Linux
... In April, 1996, researches at the Los Alamos National Laboratory combined the power of 68 pc’s to simulate atomic shockwaves. This Linux based project, costing only $152,000 (about a tenth of the cost, had it used Windows) became the 315th most powerful super computer in the world. Three months after they were put into use, compiling 19 billion calculations per second, these systems still didn’t need to be rebooted. In 1991, there were only two feasible options available for a PC operating system, Unix and Windows. Andrew S Tanenbaum created Minix, a separate OS, to use as a teaching tool. He wrote ‘Operating System’, a book containing the open source code for his project. Upon reading this book, Linus Benedict Torvalds, a second year Computer Science student at the University of Helsinki, decided to create a whole new operating system. He took what he thought was the best of Minix, and the input of others, and created Linux. Linux used a totally new source code, but had the same basic file system of Minix. Linux version 0.01 was released in September, 1991. Tanenbaum scoffed at this product, calling it “obsolete” and “monolithic”. Due to the continuing support of those using Linux, Torvalds continued regardless of this criticism. Linux quickly gained support in the technical community. First hundreds of people were using his product, then thousands then hundreds of thousands of people were actively using Linux. Currently many people use Linux for both business and personal activities. Many people use Linux for their desktop systems because they like the feel and flexibility of the operating system. Another high bonus of this OS is the cost. Many third world countries in places like Asia, Africa and Latin America utilize Linux as opposed to Windows for this reason. Supercomputers are using Linux also. Evolocity, one of the 5 fastest supercomputers in the world, was created in July, 2002 running Linux. Also, Tetragrid, a supercomputer manufactured and utilized by the US Government, created in September, 2001, was powered by Linux. Many sources predict that while Linux wont kill Windows, the future for this operating system is in portable and basic computing and internet access devices. Lineo incorporated Linux into their gadgets and TV boxes and Ericsson will be integrating Linux into one of thei...