The numbers clearly show how Linux is gaining popularity among personal computer users (PCs). It's mainly due to its power, flexibility, speed, efficiency, scalability, and free availability. The operating system supports almost all the PC hardware.
It supports most of the removal devices and media like digital cameras, PDAs, card readers, and USB Printers, which are handled automatically with an appropriate device interface. The hotplugged devices identified and appropriated icons appear in File Manager Window.
The independent programmers of the free software foundation GNU uses Linux as the premier platform for the development of open-source software, which is available for free and of high-quality. Linux distributions bundle software applications, which include network servers, security programs, OpenOffice, multimedia software, development tools, and Internet browsers as standard Linux distributions.
The website offering open-source application includes:
- SourceForge – SourceForge.net
- K Desktop Environment KDE – kde.org
- GNU Network Object Model Environment (GNOME) – gnome.org
The Linux comes with a fully customizable interface like adding panels, virtual desktops, and menus with full drag-n-drop capabilities.
Most big companies now developing software or distributions for Linux machines:
- Intel Clear Linux distribution outperforms Windows 10 and is the best operating system to run on cheap AMD & Intel hardware.
- Google Chrome 81 version 81.0.4044.92 now available for download on Linux with several notable improvements and resolution of a total of 32 security vulnerabilities. It includes support for the Web NFC API, and the devices can use Google Chrome for data transfer and other implementations.
- The organizations are virtualizing Linux desktops & applications to run applications with security, flexibility, and performance.
- The Linux Foundation with Data61, the digital specialist arm of the Australian National Science Agency, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) supports the security-oriented seL4 microkernel operating system. The operating system claimed to offer high accuracy, capabilities-based security, and high performance. In the real world, it supports mixed real-time critique systems used in fields such as avionics, autonomous vehicles, medical devices, critical and defense infrastructure.
- Eurotech’s rugged “DynaGate 20-30” is an automotive-certified IoT edge gateway that runs Linux on an Apollo Lake SoC with LTE Cat 4, WiFi, BLE, GPS, 2x GbE, and isolated DIO, serial, and CAN.
- Intel Tablets Touchscreen working with Linux 5.7
Microsoft Love for Linux
Microsoft has been working on the Linux Kernel. Microsoft announced the IPE (Integrity Policy Enforcement) project, which is a Linux security module (LSM). The company attempts to solve the code integrity problem for Linux. A feature for Linux designed for immutable and embedded systems (e.g., network firewall devices in a data center or Linux-servers running strict and immutable configurations and applications) that enable additional security features. Microsoft launched Azure Cloud Switch service, based on Linux. The IPE is currently in an RFC (request for comments) state and would take time before it ships with the actual Linux kernel.
On IPE enabled Linux systems, system administrators can create a list of binaries allowed to execute and then add the verification attributes the kernel needs to check for each binary before allowing it to run. If binaries altered by an attacker, IPE can block the execution of the malicious code.
IPE, similar to SELinux, supports two modes of operation:
- Permissive: performs the same checks as enforce mode, and logs policy violations, but will not enforce the policy. It allows users to test policies before enforcing them
- Enforce