Linux Operating System (OS) and GPL Licensing - Copyright and Copyleft

When software is distributed under the GPL (General Public License), the author of the program still legally holds the copyright to the program (its source code and binary program file) and the author’s name is still

associated with it.

Linux Commands Training Tips: A binary is an executable program file that is created when the source code of a program is compiled (with a compiler program) to create a program file (a.k.a. binary).

When you run a Linux command, you type in the name of the command, such as ls (for list) and press Enter.

When you run the ls command, you are running the binary program file named ls. This ls binary was created by the source code (text file) for the ls command and this source code and the binary program created from the source code (and all GNU Linux commands) are licensed under the GPL.

The GPL is quite different from the typical copyright used for many software programs. As such, the GPL is sometimes referred to as “copyleft software”, which is a play on the word "copyright". The Linux community has an interesting sense of humor. Later, you'll learn how “less” is “more” (How the less command works better than the more command).

Linux Commands Training Tips: Linus Torvalds is the computer scientist most responsible for the development of the Linux kernel. Although the kernel is distributed under the terms of the GPL, Linus holds the trademark and copyright on Linux. Even so, if Linus Torvalds were to stop working on Linux, another member of the core team of Linux developers would take his place.

Benefits of GPL Software For the Linux OS

GPL software is developed by thousands of programmers in many different occupations. Some of these people are: computer instructors, university professors, tech support staff, college students, scientists, researchers - and Linux system administrators in small and large organizations.

With hundreds of programmers in many different walks of life working on GPL programs, these programs are produced more co-operatively and thus have fewer bugs and more enhancements than commercial software. In addition to these benefits, new program code can be created quickly using existing code as a stepping stone.

Many people contribute suggestions for improvements to GPL software and others test the code and provide critical analysis of it.

All of the above benefits are reflected in the Linux kernel and the other GPL software components that are distributed with it!

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