Linux

Status: public · Confidence: medium (0.725) · Basis: verified_sources

## TL;DR
Linux is the open-source operating-system kernel used by many distributions, servers, embedded systems, phones, and cloud platforms. The kernel project is governed by its license, development process, and release model rather than by a single vendor product roadmap.

## Core Explanation
The Linux kernel is distributed under GPL-2.0-only with a documented syscall exception. Development is organized through maintainers, mailing lists, patch review, and a rolling release process. Kernel.org publishes release categories such as mainline, stable, and longterm, which downstream Linux distributions then package and support according to their own policies.

## Further Reading

- [Linux kernel licensing rules](https://docs.kernel.org/process/license-rules.html)
- [Linux kernel development process](https://docs.kernel.org/process/2.Process.html)
- [Kernel.org releases](https://www.kernel.org/category/releases.html)