Linux

A version of Unix that runs on Intel x86, DEC Alpha, and IBM PowerPC machines. Linux is freeware, and the full distribution of Linux is available on CD-ROM, which includes the complete source code, as well as hundreds of tools, applets, and utilities.

In 1990, Finnish computer science student Linus Torvalds turned Minix, a popular classroom teaching tool, into Linux, which is closer to the real Unix. Torvalds created the kernel and most of the supporting applications. Utilities came from the GNU project of the Free Software Foundation.