Linux for your Homebuilt Computer

Building a Linux PC really isn't very different from building a Windows PC. The main difference is that when designing a homebuilt Linux box, you have to be sure that the parts you select will work well with your particular Linux distribution.

Before getting into the technical stuff, however, let's talk a little bit about Linux itself. (This is a very brief introduction; you can find more information here, here, here, and in the other links on this page.)

Linus TorvaldsWho Wrote Linux?

Linux was invented in 1991 by Linus Benedict Torvalds (the guy in the picture on the right) while he was a student in Finland. Linus wanted a Unix-like operating system that he could run on an Intel 386/486 platform, and that didn't require taking out a mortgage to obtain. Ideally, in fact, he wanted it to be free.

So Linus went about looking at other Unix-like systems (especially Minix); and learning as much as he could about POSIX, which basically is a set of standards defining things like shell commands and application interfaces in Unix systems.

What Linus wanted was a free, POSIX-compliant Unix system that could accept standard Unix commands and run Unix programs, but whose code wouldn't infringe on anyone's copyrights. This meant writing the whole system from scratch -- quite an undertaking, even for a bright kid like Linus.

So almost immediately upon writing his first kernel, Linus encouraged others to not only look at its source code, but also to critique and improve it. Over time, a worldwide community of programmers became involved in the project; and today, Linux stands as the foremost example of the ability of the open-source movement to produce high-quality, stable, secure software, with Linus providing general oversight and guidance over ongoing Linux development in his official role as Benevolent Dictator for Life.

Linux is widely respected as a mature, fast, stable, secure operating system that's ideally suited for mission critical tasks requiring high uptime and low maintenance. In fact, the majority of the world's Web servers (including the one hosting this site) are powered by Linux machines running another free, open-source application, the Apache Web server.

Linux Distributions

Linux is open-source software, meaning that anyone with the knowledge and wherewithal is free to use it, change it, and redistribute it, as long as they comply with the provisions of the General Public License. This means that anyone (including you) is free to gather together the source code and compile a Linux system from scratch, if they so desire.

Most people, however, purchase or download a linux distribution. A distribution (or distro to those in the know) is a complete, pre-compiled Linux system that includes the most recent stable release of the Linux kernel, as well as a large number of core applications and utilities that have, for all practical purposes, become so closely associated with Linux that they may as well be considered part of it.

In addition, most Linux distributions also install pre-selected applications that are chosen based upon their likely usefulness to the distro's intended users.

For example, distributions intended to be used as server operating systems install Apache and a wide variety of other servers; while desktop distributions install productivity software, multimedia apps, and so forth. Most distributions also include many additional programs that are not installed by default, but which can be installed if a user wants them.

 

Next: Desktop Linux

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