Lintel is a portmanteau used to describe a computing platform consisting of the Linux operating system running on CPUs which are compatible with the x86 instruction set defined by Intel for their microprocessors. In Computing, a platform describes some sort of Hardware architecture or Software framework (including Application frameworks, that allows Linux (commonly pronounced ˈlɪnəks An operating system (commonly abbreviated OS and O/S) is the software component of a Computer system that is responsible for the management and coordination See also X86 assembly language The generic term x86 refers to the most commercially successful Instruction set architecture in the history of Personal
Contents |
Origins
- This section misrepresents the requirements of Unix operating systems and forgets x86 systems like XENIX, SCO Unix or Coherent. Xenix is a version of the Unix Operating system, licensed by Microsoft from AT&T in the late 1970s SCO OpenServer, previously SCO UNIX and SCO Open Desktop ( SCO ODT) is a closed source version of the Unix computer Operating system The Coherent Operating system was a Unix Version 7 clone by the now-defunct Mark Williams Company, originally produced for the PDP-11
As Unix and Unix-like operating systems make use of hardware memory protection, the first x86 processors were inadequate for them (8088, 8086 and 80186 had no protected mode, and the protected mode of 80286 was felt to be poorly implemented). Unix (officially trademarked as UNIX, sometimes also written as Unix with Small caps) is a computer A Unix-like (sometimes shortened to *nix) Operating system is one that behaves in a manner similar to a Unix system while not necessarily conforming In computing protected mode, also called protected virtual address mode, is an operational mode of X86 -compatible Central processing units (CPU When Intel's 80386 arrived, complete with a memory management unit, it was only a matter of time until Unix-like operating systems would be written for the PC platform. A memory management unit ( MMU) sometimes called paged memory management unit ( PMMU) is a Computer hardware component responsible for handling IBM PC compatible computers are those generally similar to the original IBM PC, XT, and AT. The first of those was 386BSD, and a Linux kernel for use with the GNU system soon followed. 386BSD, sometimes called " JOLIX " is a free BSD Unix Operating system for PC compatible computer systems based GNU ( pronounced) is a computer Operating system composed entirely of Free software. Linus Torvalds wrote the kernel on his 386 machine, and it became the leading Unix-like operating system for the PC. Linus Benedict Torvalds ( ˈtuːrvalds born December 28 1969 in Helsinki, Finland) is a Finnish software engineer The "Lintel" platform was thus born, though not named as such at its first years. Though Linux has been ported to several other architectures, x86 hardware remains its principal platform.
Intel and Linux
The name "Lintel" is based on "Wintel", the standard appellation for the ubiquitous Windows on Intel platform. Though Microsoft and Intel seem to be working in full concert, the fact is they have been in competition with each other for a long time. Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational Computer technology Corporation, which rose to dominate the Home computer Microsoft turned to other chip makers for its pocket PCs and games consoles, while Intel worked with Linux developers on improving hardware support. A Pocket PC, abbreviated P/PC or PPC, is a hardware Specification for a Handheld -sized Computer ( Personal digital assistant Of note is that Intel first tested its IA-64 chips on Linux, as Microsoft was in no rush to provide a 64-bit version of Windows for them. Itanium is the brand name for 64-bit Intel Microprocessors that implement the Intel Itanium architecture (formerly called IA-64) (Microsoft later sided with AMD's 64-bit AMD64 (x86-64), because it offered quality 32-bit backwards compatibility. x86-64 is a Superset of the x86 instruction set architecture. )
Significance
The chief significance of the Lintel platform is the eruption of Unix into the PC world. Unix had hitherto been confined to expensive hardware. With the coming of Unix to commodity PC hardware, it also had to adapt to the demands of mainstream PC users, such as consistent, easy-to-use graphical user interfaces. The desktop environments KDE and GNOME were developed for Lintel PCs, and from there they spread onto the rest of the Unix world, replacing outdated systems like CDE, even on proprietary Unices. KDE ( K Desktop Environment) (ˌkeɪdiːˈiː is a Free software project which aims to be a powerful system for an easy-to-use Desktop environment. A gnome is a Mythical creature characterized by its extremely small size and subterranean lifestyle The Common Desktop Environment ( CDE) a Graphical Desktop environment for Unix, leverages the Motif Widget toolkit
Also, for parts of the world where pricing is a serious issue, Lintel serves as a budget solution. The hardware being already cheap enough, as x86 hardware is, the remaining issue with Wintel is the price of the software license for Windows; Lintel PCs are affordable even for low budgets.
See also
References
Wintel (Now often referred to as "PC" is a term used to describe desktop Computers and servers of the type commonly used in homes and businesses since The Apple Intel transition was the process of changing the CPU of Macintosh Computers from PowerPC processors to Intel X86Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic