What Is Slackware ???

Slackware was the first Linux distribution to achieve widespread use. It was started by Patrick Volkerding in late 1992. He had gotten introduced to Linux when he needed an inexpensive LISP interpreter for a project. At that time, there were very few distributions, so Patrick went with the distribution from Soft Landing systems (SLS Linux).

Free and Open Source Software

Within the Linux community, there are two major ideological movements at work. The Free Software movement, which we'll get into in a moment, is working toward the goal of making all software free of intellectual property restrictions, which it believes hamper technical improvement and work against the good of the community. The Open Source movement is working toward most of the same goals, but takes a more pragmatic

What Is Linux ???

Linux was started by Linus Torvalds in 1991 as a personal project. He was looking for a way to run a Unix-based operating system without spending a lot of money. In addition, he wanted to learn the ins-and-outs of the 386 processor. It was released free-of-charge to the public so that anyone could hack on it and make improvements under the GNU General Public License

Linux and the GPL

Linux is distributed under the GNU General Public License (GPL), which, in essence, says that anyone may copy, distribute, and even sell the program, so long as changes to the source are reintroduced back to the community and the terms of the license remain unaltered. Free means that you are free to take Linux, modify it, and create your own version. Free means that you are not at the mercy of a single vendor who forces you into a kind of corporate servitude by making sure that it is extremely costly to convert to another environment. If you are unhappy with your Linux vendor or the support you are getting, you can move to the next vendor without forfeiting your investment in Linux.

Is Linux Really FREE?

In any discussion of what free means in relation to software, you'll often see the expressions "free as in speech" or "free as in beer." In this case, free isn't a question of cost, although you can get a free copy (as in free beer) of Linux and install it on your system without breaking any laws. As Robert A. Heinlein would have said, "There ain't no such thing as a free lunch." A free download will still cost you connection time on the Internet, disk space, time to burn the CDs, and so on. In the case of Ubuntu Linux, you can have a free CD mailed