The origins of the Linux OS can be traced back to 1991 when Linus Torvalds, then a student at the University of Helsinki in Finland, developed his own versionof a “Unix-like” OS. Whatever motivates someone in their early twenties to spendweekends and evenings developing an OS, particularly on a university campus, issomewhat beyond these authors’ understanding. Fortunately for us, though, Mr.Torvalds did, and from that original work and with the help of eager developers,Linux has grown exponentially in both popularity and functionality. Today, Linux is a major feature of the OS landscape. Already popular as a server network operating system (NOS), Linux has recently started to make inroads intothe desktop market, where the stranglehold that Microsoft has with its Windowsproducts is the strongest. While it might be unfair to suggest that Linux will becomea common sight on desktop systems over the next few years, there is certainly a growingmovement of users who are looking at Linux as a possible future alterna