From 75a4a592e5ccda30715f93563d741b83e0dcf39e Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Patrick J Volkerding Date: Mon, 25 Apr 2011 13:37:00 +0000 Subject: Slackware 13.37 Mon Apr 25 13:37:00 UTC 2011 Slackware 13.37 x86_64 stable is released! Thanks to everyone who pitched in on this release: the Slackware team, the folks producing upstream code, and linuxquestions.org for providing a great forum for collaboration and testing. The ISOs are off to be replicated, a 6 CD-ROM 32-bit set and a dual-sided 32-bit/64-bit x86/x86_64 DVD. Please consider supporting the Slackware project by picking up a copy from store.slackware.com. We're taking pre-orders now, and offer a discount if you sign up for a subscription. As always, thanks to the Slackware community for testing, suggestions, and feedback. :-) Have fun! --- slackbook/html/introduction.html | 122 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 122 insertions(+) create mode 100644 slackbook/html/introduction.html (limited to 'slackbook/html/introduction.html') diff --git a/slackbook/html/introduction.html b/slackbook/html/introduction.html new file mode 100644 index 000000000..70bc42162 --- /dev/null +++ b/slackbook/html/introduction.html @@ -0,0 +1,122 @@ + + + + +An Introduction to Slackware Linux + + + + + + + + +
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Slackware Linux Essentials
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Chapter 1 An Introduction to Slackware +Linux

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Table of Contents
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1.1 What is Linux?
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1.2 What is Slackware?
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1.3 Open Source and Free Software
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1.1 What is +Linux?

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Linus Torvalds started Linux, an operating system kernel, as a personal project in +1991. He started the project because he wanted to run a Unix-based operating system +without spending a lot of money. In addition, he wanted to learn the ins and outs of the +386 processor. Linux was released free of charge to the public so that anyone could study +it and make improvements under the General Public License. (See Section 1.3 and Appendix A +for an explanation of the license.) Today, Linux has grown into a major player in the +operating system market. It has been ported to run on a variety of system architectures, +including HP/Compaq's Alpha, Sun's SPARC and UltraSPARC, and Motorola's PowerPC chips +(through Apple Macintosh and IBM RS/6000 computers.) Hundreds, if not thousands, of +programmers all over the world now develop Linux. It runs programs like Sendmail, Apache, +and BIND, which are very popular software used to run Internet servers. It's important to +remember that the term “Linux” really refers to the kernel - the core of the +operating system. This core is responsible for controlling your computer's processor, +memory, hard drives, and peripherals. That's all Linux really does: It controls the +operations of your computer and makes sure that all of its programs behave. Various +companies and individuals bundle the kernel and various programs together to make an +operating system. We call each bundle a Linux distribution.

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1.1.1 A +Word on GNU

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The Linux kernel project began as a solo endeavor by Linus Torvalds in 1991, but as +Isaac Newton once said, “If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders +of giants.” When Linus Torvalds began the kernel the Free Software Foundation had +already established the idea of collaborative software. They entitled their effort GNU, a +recursive acronym that means simply “GNU's Not Unix”. GNU software ran atop +the Linux kernel from day 1. Their compiler gcc was used to +compile the kernel. Today many GNU tools from gcc to gnutar are still at the basis of every major Linux distribution. For +this reason many of the Free Software Foundation's proponents fervently state that their +work should be given the same credit as the Linux kernel. They strongly suggest that all +Linux distributions should refer to themselves as GNU/Linux distributions.

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This is the topic of many flamewars, surpassed only by the ancient vi versus emacs +holy war. The purpose of this book is not to fan the fires of this heated discussion, but +rather to clarify the terminology for neophytes. When one sees GNU/Linux it means a Linux +distribution. When one sees Linux they can either be referring to the kernel, or to a +distribution. It can be rather confusing. Typically the term GNU/Linux isn't used because +it's a mouth full.

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Preface What is Slackware?
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