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The primary difference between Linux and many other popular contemporary operating systems is that the Linux kernel and other components are free and open-source software. Linux is not the only such operating system, although it is by far the most widely used.<ref name="MarketShare09NOV">{{cite web|url = http://marketshare.hitslink.com/operating-system-market-share.aspx?qprid=8|title = Operating System Market Share|access-date = December 11, 2009|last = Operating System Market Share|date = November 2009|url-status=live|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100125022803/http://marketshare.hitslink.com/operating-system-market-share.aspx?qprid=8|archive-date = January 25, 2010|df = mdy-all}}</ref> Some [[free software license|free]] and [[open-source license|open-source software licenses]] are based on the principle of [[copyleft]], a kind of reciprocity: any work derived from a copyleft piece of software must also be copyleft itself. The most common free software license, the GNU General Public License (GPL), is a form of copyleft and is used for the Linux kernel and many of the components from the GNU Project.<ref>{{Cite web |title=What is Copyleft? – GNU Project – Free Software Foundation |url=https://www.gnu.org/licenses/copyleft.en.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151006133153/https://www.gnu.org/licenses/copyleft.en.html |archive-date=October 6, 2015 |access-date=2020-05-12 |website=www.gnu.org |language=en}}</ref>
Linux-based distributions are intended by developers for [[interoperability]] with other operating systems and established computing standards. Linux systems adhere to POSIX,<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.ukuug.org/newsletter/linux-newsletter/linux@uk21/posix.shtml | title = POSIX.1 (FIPS 151-2) Certification | url-status=live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120226091425/http://www.ukuug.org/newsletter/linux-newsletter/linux@uk21/posix.shtml | archive-date = February 26, 2012 | df = mdy-all }}</ref> [[Single UNIX Specification]] (SUS),<ref>{{cite web | title = How source code compatible is Debian with other Unix systems? | url = http://www.debian.org/doc/FAQ/ch-compat.en.html#s-otherunices | work = Debian FAQ | publisher = the Debian project | url-status=live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20111016004547/http://www.debian.org/doc/FAQ/ch-compat.en.html#s-otherunices | archive-date = October 16, 2011 | df = mdy-all }}</ref> [[Linux Standard Base]] (LSB), [[International Organization for Standardization|ISO]], and [[American National Standards Institute|ANSI]] standards where possible, although to date only one Linux distribution has been POSIX.1 certified, Linux-FT.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/0131 |title=Certifying Linux |last=Eissfeldt |first=Heiko |date=August 1, 1996 |publisher=Linux Journal |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160404122450/http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/0131 |archive-date=April 4, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.debian.org/doc/FAQ/ch-compat.en.html |title=The Debian GNU/Linux FAQ – Compatibility issues |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111010111215/http://www.debian.org/doc/FAQ/ch-compat.en.html |archive-date=October 10, 2011 |access-date=September 17, 2011}}</ref> [[The Open Group]] has tested and certified at least two Linux distributions as qualifying for the Unix trademark, [[EulerOS]] and [[Inspur K-UX]].<ref name="proven20230117">{{Cite web |last=Proven |first=Liam |date=2023-01-17 |title=Unix is dead. Long live Unix! |url=https://www.theregister.com/2023/01/17/unix_is_dead/ |url-status=live |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20250505230444/https://www.theregister.com/2023/01/17/unix_is_dead/ |archive-date=2025-05-05 |access-date=2025-05-13 |website=The Register |language=en}}</ref>
Free software projects, although developed through [[collaboration]], are often produced independently of each other. The fact that the software licenses explicitly permit redistribution, however, provides a basis for larger-scale projects that collect the software produced by stand-alone projects and make it available all at once in the form of a Linux distribution.
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