Linux Introduction

What is Linux ?

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.

What is Distributions ?

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project.

Popular Linux distributions include Debian, Fedora, CentOS and Ubuntu. Commercial distributions include Red Hat Enterprise Linux and SUSE Linux Enterprise Server.

For more details of distributions you can see the following picture

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1b/Linux_Distribution_Timeline.svg