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Linux is a free and Open Source operating system that started as a small project by Linus Torvalds in 1991. Today it runs everything from embedded systems to nuclear submarines. Linux also powers Wall Street and the London Stock Exchange, the CERN supercollider, NASA's supercomputers, and the Ingenuity Mars helicopter.

The latest Linux kernel version is 7.1.7. Mainline, stable, and longterm releases are for end users. Release candidate or rc kernels are for developers.

Android, which holds 71.59% of the mobile operating system market share worldwide as of April 2022, uses the Linux kernel.

Linux runs 100% of the top 500 supercomputers in the world as of June 2022.

The idea of the Linux brand character being a penguin came from Linus Torvalds. Larry Ewing created it in 1996 after a suggestion from Alan Cox. James Hughes called it Tux.

Free Software allows users to run it for any purpose and to redistribute copies. Users can study how the program works, make changes, and distribute copies of the new version.

Open Source software is available in source code form for free. Users can view the code and change it to meet their specific needs. It can also be rewritten and distributed as a new program.

Free Software and Open Source have roughly the same aims but differ in philosophy and values. For the former, non-free software is a social problem and free software is the solution. For the latter, proprietary software is a suboptimal solution. Both are fighting the same battle on different fronts.

FOSS is designed to be honest and transparent. Easy access to the source code means that there is nothing intentionally hidden, although a certain degree of technical literacy may be required to read and understand the code.

According to the Linux Foundation, if you use software today, at least 80% of it is FOSS.