Linux (pronounced or, less frequently, ) is a Unix-like and mostly POSIX-compliant computer operating system (OS) assembled under the model of free and open-source software development and distribution. The defining component of Linux is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on 5 October 1991 by Linus Torvalds. The Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to describe the operating system, which has led to some controversy.

The Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA), a non-profit trade association, was created in 1982 as the Association of Better Computer Dealers (ABCD). ABCD later changed its name to the Computing Technology Industry Association to reflect the association's evolving role in the computer industry and in the U.S. business landscape at large. The 1990s was a period of growth as the association broadened the scope of its activities to address the needs of the expanding computer industry. Its initiatives increased to include networking, UNIX, imaging, mobile computing, and multimedia arenas. In an effort to monitor and take positions on public policy issues, the association added a full-time Director of Public Policy. In 2010, CompTIA added a new executive director for a newly named "Creating IT Futures] Foundation, its philanthropic arm that focuses on training and certifying low-income students and adults in IT, as well as returning veterans—and helping connect them with potential employers.