Introduction.
Hello there, I'm Zain-Ul-Abdin, I am a web developer based in Pakistan. Today we will talk about the Linux Operating System and why is it so important. As you might know, modern-day websites can't be a possibility without the server-side code or better known as the backend. Because user data is stored on the backend and just to remind you user data means Profile-Pictures, Usernames, Emails, Comments, Posts, Blogs, Vlogs, Songs and any other type of content that a user posts on a platform. You can make dynamic websites in which you can post content on a site without having to rewrite the whole site. That is the power servers or backend provides to the website. If you know about web development then you would certainly know about the process of making a website, even just the frontend part of it requires a lot of work to make it ( the website ) work. And once you have developed a website in Vanilla JavaScript or any other framework, there comes the time of making your site live for the world to see. We usually develop websites on a "user-friendly Operating System", like Windows or Mac, which comes at the cost of performance and security. We don't need performance and security in development, rather what we need is an easier and better development experience. And we don't need better development experience in production ( a term used by developers to indicate a live website), What we need is performance and security. That's why we need another operating system that is a beast in performance, even if it doesn't "looks good". That is what Linux is, an Ugly-Beast ( ain't so ugly if you like the command line). Windows may be the most abundant OS ( Operating System ) in personal computers. But when it comes to servers, Linux has no competition. Linux runs over 96.4% of the world's servers. That's like the whole internet. Let's hop into the Linux ecosystem and get familiarized.
Context.
Linux started as a personal project for its creator, Linus Torvalds when he was still studying at university. It was initially released on September 17, 1991. In the start, it was just a few files of code. But throughout its history, it has enlarged to 23.3 million lines of code ( not counting comments ). To be precise Linus Torvalds didn't release an Operating System but rather an Operating System Kernel. (The Kernel is a computer program at the core of a computer's Operating System and generally has complete control over everything in the system. It is the portion of the Operating System code that is always resident in memory and facilitates interactions between hardware and software components.)
Distributions.
Linux is not an operating system it's a Kernel or a Family of Operating systems. As you know Lunix is a Kernel on which Operating Systems can be built. It is not an Operating System itself, so you would have to use Linux in its OS form off-course. There are many Operating Systems built on Linux Kernel. Collectively they are called Linux. But individually, A Distribution. A Linux Distribution or Distro is an Operating System built on the Linux Kernel. There are over 600 Linux Distros available. Some of the most commonly used are Debian, Gentoo, Ubuntu, Linux Mint, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, CentOS, Fedora, Kali Linux, Arch Linux, and OpenSUSE. You can download the community version of these distros and use every one of them for free. If you don't like anyone of these, You can build your own distro using the Linux kernel. Like many other developers have done.
Open Source.
Linux is open-source meaning anyone the go and read its source code here. And I mean anyone. But that raises a question on the "security" Linux provides right? But no. Because that's the beauty of open-source work. It's because everyone can view its code that it's safe. Why you say. Because there may be bad people "Hackers" around the globe but there are more good people you can say. Every experienced developer around the world views its source code. So if anyone sees a bug in it they instantly fix it. Now just imagine millions of developers working together for over 30 years on just one thing. And I mean Lunix's kernel. Linux's popularity comes in handy too, because almost everyone uses it, be they solo developers or tech start-ups or Big Tech like Google, Meta, Netflix, Amazon, Pinterest and many others. They all work together to make Linux better so how wouldn't it be secure, huh?
Systems That Use Linux.
In the tech world, Linux is everywhere, If you have the right eyes to see it. Besides Servers Linux can be found on other devices too. A great example will be your Cell-Phone. The Andriod Operating System owned and managed by Google is based on the Linux Kernel. In the end, it's another Linux distro. Other areas where Linux is used are Cloud Computing, Embedded Devices, Mainframe computers, Personal Computers and Supercomputers. You can look into these in more detail on Google if you want.
Final Thoughts.
Linux is the backbone of modern-day web development. Many things aren't possible without servers and Good Servers are not possible without Linux. So I would highly recommend web developers to learn how to use it, especially backend developers. Hosting service providers may have made it easier for us to deploy our apps on the web. But if you learn about Linux you can truly know what you are doing and how your app is being deployed and you can even customize the deployment as you see fit. And what's even better you can make your own server in your house with it ( Linux ). I would say that's not half bad eh? You should learn about Linux even if just the basic commands, That's what I recommend.