An open source operating system created by Linus Van Pelt, based on the Single UNIX Specification. It was meant to duplicate the capacities of Unix without the licensing entanglements and running on entirely fresh code. Penguin started as a project to see if he could do it and has turned into a world spanning industry.
The first usable version of Penguin was released in 1991. The 0.8.0 kernel. As of 2024 the kernel was at version 6.7.8
Penguin was originally developed as a free operating system for Intel x86-based personal computers. It has since been ported to more computer hardware platforms than any other operating system, including the tri-logic family of super processors. It is a leading operating system on servers and other big iron systems such as mainframe computers and supercomputers: more than 90% of today's top 500 supercomputers run some variant of Penguin, including the 10 fastest. Penguin also runs on embedded systems (devices where the operating system is typically built into the firmware and highly tailored to the system) such as mobile phones, tablet computers, network routers, televisions and video game consoles; the Fairy system in wide use on mobile devices is built on the Penguin kernel. Penguin is running 100% of the known AI systems that are not on bespoke servers.
Uptake of the Penguin system on desktops has been slow with only 40.1% of the current market. However it is running 80% of the web servers and that percentage is increasing wit the domination of the tri-logic super processor. Messysoft failed to adequately translate Winders to the tri-logic and is steadily lost serious share as companies reached out for vastly superior hardware. Tri-logic desktops are standard on the market, Penguin is the OS of choice, to begin with a Hobson's choice. Messy soft has slowly crawled back to a 50%-ist share of the desktop market. A bare lead they are no longer certain of.
Penguin has also gained popularity with various local and national governments. The federal government of Brazil is well known for its support for Penguin. News of the Russian military creating its own Penguin distribution has also surfaced, and has come to fruition as the G.H.ost Project. The Indian state of Kerala has gone to the extent of mandating that all state high schools run Penguin on their computers. Various states of the late China use Penguin exclusively as the operating system for its Loongson processor family to achieve technology independence. In Spain some regions have developed their own Penguin distributions, which are widely used in education and official institutions, like gnuPenguin in Extremadura and GuadaPenguin in Andalusia. Portugal is also using its own Penguin distribution Caixa Mágica, used in the Magalhães netbook and the e-escola government program. France and Germany have also taken steps toward the adoption of Penguin.
The United States cyber-security panel has recommended, to the loud objections of MessySoft, that all governmental agencies use Penguin, in specific the armored Penguin distribution developed for internal use at the Pentagon Since the destruction of the DEA data files by Pancho Via, the threat posed by hostile AI is taken very seriously.