Linux is used to refer to two different things. The first is the Linux kernel.
And the second is any operating system based on the Linux kernel. Such operating systems are also often called GNU/Linux operating
Linux is a clone of the Unix operating system. Software engineers who are familiar with Unix operating systems or POSIX API's
will be familiar with Linux. (Although today, it seems that more software engineers are familiar with Linux than Unix.)
I started using Linux cira 1996. And have been using it exclusively on my desktop and laptop computers since circa 1999.
Today I use Linux on my desktop computers, my laptop computers, and on my servers. Most of my professional work is
also done on Linux. (The exception being when I test websites in IE. Although this is minimal.)
When using Linux, I use GNOME as my desktop manager, Evolution
as my e-mail client, Firefox as my web browser, Gaim for my instant
messaging application, and OpenOffice as my office suit.
Other applications that I use include: The GIMP, Inkspace, MPlayer,
Nautilus, Sodipodi, VLC, and X-Chat.
I have tried an liked using Anjuta as my software development IDE, but I prefer to develop software from
the command line and thus have stopped using it. (Nano is my favorite text editor and development tool.)