Explain Like I'm Five

It’s kinda similar to Unix.

So buckle up, it’s story time.

Your computer needs to run software like any other computer does for it to do what you want it to do. There are lots of different parts that do the same thing in different ways and so there are lots of ways to make a computer.

Once upon a time people would write software for specific machines. Anytime a new machine was released, they had to change the software to work on the newer machine. This got real old real fast.

Operating systems come between your software and your hardware. Rather than release a version of your software for each individual type of computer, you just have to release software that works on a specific operating system. So if I sell a program that draws red squares, I would have to release tons of different versions for different machines. That’s expensive and a pain in the ass to maintain. So instead I release my red square program for windows. Now, I describe to windows how to draw that red square with my program and windows handles the task of telling all those different types of computers to do what my program wants it to do.

Microsoft makes windows. Apple makes macOS. But there are others that exist with a different business model. Linux is free and exists under a different philosophy, that a community can share knowledge to replace the locked down and expensive offerings from Microsoft and Apple. To fund this, they may charge for support of the product instead of or in addition to the operating system itself.

When people talk about Linux they are typically referring to a Linux distro that can make up an entire operating system, oftentimes a full replacement of windows or macOS. But technically Linux is just a part of what makes the entire operating system. It’s arguably the most important part, the kernel. Think of the kernel as the core of the operating system. Everything else an operating system does is built on top of the kernel. Linus Torvalds maintains the Linux kernel and he just gives it away.

Linux doesn’t really do a hell if a lot by itself, but a kernel is an incredibly complicated thing to create. So others contribute not just to improving the kernel but making other things that use it to do other things. Because Linus already has a kernel he released for others do what they want with it, it makes things a LOT easier to develop since a huge part of the work has already been done.

All operating systems have kernels and they are the probably the biggest pain the ass part to make. Linus created a simple one years ago and shared it with everyone, who contributed their ideas over the years to enable it to do all sorts of things it couldn’t before.

Now here’s the interesting part: all those people who contributed to developing this thing have day jobs and their employers really don’t want to pay them to reinvent the wheel. So all the big, heavy, expensive, vital stuff that happens behind the scenes that makes our world work needs experienced people to make it work and it doesn’t want to make something only a few people can make work. It would be a catastrophe if the only guy who knew how your shit worked retires, dies, or, dare I say it, asks for a raise. -wilhelm scream-

So if a big company uses Linux, they have an enormous community of talented people they can hire at any time, they aren’t locked into a way of doing things that can request a ransom to continue working (ahem, adobe), and their start up costs are lower.

So who uses Linux? Almost everybody. If it’s online, there’s Linux backing it. Meta (Facebook), Google, Amazon, Apple, even fucking Microsoft uses Linux, and most of the companies using it also contribute back into Linux development because it’s much cheaper than doing it all by themselves.

Now how does this affect you? Linux isn’t just for highly skilled tech professionals running major operations. It’s for that little computer in your desk that just looks at Facebook and internet porn too! Many people are looking for alternatives since their perfectly working windows 10 computer won’t be supported past October anymore and not all of them can upgrade to windows 11. But you can install Linux for free and you’ll be fine.

Just adding to this, Linux is pretty ubiquitous these days, with it being found running billboards, menus, information screens, and many machines and appliances.

Though these versions are stripped down and no what you are used to from a desktop. They just have the kernel and a few services for the task at hand.

I was too afraid to ask, thanks..

So you know how your phone runs android or iOS? Think of windows as one, and Linux as the other if they could both run on the same hardware.

Linux? Its kinda like...

Gonna find my baby, gonna hold her tight

Gonna grab some afternoon delight

My motto's always been "When it's right, it's right"

Why wait until the middle of a cold dark night

When everything's a little clearer in the light of day

And we know the night is always gonna be here any way

Thinkin' of you's workin' up my appetite

Looking forward to a little afternoon delight

Rubbin' sticks and stones together make the sparks ignite

And the thought of rubbin' you is getting so exciting

Sky rockets in flight

Afternoon delight

Afternoon delight

Afternoon delight

Communist Windows.

Linux is a vibe. Like a cosmic string vibrating in twelve dimensions all at once.

