June 9, 2009, 1:49 pm By J.D. Biersdorfer
Why does Linux seem to have multiple choices in operating systems, such as Ubuntu or Slackware, and where do the names come from?
First created by the Finnish programmer Linus Torvalds in 1991, Linux still maintains its open-source status today. This means that unlike a closed system (Microsoft Windows, for instance), the underlying source code for Linux is open for programmers to tinker, enhance and improve. With 18 years of programmers fiddling with the system, variations — commonly known as distributions — of Linux have naturally popped up.
The name of a particular distribution comes from its creator, so these can range from serious to silly, depending on who's doing the naming. Ubuntu, a community-developed Linux distribution sponsored by Canonical Ltd., gets its name from the Zulu word that roughly means "humanness" or "a person is a person through other people."
Slackware Linux, originally a side project by its creators, takes its name from the concept of slack as defined by Church of the SubGenius (the "religious" group that satirizes religion, among other things) as a sense of independence, originality and freedom.
Another popular Linux distribution, Debian, gets its moniker from its developer's wife and his own name: Debra + Ian = Debian. At least one blogger has compiled a list of Linux-name origins and sites like DistroWatch and Linux.org have information on the many Linux distributions out there as well.
No comments:
Post a Comment