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this post was submitted on 15 Aug 2025
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Linux
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
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They come from completely different heritages.
GNU/Linux is a reimplementation of Unix, an operating system that was originally designed mainly for universities, but also mainframes.
Windows is descended from DOS, an operating system intended for home computers.
Nowadays Windows is the only widely used non-Unix-like OS; GNU/Linux, Android, macOS and iOS are all Unix-like.
If Windows became FOSS, I at least would likely switch to it. It's really the FOSS philosophy more than anything else that makes me want to use GNU/Linux.