Linux is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds.
A Linux distribution (often abbreviated as distro) is an operating system made from a software collection that includes the Linux kernel and often a package management system. Linux users usually obtain their operating system by downloading one of the Linux distributions, which are available for a wide variety of systems ranging from embedded devices (for example, OpenWrt) and personal computers (for example, Linux Mint) to powerful supercomputers (for example, Rocks Cluster Distribution).
Why Linux is used in server?
A Linux server is a variant of the Linux operating system that is designed to handle more intense storage and operational needs of larger organizations and their software. Linux servers are widely used today and considered amongst the most popular due to their stability, security, and flexibility, which outstrip standard Windows servers.
Another major benefit of using Linux over closed-source software like Windows is that the former is fully open-source. This helps keeps setup and maintenance costs low, as even many of the proprietary variants of the standard Linux OS (such as Debian, CentOS, Ubuntu, and Red Hat) give users significant flexibility in terms of set up, operation, and maintenance their servers.
Additionally, Linux Servers are generally lighter to run on both physical and cloud servers because they don’t require a graphics interface.
