Welcome to Linux: The OS That Runs the World
Meet the operating system that powers phones, servers, supercomputers, and even Mars rovers
Meet the operating system that powers phones, servers, supercomputers, and even Mars rovers
In 1991, a 21-year-old Finnish student named Linus Torvalds posted a message to a newsgroup: "I'm doing a (free) operating system (just a hobby, won't be big and professional)." He was wrong — it became the most widely used operating system in history.
Anyone can download, use, modify, and share Linux. No license fee, ever.
Phones, servers, rockets, fridges, cars, robots — if it computes, Linux probably runs it.
Over 25,000 developers from around the world have contributed to the Linux kernel.
Can you guess which of these devices run Linux? Click each one to find out!
A computer has layers, like a car. Click each layer to see what it does and how the pieces fit together.
ls or cd, the shell converts your human-readable commands into instructions the kernel understands. It's how you "talk to" the operating system.
Like the kernel of a nut — it's the core, the essential inner part that everything else wraps around.
"Linux" is just the kernel. The full OS with apps and tools is called GNU/Linux — but everyone just says "Linux."
Linux organizes files in a tree starting from a single root: /. Click directories to explore what they contain.
Windows uses C:\, D:\, etc. Linux has a single tree starting at / — everything branches from there.
In Linux, even hardware devices (like your mouse or USB drive) appear as files in the filesystem.
Documents and documents are completely different folders in Linux!
/tmp directory is automatically cleaned on reboot — it's the computer's scratch paper!
The shell is a text interface to your computer. You type a command, the shell interprets it, asks the kernel to execute it, and shows you the result.
The most common shell. "Bourne Again Shell" — the default on most Linux systems.
A modern shell with better autocomplete and themes. Default on macOS.
The $ symbol means the shell is ready for your command. Type and press Enter!
Click any command to see what it does:
Linux isn't made by one company — it's built by a global community. Open source means anyone can see the code, improve it, and share it.
Every line of Linux source code is publicly available for anyone to read and study.
Found a bug? Add a feature? Anyone can modify the code and submit improvements.
You can freely distribute Linux and create your own version — that's how distros are born!
Linux Distributions — Click to learn more
Linux skills open doors in almost every area of technology. Here's where Linux knowledge takes you:
Ready to start using Linux?
You've discovered the operating system that powers most of the world's technology. From your phone to Mars rovers, Linux is everywhere — and now you know how it works!
Android phones, web servers, supercomputers, and space stations all run Linux.
The kernel manages hardware, the shell takes your commands, and apps do the work.
Linux organizes everything in a tree structure starting from / (root).
Anyone can see, modify, and share Linux — 25,000+ contributors built the kernel.
Put your new knowledge into practice!