Linux kernel
| Linux Kernel | |
|---|---|
Tux the penguin, mascot of Linux[1] | |
Linux kernel 6.1.0 kernel booting, under Debian | |
| Original author(s) | Linus Torvalds |
| Developer(s) | Community contributors Linus Torvalds |
| Initial release | 0.02 (5 October 1991) |
| Stable release | 6.16.7[2]
/ 11 September 2025 |
| Preview release | 6.17-rc6[3]
/ 14 September 2025 |
| Repository | |
| Written in | C (with GNU extensions;[4] C11 (gnu11)[5] since 5.18, C89 (gnu89) before),[6] Assembly language, Rust, others |
| Available in | English |
| License | GPL-2.0-only with Linux-syscall-note[7][8][9][a] |
| Website | kernel |
The Linux kernel is a free and open-source[13]: 4 Unix-like kernel that is used in many computer systems worldwide. The kernel was created by Linus Torvalds in 1991 and was soon adopted as the kernel for the GNU operating system (OS) which was created to be a free replacement for Unix. Since the late 1990s, it has been included in many operating system distributions, many of which are called Linux. One such Linux kernel operating system is Android which is used in many mobile and embedded devices.
Most of the kernel code is written in C as supported by the GNU Compiler Collection (GCC) which has extensions beyond standard C.[13]: 18 [14] The code also contains assembly code for architecture-specific logic such as optimizing memory use and task execution.[13]: 379–380 The kernel has a modular design such that modules can be integrated as software components – including dynamically loaded. The kernel is monolithic in an architectural sense since the entire OS kernel runs in kernel space.
Linux is provided under the GNU General Public License version 2, although it contains files under other compatible licenses.[12]
- ^ "Linux Logos and Mascots". Linux Online. 2008. Archived from the original on 15 August 2010. Retrieved 19 September 2024.
- ^ Greg Kroah-Hartman (11 September 2025). "Linux 6.16.7". Retrieved 12 September 2025.
- ^ Linus Torvalds (14 September 2025). "Linux 6.17-rc6". Retrieved 14 September 2025.
- ^ "GNU Extensions". people.netfilter.org. Retrieved 4 August 2025.
- ^ MaskRay (12 May 2024). "Exploring GNU extensions in the Linux kernel". MaskRay. Retrieved 4 August 2025.
- ^ Bergmann, Arnd (3 March 2022). "Kbuild: move to -std=gnu11". git.kernel.org.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
COPYING_Filewas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "GPL-2.0-only". spdx.org. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
- ^ "Linux-syscall-note". spdx.org. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
- ^ "GPL-2.0". git.kernel.org.
- ^ "Linux-syscall-note". git.kernel.org.
- ^ a b "Linux kernel licensing rules — The Linux Kernel documentation". www.kernel.org. Archived from the original on 7 March 2020. Retrieved 6 January 2020.
- ^ a b c Love, Robert (2010). Linux kernel development (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Addison-Wesley. ISBN 978-0-672-32946-3. OCLC 268788260.
- ^ "C Extensions (Using the GNU Compiler Collection (GCC))". gcc.gnu.org. Archived from the original on 20 November 2020. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
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