Linux

[ lin-uhks or, especially British, lin-ooks ]

Computers, Trademark.
  1. an operating system, based on UNIX, that runs on many different hardware platforms and whose source code is available to the public.

Origin of Linux

1
First recorded in 1990–95; named after Linu(s) Benedict Torvalds (born 1969), Finnish software engineer + x as in UNIX

Words Nearby Linux

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use Linux in a sentence

  • OS X is needed to run Final Cut Pro, a state-of-the-art video editing software, and Linux is used to hack into wireless networks.

  • With Google now building a Linux-based netbook OS of its own, those last barriers to entry will be removed.

    Google's War on the PC | Douglas Rushkoff | July 8, 2009 | THE DAILY BEAST
  • In Phase Two, even a chimp could make dough by throwing darts at companies such as WorldCom, JDS Uniphase, VA Linux, and eToys.

    Return of the Day Trader | Lee Eisenberg | April 9, 2009 | THE DAILY BEAST
  • The high school kids who broke it were Brazilian Linux hackers who lived in a favela -- a kind of squatter's slum.

    Little Brother | Cory Doctorow
  • Now, have a look—this is a Linux computer with some of the most advanced robotics ever engineered.

    Makers | Cory Doctorow

British Dictionary definitions for linux

linux

/ (ˈlaɪnʌks) /


noun
  1. a nonproprietary computer operating system suitable for use on personal computers

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012