In summary, Linux is and Operating System that gives you control over your machine - not the other way around coughwindowscough. With that power, however, you can also do a lot more harm to your machine if you don't continuously keep learning and stay curious.

It's high risk, but high reward (especially as a new user). There's something about learning how your computer works (via Linux) that continues to captivate me after many years of use.

There's Microsoft windows and there's Linux. No single person owns Linux so there are so many different options to use (called distros) the big ones Debian, Fedora, Arch, OpenSUSE, Etc package open source software on top of Linux that enable you to use it as easily as possible.

To a 25yo I would say, a computer has many separate devices like USB controllers, sound devices, so many independent systems that need software to work. Such software is copyrighted, it turns out the community does not like that so they made their own that is owned by the community. Sometimes its not perfect but it also can do things you couldn't before.

Linux is one option for the core, central part of how a computer works, called a 'kernel'. All programs talk to Linux, which talks to the physical computer.

Windows has its own version of that kernel, Mac has another.

Linux is special because it's free for people to use, change, and check what it's doing.

There's a lot of programs built to work with Linux: together they are what you use to use your computer. Like, Windows is actually lots of smaller programs working together, and Mac OS is lots of smaller programs working together. Most people say 'Linux' meaning all these programs running together, with Linux at the core.

In other words, Linux is a system that runs on your computer, so you can run the programs you want (like Emacs, or Inkscape) on top of that.

In common usage, at least, it's an ecosystem of open source system software that sprang up around the Linux kernel. What exactly a kernel is might not matter to you.

The practical upshot is that you can run a computer without any code on it on it that isn't publicly accessible (from Apple, Google or Microsoft). There are other ways than Linux if you're committed, but none nearly as well developed.

This is good, because Linux is free of cost, free of restrictions on what you do with it, and experience has shown that open source code is much more maintainable and less likely to contain bugs and security vulnerabilities. (Basically, if any problems come up someone out there is likely to fix them, while closed-source software is rarely touched by anyone other than the original team)

Just for fun, and because someone has to post the meme:

Its the software you use to run other software on the computer. Microsoft's version is called "Windows" and Apple's is called "MacOS".

computer go brrr

I will be quick: just an operating system like Microsoft windows or Apple Mac OS.

Since there's already a bunch of people explaining it I'll explain why it's so loved by the users and the hype around it.

Linux has a copy left license meaning no one person or entity owns Linux. It's open-source which allows any company to modify how it works or just a random person can change the code or fix it. The only restriction on this license is that anyone that makes changes have to share those changes if asked, this why everyone benefits. Anyone can submit those changes willingly to be approved and help contribute. This means that Linux is built and maintained by thousands of companies and 10s of thousands of people all across the world, not for a profit or bottom line (well for the companies like Google it's probably for profit). But to make something that works the best they can make it out of their passion.

I personally love Linux because I'm sick and tired of fighting my computer and phone to do what I want when all it does is force ads and pop ups down my throat and track my every move. Linux doesn't have any of that because the people that make it use it and don't want that, no one does. Since there's no profit motive we don't have shit like that.

Lots of great explanations, but something I didn’t see, or missed:

• If it’s free, how do the companies making it stay in business? Not all Linux variants, or distributions/distros (there are a lot), are backed up by a company. The ones that are offer an enterprise version (like Microsoft sells Windows Server) for a price. Since “Linux” refers to the core of the OS, and its license dictates that it must be offered for free, you can get these enterprise versions for free. They charge for updates, levels of support, and some in-house developed solutions that work well with their distributed.
• If the source code is open and maintained by a community for free, how is that better that something made by professionals at a company? This is a huge topic, but to boil it down: First, the projects responsible for Linux distros and most of the utilities found within are run quite competently. It’s quite difficult for some random person to insert janky code. Second, most of the people contributing to these projects are often professional coders in their “day job,” or their “day job” includes contributing & maintaining this project. Third, when some random person finds a bug or exploit in these utilities and operating systems, the process for reporting and resolving it is pretty transparent compared to what you’ll find with for-profit software companies. Because the code isn’t proprietary, processes involved in auditing it tend to be open to the public.