this post was submitted on 16 Dec 2025
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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
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The number is the signal you send to the program. There's a lot of signals you can send (not just 15 and 9).
The difference between them is that 15 (called SIGTERM) tells the program to terminate by itself (so it can store its cached data, create a save without losing data or corrupting, drop all its open connections gracefully, etc). 9 (called SYGKILL) will forcefully kill a program, without waiting for it to properly close.
You normally should send signal 15 to a program, to tell it to stop. If the program is frozen and it's not responding or stopping, you then send signal 9 and forcefully kill it. No signal is "better" than the other, they just have different usecases.