As you know, all through August we have been celebrating the 25th anniversary of Linux. We’ve been talking about the best uses for Linux around the world over the last 25 years, and asking you your thoughts – we’ve even been running our competition to adopt Polly the Penguin!
To round off the celebrations, we’ve got 25 fun and fast facts for you, and more importantly – five big reasons to learn Linux and get LPI Certified.
Without further ado, let’s launch into our….
25 Fun and Fast Facts about Linux:
1. Firstly the definition of Linux: “a Unix-like and mostly POSIX-compliant[12] computer operating system (OS) assembled under the model of free and open-source software development and distribution.
2. Linux has been built by over 13,000 contributors worldwide.
3. Linux “distribution” contains the Linux kernel, supporting GNU utilities/libraries, and other third-party applications. According to distrowatch.com, there are a total of 286 actively maintained Linux distributions. The oldest among them is Slackware whose very first release 1.0 became available in 1993.
4. Spacewatch, a research group of Lunar and Planetary Laboratory at the University of Arizona, named several asteroids after GNU/Linux and their creators, including 9793 Torvalds, 9882 Stallman, 9885 Linux and 9965 GNU
5. Thanks to the dominance of Android on smartphones, Linux has the largest installed base of all general-purpose operating systems
6. Linux Kernel was written by a 21-year-old Finnish college student as a part of his hobby. His name is Linus Torvalds!
7. In 2000, Steve Jobs (of Apple) tried to hire Linus Torvalds to have him drop Linux development and instead work on “Unix for the biggest user base,” which was OS X back then. Linus declined the offer.
8. There was a “Windows Refund Day” back in 1999. On February 15th, 1999, many Linux users assembled and demanded a refund from Microsoft, for their unused copy of Windows. This was because the Windows Licence agreement had a clause, where an end user can deny the agreement and return Windows back.
9. The Indian state of Kerala made it mandatory for all of its high schools to run Linux on their computers.
10. Entering the era of ubiquitous cloud computing, Linux is continuing its dominance as by far the most popular platform for the cloud.
11.
· Freedom 0: The freedom to run the program for any purpose.
· Freedom 1: The freedom to study how the program works, and change it to make it do what you wish.
· Freedom 2: The freedom to redistribute and make copies so you can help your neighbor.
· Freedom 3: The freedom to improve the program, and release your improvements (and modified versions in general) to the public, so that the whole community benefits.
12. Believe it or not – In 2002, Microsoft had accumulated a $421 million cost of fighting the spread of Linux, according to The Register.
13. Today the Linux Kernel has over 22 million lines of code.
14. Linus Torvalds wanted to name his kernel “Freax” – the name being a combination of words “freak” and “free”, and then the final X to represent its similarity with the Unix operating system.
15. Google has its own Linux Distribution for its internal employees called Goobuntu. Goobuntu is based on the normal Ubuntu versions.
16. Out of top 500 fastest supercomputers of the world, Linux or its variants power 485 of them. No wonder Linux is termed as the king of supercomputing!
17. Ever wondered why the basic language taught in schools is C? Because, a major chunk of the operating system kernels including Windows, Linux and Mac are written in C language. So, if you plan on becoming a developer, know the basics!
18. Around 95% of the servers used by Hollywood’s large animation studios are powered by Linux.
19. Red Hat was one of the first commercial Linux distributions to truly cater to the enterprise.
20. Here are just a few brilliant kernel names we love: Crazed Snow-Weasel, Affluent Albatross, Nocturnal Monster Puppy, Pink Farting Weasel and ‘Jeff thinks I should change this, but to what?’
21. ….and a few more (because we can’t resist): Sneaky Weasel, Saber-toothed Squirrel and Unicycling Gorilla.
22. A new kernel emerges on average every 9-10 weeks. The 3.18 kernel was produced in 63 days, the second shortest time between two kernels on record. “I don’t know how much shorter we can get,” said Jonathan Corbet, a kernel developer, during a presentation in 2015, at the Linux Collaboration Summit.
23. The top 10 list of Linux contributor companies changed in 2014, with Intel displacing Red Hat in the top spot. The single greatest category of kernel code is device drivers, accounting for more than 10 million lines, hence Intel’s dominance…
24. ….but, to get a top 10 list of companies, you have to ignore independent developers who are not associated with a particular company. Collectively, these developers represent the single largest source of contributions.
25. Future Cert is the UK and Ireland’s representative of the LPI (Linux Professional Institute) and offers Certification in all levels of Linux Training!!! Check out why you should get LPI Certified.
5 Top Reasons to consider LPI Certification
1. Good career prospects and good salary. The Open Source job market is continuing to grow and employers are offer good salaries for well-trained Linux engineers.
2. Fill the niche in the digital skills market. The computer and technology industry is booming now more than ever but the number of skilled workers isn’t catching up. Digital skill shortages are hindering our technological achievements and the demand for these skills is higher than ever.
3. Be the employee that employers are looking for: According to the 2016 Open Source Jobs Report, released by dice.com and The Linux Foundation, 65 percent of hiring managers say Open Source hiring will increase more than any other part of their business over the next six months, and 79 percent of hiring managers have increased incentives to keep hold of their current, qualified Open Source professionals. In summary, employers want Certified Linux professionals and are actively looking for them in recruitment.
4. Learn something new: The Open Source and Linux world is constantly changing and for many IT professionals, work is just as much about learning and developing as it is employment.
5. Become part of a global community: The best thing about working and becoming qualified with Future Cert and LPI is that you become part of the global LPI community. As part of this community, Linux and IT professionals are encouraged to share, connect and engage to inspire others. This community allows us to ensure our Certification delivers what employers and professionals need.