this post was submitted on 14 Mar 2024
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Linux
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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 (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
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Just to add one point to the end there, a lot of times in Windows it isn't even a file it's editing, or at least not a plain text file you could even edit manually, so it's much more obfuscated even than that.
Or it's a setting in the registry that pretty much everyone says "do not touch if you don't know what you're doing, you will break your system"... Nowhere in Linux will you be editing something that can break your install while configuring your default keyboard layout (as an example)
Yes thats definitely something worth noting. I was just bringing up the point that in the end, all settings are just little parameters in some file or registry, and that there's no practical difference between flipping a switch in a GUI to the off position vs adding a '#' in a config file to comment out a line or option. One just looks intimidating if you aren't used to it, but in reality it gives you much more control and teaches you more about your system.
Linux distros are maintained by people that want to create the best OS possible. Windows is maintained by a company that wants to sell you something.