| Linux | … |
|---|---|
| Tux, the mascot of Linux, created by Larry Ewing1 | … |
| Developer | • Linus Torvalds (BDFL) • Community contributors |
| OS family | Unix-like |
| Working state | Current |
| Source model | Open source (kernel) |
| Initial release | 17 September 1991 (kernel)2 |
| Marketing target | General-purpose3 |
| Available in | Multilingual |
| Supported platforms | Various4 |
| Kernel type | Monolithic |
| Userland | Typically util-linux5 and one of coreutils6, BusyBox,7 or Toybox8 |
| Influenced by | Unix and Minix |
| License | GPLv2 (kernel)910 |
| Articles in the series | … |
| • Linux kernel • Linux distribution | … |
(echo:: @ ᯤ)
Footnotes
-
“Linux Logos and Mascots”. Linux Online. 2008. Archived from the original on May 21, 2008. Retrieved August 11, 2009. ↩
-
“Linus Torvalds reveals the ‘true’ anniversary of Linux code”. ZDNet. Retrieved August 29, 2025. ↩
-
Cloud computing, embedded devices, mainframe computers, mobile devices, personal computers, servers, and supercomputers ↩
-
Alpha, ARC, ARM, C-Sky, Hexagon, LoongArch, m68k, Microblaze, MIPS, Nios II, OpenRISC, PA-RISC, PowerPC, Power ISA, RISC-V, ESA/390, z/Architecture, SuperH, SPARC, x86, and Xtensa ↩
-
util-linux is the standard set of utilities for use as part of the Linux operating system in addition to one of the following userlands: ↩
-
GNU Core Utilities is a userland^{[4]}$$^{[5]} used by most Linux distributions. ↩
-
BusyBox is a userland written with size-optimization and limited resources in mind, used in many embedded Linux distributions. BusyBox replaces most GNU Core Utilities. ↩
-
Toybox is a userland that combines over 200 Unix command line utilities together into a single BSD-licensed executable. After a talk at the 2013 Embedded Linux Conference, Google merged toybox into AOSP and began shipping toybox in Android Marshmallow in 2015. ↩
-
“The Linux Kernel Archives: Frequently asked questions”. kernel.org. September 2, 2014. Archived from the original on September 5, 2015. Retrieved September 4, 2015. ↩
-
The name “Linux” is a trademark owned by Linus Torvalds and administered by the Linux Mark Institute. ↩