Linux is Open Source. That means, when you get the Linux operating system, along with Linux software, you also get the source code. If you don’t like something about the operating system or one of the programs, you just open up the code, change it, and recompile. Your obligation to the Open Source community, however, is to post this modified code online, for the masses to have access to it. What’s the big deal about all this? Well, it has made for programs that evolve to the user’s needs, and it also causes bugs to be eliminated from popular code, within hours of initial posting. People are happy to fix code they got and pass it along, and since this Open Source community spans the globe, the best programmers are improving programs around the clock.