this post was submitted on 20 Dec 2025
-53 points (22.7% liked)
Linux
60398 readers
566 users here now
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
Rules
- Posts must be relevant to operating systems running the Linux kernel. GNU/Linux or otherwise.
- No misinformation
- No NSFW content
- No hate speech, bigotry, etc
Related Communities
Community icon by Alpár-Etele Méder, licensed under CC BY 3.0
founded 6 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
Well, each one has pros and cons. *UNIX (I'm including *Linux and *BSD only, since masOS is technically uses a Unix-like kernel and *BSD code) systems tend to provide more control to the user, as they are Libre Software; however, the code can be rather clunky (especially in GNU+systemd+Linux distributions), and is much less secure.
What is Libre Software?
Libre Software is one in which you have the following freedoms:1: Run the program for any purpose
2: Study the program by any means
3: Modify the program code in any manner
4: Distribute the program at any price
Depending on the Libre Software license, there can be conditions:
1: In any copies which you distribute, you must provide credit to authors of which code you used, and keep the license notice (example: Expat license)
2: If any patented techniques are on the code, you must provide rights to them (example: Apache 2.0 license)
3: Any code on the program is also licensed under it, and you must pass down the same freedoms and obligations; this can be either per-file, or more commonly, for the entire program, although exceptions can be made for other programs using it as a library (respective examples: MPL 2.0, GPL 3.0 or later, and LGPL 3.0 or later)
4: There must not be any system (e.g. DRM) preventing people from replacing the program with a modified version of it (example: GPL 3.0 or later)
macOS, on the other hand, is much more restrictive, but much better security (the best out of any desktop OS).