this post was submitted on 20 Aug 2023
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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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You can put a myriad of setup and administration options into the GUI and most people still have no interest in them. These people just have no interest in using a computer like that. They "just want it to work". It's not a CLI v. GUI problem, it's one of assumed responsibility.
"Free as in freedom" really only refers to developers. The non-developers are beholden to whoever packages and distributes their software for them. We Linux users who aren't system developers let the "distro maintainers" do the developer work for us. That's why a distro's website is full of mission statements and declarations of philosophy--it's how we decide who to trust.
And it's the same for the "non-nerds" with system administration. Businesses hire admins to handle their internal software and networks, and at home people let Apple, Microsoft or Google take increasingly more control over their devices so that they aren't responsible for getting it all working.
Yes these are the people I'm referring to also. We're not talking about network engineering or developing software. We're talking about installing a program or virtually any kind of debugging.