Open Source Platforms
Open Source Software can run on a wide variety of platforms. Open Source does not just run on Linux® while it varies from project to project, most Open Source software will run on any UNIX based platform such as Linux®, FreeBSD, OpenSolaris, AIX and MacOS X. There are many web based projects that are Open Source, many of which are in scripting languages such as Python, PHP, Ruby and Perl, most of these should run on any platform. Some projects such as Apache will even compile under Windows. This article primarily looks at platforms which are entirely Open Source, meaning you can even view the source code for the operating system.
What are the main Open Source Platforms?
The main Open Source Platforms are Linux® based, BSD based and UNIX® based. These base platforms provide different types of kernel and hardware support. Linux® based platforms are called Linux® distributions and they are based off the Linux Kernel which is a massive open source project started by Linus Torvalds.
The Linux kernel supports a wide variety of hardware architectures from Intel / AMD based PCs to embedded platforms such as ARM and up to massive IBM mainframes. The Linux kernel is licensed under the GNU Public License (GPL). Linux® is a UNIX®-like operating system.
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