Linux runs on low-end, inexpensive hardware platforms. You are able to build a network server using an old Intel 80386 system with 4 MB of RAM. Linux is powerful. Linux systems are very fast, because they fully exploit the features of the hardware components. The main Linux goal is efficiency, and indeed many design choices of commercial variants, like the STREAMS I/O subsystem, have been rejected by Linus because of their implied performance penalty. Linux developers are excellent programmers. Linux systems are very stable; they have a very low failure rate and system maintenance time. The Linux kernel can be very small and compact. It is possible to fit a kernel image, including a few system programs, on just one 1.44 MB floppy disk. As far as we know, none of the commercial Unix variants is able to boot from a single floppy disk. Linux is highly compatible with many common operating systems. Linux lets you directly mount filesystems for all versions of MS-DOS and Microsoft Windows, SVR4, OS/2, Mac OS X, Solaris, SunOS, NEXTSTEP, many BSD variants, and soon. Linux also is able to operate with many network layers, such as Ethernet (as well as Fast Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet, and 10 Gigabit Ethernet), Fiber Distributed Data Interface (FDDI), High Performance Parallel Interface (HIPPI), IEEE 802.11 (Wireless LAN), and IEEE 802.15 (Bluetooth). By using suitable libraries, Linux systems are even able to directly run programs written for other operating systems. For example, Linux is able to execute some applications written for MS-DOS, Microsoft Windows, SVR3 and R4, 4.4BSD, SCO Unix, Xenix, and others on the 80x86 platform.
Linux 运行在低端、廉价的硬件平台上；你可以用一个仅带有4M RAM的老旧Intel 80386系统来搭建网络服务器。Linux功能非常强大并且速度非常快，因为Linux的组件充分的地发挥了硬件的组件特性。Linux的主要目标是追求效率，而且实际上Linux的许多设计选择了商用Unix变种当中的一些做法——比如流I/O子系统，但是最终被Linus拒绝了；因为这样的设计隐含着性能的损失。Linux开发者是优秀的程序员；Linux系统非常稳定，它们的故障率和系统维修时间都非常低。Linux内核非常小巧而且紧凑。它使得在一个仅有1.44M的软盘上容纳一个内核镜像——包含一部分系统程序成为可能；据我们了解，没有一个Unix商用变种可以从单独一个软盘启动。Linux对许多通用的操作系统具有很强的兼容性。你可以在Linux中直接挂载其他操作系统支持的所有文件系统版本，这些操作系统有：MS-DOS、Windwos、SVR4， OS/2、Mac OS X、 Solaris、 SunOS、 NEXTSTEP、许多BSD的变种等等。Linux同样能够适配许多网络层的协议，比如：如以太网（以及快速以太网、千兆以太网和万兆以太网）、光纤分布式数据接口（FDDI）、高性能并行接口（HIPPI）、IEEE 802.11（无线局域网）和IEEE 802.15（蓝牙）；Linux甚至能够通过运用合适的库直接运行其他操作系统上的应用程序。比如，Linux可以执行一些运行在MS-DOS, Microsoft Windows, SVR3 and R4, 4.4BSD, SCO Unix, Xenix等其他80x86平台的程序。
Linux is well supported. Believe it or not, it may be a lot easier to get patches and updates for Linux than for any proprietary operating system. The answer to a problem often comes back within a few hours after sending a message to some newsgroup or mailing list. Moreover, drivers for Linux are usually available a few weeks after new hardware products have been introduced on the market. By contrast, hardware manufacturers release device drivers for only a few commercial operating systems—usually Microsoft’s. Therefore, all commercial Unix variants run on a restricted subset of hardware components. With an estimated installed base of several tens of millions, people who are used to certain features that are standard under other operating systems are starting to expect the same from Linux. In that regard, the demand on Linux developers is also increasing. Luckily, though, Linux has evolved under the close direction of Linus and his subsystem maintainers to accommodate the needs of the masses.
Linux能提供多种支持功能。不管你信不信，Linux比那些专用的操作系统更轻易得获得补丁包和更新包；你只要把问题发送给相应的新闻组或邮件组就可以在几个小时之内得到响应。另外，在新的硬件产品进入市场之后短暂的几周之内就可以获得相应的Linux驱动程序；相比之下，硬件生产商只会向一小部分的商用操作系统供应商（微软）发布硬件驱动。因此，所有的Unix变种操作系统只能运行在一个受限的硬件组件子集中。据估计，Linux系统的安装总量已达数千万，许多用惯了其他某些操作系统下某些标准特性的用户开始期待Linux能够提供相应的功能。在这方面，Linux开发者的数量仍然在不断增长。幸运的是，Linux在Linus和其他子系统维护人员的密切指导之下不断发展，以满足大众的要求。