Chapter 1 Questions

What is free software? List three characteristics of free software.Free software is code that is available for free to everyone, but it is also free in the sense that it can be used and altered freely to the user's desires. It is free to be studied, redistributed, and modified. Why is Linux popular? Why is it popular in academia?Due to the operating system's distribution among universities, students were able to become used to it's sophisticated developing environment which helped these graduates succeed in the industry as UNIX was being spread throughout the world. What are multiuser systems? Why are they successful?Multiuser is a term that defines an operating system or application software that allows access by multiple users of a computer. They are so successful because they allow for collaborative projects to be conducted with much more ease and efficiency. What is the Free Software Foundation/GNU? What is Linux? Which parts of the Linux operating system did each provide? Who else has helped build and refine this operating system?The GNU is a completely free (in the freedom sense) operating system built by Richard Stallman and many of its components, except for the kernel, were completed in the early '90s. Linus Torvalds wrote the kernel for Linux, which was also intended to be a free operating system, in the early '90s. The two systems then were combined together to finish Linux, with it's original kernel and added features supplied by GNU. Linux was born off the internet with hundreds of people helping to develop it in its early years. In which language is Linux written? What does the language have to do with the success of Linux?Linux is written in the C programming language, and this helps Linux be portable because C is written in a higher-level, machine-independent language. What is a utility program?It is