In the late 1980's, Linus Torvald was inspired by the mainframe-based AT&T labs operating system, Unix, and its fledgling PC counterpart, Minix. With the goal of free ("open source") software that could run on PCs, Linus designed "Linux" for the 386 PC chip. Linux has evolved dramatically, and proven itself as a very robust and versatile operating system. Linux is free for anyone to use. Although distributors will charge small fees for CDs, manuals, and support/training, Linux itself costs nothing. Furthermore, anyone is welcome to modify the Linux code if they are willing to share their results with the world. As obscure as Linux is, it has proven itself to be a powerful alternative to using Microsoft Windows on PC. IBM has taken to promoting Linux to many organizations. Linux, and its cousin UNIX, are available to the world as downloadable freeware. You will find it in all sorts of places, including Playstation 2. As a strange testimony to its robustness, versatility, and widespread use, the Linux and UNIX operating systems are preferred by many hackers over Microsoft. Furthermore, that fact that Linux is an alternative to Microsoft is attractive to many organizations. Recently, the city of Munich, the University of Sao Paolo, The West Yorkshire Police, and several European and Latin American entities are switching to Linux instead of Windows 2000 and .Net. In the end, Linus Torvald has given the world an alternative to Microsoft, and promoted the philosophy of open-source programming.
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