Hacking for change

Aug 26, 2010, 07:35 (0 Talkback[s])
(Other stories by Deepa Kurup)

"In what is now known — often pejoratively — as the 'back office of the IT world', the once quaint operating system Linux is not so niche anymore. Sustained by the reams of code generated by passionate Linux hackers, zealous GNU Linux Users Groups that hope to use Free and Open Source Software (Foss) as a tool to bridge the ubiquitous technological divide and college GLUGs that keep the 'tinkering' alive, Linux is no longer a 'cool geeks only' concept confined to the world of academics and tech specialists.

"Nineteen years ago, on August 25, Linus Torvalds initiated the development of the Linux Kernel when he announced on a mailing group that he had created a 'Free' operating system. He named it 'Freax'. Fortunately, better sense prevailed, and the name Linux was chosen over Torvald's hipper choice.

"Today, Linux is more than just a buzzword or a complex Operating System for geeks and servers only. Free and Open Source Software has become so mainstream that even large corporations, even those known for their exclusive, closed and proprietary models, today contribute substantially to Open Source."

Complete Story

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