Re: More information
I'll be brief, and answer the questions directly. Note that Debian doesn't
have a central work force (unless you count the hundreds of volunteer
developers), and I'm just a Debian user who's been around for a
while. I'll also assume the bare minumum of knowledge about the Linux
world, so I apologize if I say more than needed.
> Firstly, who designed it? Was it Linux, GNU, who? Even the name of a
programmer or the original inventor will do me.
Debian was originally designed as a distribution of the Linux/GNU system
by Ian Murdock. (See http://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/project-history/
for a detailed story of the origin. It uses the Linux kernel
(http://www.kernel.org) that was started by Linus Torvalds in 1991 and
many other volunteers, while most of its programs are from the GNU
project. (http://www.gnu.org)
What sets Debian apart from other Linux distributions (such as Redhat or
Suse) is the underlying goal of being a completely free operating system,
using the Linux kernel which is completely free, and free software,
usually licensed under GNU's GPL license.
(http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html)
> What's the history of the operating system? How long has it been
> around? What's it's ideal use?
Linux has been around since 1991, and has had one of the fastest
evolutions in software. It has achieved in 10 years what other systems
have taken much more time to do, mainly because of its open, bazaar style
development. A detailed history of Linux is available at Kernel.org.
(http://www.kernel.org/LDP/FAQ/Linux-FAQ/index.html) As Linux is extremely
versatile, it has many uses. It is used more for a server than anything
else, but is also popular as a desktop computer, development machine, or
anything else any other operating system can be used for. While many
believe it is not yet on par with Windows for ease of use, it is advancing
rapidly and is now very close.
>
> What type of operating system is it? I know it's a 'universal operating
> system' but what does that mean? Is it an office operating system, home,
> shop, what?
There are those who use it for everything, those who use it as a server,
those who simply play with it at home, and those who use it because it's
free (in terms of price and freedom -- see GNU).
> In-case you're wondering, my mother asked me to update her 95 windows OS
> so I'm researching for her.
Linux is actually a completely different operating system than
Windows. Programs written for Windows cannot be used with Linux, unless
you use a Windows emulator such as VMWare. However, most if not all of
what can be done with Windows can be done for free on Linux, with the
exception of games. There are program replacements for everything, such
as:
Windows Linux
------- -----
Office StarOffice / KOffice
Internet Explorer Netscape / Mozilla
Outlook KMail / Bonobo
The list goes on. Others might disagree with me about what is best on
Linux, but that's the beauty of the system. There are far more choices for
Linux than on Windows, and most of it is completely free. In fact, all of
the software that comes from Debian officially is completely free
according to a strict policy.
I hope this helps! Linux may not be what you had in mind, but if you're
willing to try it, you may just like it.
Jon Eisenstein
jeisen@mindspring.com
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