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In this video,

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let's talk about the importance

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of understanding the design philosophy

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that has driven Linux over the course of its history.

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This philosophy is one of openness and transparency

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that has shaped Linux

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into the operating system that it is today.

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Linux is a family

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of open-source, Unix-like operating systems

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typically packaged into what's called a distribution.

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Now it has been the operating system of choice

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for many educational and commercial institutions

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due to its robustness

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and its extreme low cost of acquisition.

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Businesses have also relied on Linux

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for their day-to-day operations,

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and have seen significant impact over time.

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Now, by now you probably have already heard

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of popular Linux distributions,

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things like Ubuntu, Debian and Fedora,

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but there are literally hundreds

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if not thousands of other current distributions

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in active development.

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Linux's popularity is mainly

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because of its open source software,

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which allows anyone to freely download,

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modify, and even redistribute it.

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Now it's important to realize

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that much of the success of Linux

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is due to this open source nature.

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The term open source refers to computer software or programs

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in which the source code is readily available

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for public use or modification from the original design.

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It encourages a collaborative effort among programmers

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and general users belonging to that program

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or software's community

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to be able to improve on its design and purpose

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by recoding things as they go.

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Now, on the other hand,

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we also have something known as proprietary software.

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Proprietary software is really the opposite of open source.

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With proprietary software,

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this is going to be a type of software

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that's released under a license

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that's going to impose restrictions

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on what an end user can actually do with that software,

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such as how they can download it, modify it

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or distribute the entire software

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or even parts of that software.

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Now, speaking of licenses,

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there are many different types

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of software licenses out there

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including this proprietary software we're talking about.

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Now in the open source community,

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we use several different types of licenses.

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These include the GNU General Public License or GPL,

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the Apache license, the MIT license,

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the Creative Commons Zero license, and other ones like this.

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Now these different licenses are just a few

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of the broad spectrum of open source licenses,

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from highly protective to unconditional sharing.

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Now Linux being Unix-like,

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follows the principles of simplicity and modularity

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that were set forth

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back in the Unix design philosophy as well.

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This means that Linux is going to be highly customizable,

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reliable, and stable.

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Linux also places an emphasis on security and privacy.

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Being open source,

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many Linux distributions are completely free of charge.

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This means you can download them and use them

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without having to pay anything.

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Now, when you look at proprietary software

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like Windows, for example,

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you're going to get support from a developer,

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but you've paid for that support by licensing that software.

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Now in Linux,

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because it's open source, you're not paying any fees

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but that also means you don't have anyone to call

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when things go wrong.

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So Linux communities have sprung

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up to provide free support to Linux users.

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Now remember, free and open source software

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also comes with a couple of caveats.

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Linux has a much deeper learning curve

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compared to those proprietary software,

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things like Windows or Mac OS X.

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And much of the software that's built for Linux

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is not very well supported because somebody could create it

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and then abandon it over time.

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There's also no definitive or official version of Linux,

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which can be really confusing to new users.

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And with some exceptions,

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there's really no truly official vendor-provided support.

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Unlike Microsoft Windows,

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where you can just call up Microsoft for support,

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Linux doesn't have a central help desk

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that you can call and get help with.

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But despite these drawbacks,

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the pros often outweigh the cons here.

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And I've already mentioned,

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there are a number of Linux distributions or distros

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that are flourishing,

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like Ubuntu, Fedora and many others.

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While all Linux distributions are based on the Linux kernel,

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they do differ primarily in what they offer

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as software bundled into that distribution.

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This is software that's being added on top of the kernel

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to make a fully functional operating system.

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There's also differences in the community,

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the rate of release and other factors to consider too.

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When you're choosing a distribution,

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it's more of a matter of identifying which distribution

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most closely aligns with your business needs,

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as well as your familiarity with the different tools

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that are going to be embedded within that distro.

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Now some of the more well known Linux distributions

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include distributions like Ubuntu, Linux Mint,

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Debian, Fedora, Red Hat, Kali Linux, Parrot Linux,

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MX Linux, Arch Linux, Gentoo Linux,

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Slackware, openSUSE,

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CentOS and FreeBSD.

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In this course, when I do demonstrations,

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we're going to be using CentOS.

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Now CentOS is a community-driven free software project

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that is focused on creating a fully compatible open source

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and free version of Red Hat Enterprise Linux.

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The reason we're going to be using this distribution

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in this course instead of using Red Hat

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is because Red Hat is by far

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one of the most commonly used Linux distributions

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in the enterprise-scale networks,

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but it costs a lot of money to get that.

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So by using CentOS, you're going to be ready for the workplace

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by knowing all the same commands

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that are exactly the same between CentOS and Red Hat,

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but you can download and use CentOS for free.

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Now, if you're looking for a great distribution to use

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as a Windows operating system replacement for your desktop,

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I recommend you also check out Ubuntu.

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Now, Ubuntu is a favorite of mine for home use

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when you're trying to replace a standard Windows machine

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because there's a lot of great desktop applications

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including everything from word processors,

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to video editors and more.

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With CentOS, we're really focused

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on having a server-based Linux operating system

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that we can use in an enterprise environment.

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So it's helpful to understand both of these.

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Now there is one main advantage of using Linux,

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and that is it is highly extensible.

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As a result of this, Linux has been applied

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to many computing roles, such as the use of servers,

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mainframes and supercomputers,

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but it can also be used

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on a personal computer or as a workstation.

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Linux is also used as the operating system

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for mobile devices like smartphones and tablets.

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When you're using an Android phone,

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it's actually a Linux phone at heart.

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Now for some purpose-built distros,

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we can also use Linux on embedded systems,

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things like home appliances, smart thermostats, smart TVs

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or even large industrial machinery.

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Linux can truly be found everywhere,

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from your smart watch to robots and everything in between.