Linux is an Operating System, that isn't that common for desktop machines, but is one of the most frequently used OSs for servers. It's 100 % free, so you will not have to pay any license charges as part of your hosting payments. Linux is also considered to be the most risk-free OS around and because of the permissions which files have as well as the file types that can be run, virus files that can easily infect an average computer system shall simply not be executed on a Linux-based server. Additionally, the OS is totally free, so it could be changed without any restrictions, as a way to satisfy the needs of the web hosting provider and their customers. This implies that unwanted software packages can easily be removed to make the OS lighter and quicker, which can directly result in a lot better hosting server performance. A large number of Linux machines have the Apache web server installed on them, because this program is also absolutely free, quick and reliable. It's the most commonly used web server available and is a part of the LAMP bundle that numerous script apps, like Joomla™ and WordPress, need. LAMP is an abbreviation for Linux, Apache, MySQL and PHP.