Linux Trivia Quiz

Answer: Nothing at all.

Linux is an open-source programme. Many nice people spent their own time and money developing it. You can download it free of charge on www.linux.org, and contribute to the project if you feel like it. Some versions of Linux do cost money.

Answer: Linus Torvalds, at the University of Helsinki (Finland).

Linus Torvalds, a student at the University of Helsinki in Finland, started developing Linux in 1991. It was originally based on Unix, the small cheap version of operating system Multics. The GNU project by the Free Software Foundation was also instrumental in making Linux what it is today.

Answer: a penguin.

Linus Torvalds thought penguins looked cuddly and reassuring, and also contented. For more details read this fun statement he wrote on http://www.linux.org/info/penguin.html
You can also view one of his favourite penguins:
http://www.cs.helsinki.fi/u/torvalds/linux_logo.gif

Answer: Red Hat

Red Hat is a major provider of Linux and other open-source programmes. It enables you to download the data you require from several locations in the world.

Answer: An organization dedicated to developing open source internet software.

Firefox is a cool internet browser that you can use under Linux (it works under Windows and Mac os too). It comes with many useful and easy options. For instance, I find its pop-ups blocker particularly cool. There are other browsers available for Linux, such as Opera.

They're all free, and in my experience they tend to work better and crash less than Explorer. And by the way, if you wanted to report a Linux bug, "Bugzilla" would be the way...

Answer: OpenOffice

OpenOffice is an open source programme (i.e. you can download it free). It works under Windows and Mac OS as well as Linux. It looks very much like MS Word with a few variations. It doesn't crash (in my experience). And if you find a bug to report (which happens mainly in the "release candidate" versions), the developers look into it almost immediately. Writer is the equivalent to MS Word.

Answer: True

There are only a few known viruses for Linux (some of them created only for testing purposes). The way Linux works makes viruses' lives very difficult, and there is also a relative lack of would-be virus-writers for Linux. However, Linux users should still be careful and update their programmes regularly.

Sadly, with the growing popularity of Linux, the number of viruses should increase too. However, it will take a long time to equal the thousands of Windows viruses - if it gets there at all.

Answer: I get CrossOver Office or Wine.

Wine (or its commercial version CrossOver Office) can be useful if you want to use Linux and Linux applications for stability, but you still rely on some Microsoft software. However, Linux has an ever-increasing number of programmes that do just the same as Microsoft's. The Ask your Boyfriend bit only works for me I'm afraid...

Answer: Yes

It's easy to have both operating systems on your computer. And you can access your documents from both systems. Moreover, OpenOffice will read Word documents, and even save its own documents to be Word-readable if you tell it to. There might be a problem of space, but only if your computer is old and/or if you have lots of files. Programmes are being developed to use both systems at the same time (Windows inside Linux for instance) but you can't do it straightaway.

Answer: True

The number of actual users is hard to tell, because the Linux providers are not control freaks, and not everyone thinks of registering (or knows where to do it). However, http://counter.li.org/ counted 4 million registrations in 1998, and 12 million in 2000. By late December 2003, there were over 13 million "registered" users, and an estimated 18 million actual users.