use FreeBSD on Betanews.com, 2001.