The Linux Project was started by a Finnish Computer Science student named Linus Torvalds. It is a freely available operating system for PCs, and is compatible with the POSIX 1003.1 standard. Its features are based on the UNIX operating system. Linux was made available on the Internet in November 1991 under the GNU Public License, which means everyone is free to use, copy and modify the programs' source code.
Linux is developed world wide. It is an open development project, meaning everyone who wants to can become involved. Because it is world-wide, a fast and easy form of communication is needed so different people and groups can keep updated with what is going on with Linux. The medium for this is the Internet. Many of the developers are college students with access to the Internet in their college. The systems available to the students would be relatively modest, which is probably the reason that Linux is the 32-bit operating system that uses the smallest resources without sacrificing functionality.