take advantage of the bundling features and support that accompanies them. 

The openness and flexibility of Linux, not the price, is becoming the driver for 

many organizations to migrate to this operating system. Its functionality, stability, 

scalability, and support have been key factors that have expanded the use of 

Linux from academic areas to the enterprise. 

With support from such companies as IBM and others that deliver key client 

platforms, such as Lotus  Notes , the Mozilla Web browser, open office suites, 

and Java desktops, Linux is gaining momentum as a desktop operating platform. 

Linux supports the Portable Operating System Interface (POSIX) standard that 

defines how a UNIX like system operates, specifying details such as system 

calls and interfaces. POSIX compliance has made it possible for developers to 

port many popular UNIX applications and utilities to Linux.

Linux also provides a complete implementation of the TCP/IP networking stack. 

A full range of clients and services are supported, including a standard socket 

programming interface so that programs that use TCP/IP can be easily ported to 

Linux.

Linux supports the standard ISO 9660 file system for CD ROMs, printing 

software, multi media devices, and modems. In short, it provides the facilities to 

support the requirements of a wide range of client application types. 

1.6  Linux overview and distribution choices

In 1984, the Free Software Foundation (FSF), started by Richard Stallman, 

began the GNU project to create a free version of the UNIX operating system. 

This system can be freely used, but even beyond that, the source code can be 

freely read, modified, and redistributed. A number of components were created, 

including compilers and text editors. However, it lacked a kernel. In 1991, Linus 

Torvalds began developing an operating system in a collaborative way. All 

information was made available for anyone on the Internet to improve the 

operating system that was called Linux. Linux was exactly the operating system 

kernel the FSF needed.

In the Linux community, different organizations have created different 

combinations of components built around the kernel and made them available as 

a bundle. These bundles are called 

distributions

. Some of the most well known 

distributions include Red Hat, SuSE, Debian, Mandrake, etc. 

2  

Copies of the GNU GPL Licenses can be found at 

http://www.gnu.org/licences/licenses.html

. 

The GNU project is supported by the Free Software Foundation 

(FSF):

http://www.gnu.org/fsf/fsf.html

6 

Linux Client Migration Cookbook   A Practical Planning and Implementation Guide for Migrating to Desktop Linux