this post was submitted on 06 May 2026
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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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Did not known what Linux had a philosophy or ideology.
There have been many over the years. When I first discovered linux (shortly before linux 2.6 was released) it was RTFM (read the f*ing manual " and "each tool should do only one thing".
That's UNIX stuff.
Funny thing about that - systemd follows this philosophy even though nobody gives them credit for it.
ps -ef |grep logindwill show a half dozen or so separate services running.There are some things that can be described as philosophy of Linux (e.g. "don't break userspace", "I only care about the code"), but the idea that "Linux is about [freedom|choice|privacy|openness]" is entirely mythological. It's just a neat free software operating system kernel that has been used to build operating systems, many of which are free software.
Of course, Linux is "too fragmented" because there isn't a standard "linux desktop environment" (or package manager, or shell, etc) unless it's systemd in which case it's "about choice" and we need "init freedom."