What is Linux?
Linux is a free operating system with open source code that can be installed in desktop computers as an alternative for Windows, although its main use is in web servers. Because its source code is open, various other systems are based on it, such as Android for smartphones and the SteamOS.
More specifically, Linux isn't an entire operating system, but only the kernel of an operating system, and other components would be necessary to complete the system. Given that, nobody installs only the Linux, but a Linux distribution, such as Ubuntu, Fedora, Debian, Arch, etc., which usually includes components from the GNU project, such as glibc, coreutils, and bash, creating with this systems "GNU/Linux"1 although nobody uses this name.
Each distribution (or "distro") is managed by a different entity, is downloaded from a different website, and when installed comes with different configurations and different programs installed by default. The only thing in common is that all of them have the same kernel. Thanks to that, it's possible to install any Linux program in any Linux distribution, which makes Linux systems a little different from Windows.
For example, in Windows, we have one file manager called File Explorer. In Linux, there are several and which one is installed by default depends on which desktop environment (or DE) comes installed in the distro. The Ubuntu uses the GNOME DE, whose official manager is Nautilus. The Kubuntu comes with KDE instead of GNOME, and the manager of KDE is Dolphin. The Xubuntu comes with Xfce, whose official manager is Thunar. Kubuntu and Xubutun would be flavors of Ubuntu, because they come with almost everything the same, except a different desktop environment. You could install Thunar on Kubuntu and use it in the KDE environment. You could also install the entire KDE in the default Ubuntu.
Because of this, every time you see a screenshot of Linux you aren't seeing the Linux, which would be the kernel itself and not something you could see, you are seeing one of these various desktop environments that run on Linux.
However, that doesn't mean the distro you choose doesn't make a difference. Arch Linux, for example, doesn't come with any DE installed by default, so if you install Arch, you will see a black screen to type commands and only that until you type the commands to install a DE. Generally, Ubuntu and variants such as Linux Mint are the recommended distros for users who don't understand much about Linux.
Finally, it's interesting to note that Linux isn't the only free desktop system, there are also BSD systems (FreeBSD, GhostBSD, etc.). Both are similar for being based on the Unix system.
- https://unix.stackexchange.com/a/93430 (accessed 2024-02-14). ↩︎
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