Foundations: What's Linux?

- Linux is an operating system,…that runs on a huge range of devices,…from smartphones to smart home devices…to laptop and desktop computers, mainframes,…supercomputers and even the infrastructure,…that routes data across the internet.…Linux is a popular choice for hosting web servers…and it's extremely well represented in the enterprise,…running mission-critical servers and systems.…Many major corporations and governments use Linux…exclusively or in combination with other operating systems,…although only about 2% of computer users…use Linux as their desktop environment,…over half of the world's smartphones…run operating systems derived from Linux…and the great majority of the world's supercomputers…run Linux as well.…

When you start looking for it, Linux is everywhere,…in point of sale systems, telephone switching networks,…industrial control systems and even some cars,…TVs and cable boxes run Linux.…How does one operating system…run on such a wide range of devices?…The answer is at the very heart of Linux,…a component called the kernel,…