AN INTRODUCTION TO LINUX


Quiz 1 An Introduction to Linux

A history of linux



Developed in the 90’s by Linus Torvalds.

He developed a kernel that was to be used alongside Minix, a non-free system similar to Unix Released in 1991, and eventually combined with GNU to produce a free operating system.

Linux continued to grow and improve as the years went on.

The initial release prompted a number of volunteers to work with Torvalds to improve the kernel.

It started being used in larger scale systems for networking, database hosting and web hosting.



linux is an open-source distribution system



Linux isn’t like Windows or Mac OS X. Microsoft combines all the bits of Windows internally to produce each new release of Windows and distributes it as a single package. If you want Windows, you’ll need to choose one of the versions Microsoft is offering.


Linux works differently. The Linux operating system isn’t produced by a single organization. Different organizations and people work on different parts.


There’s the:

Linux kernel (the core of the operating system)

The GNU shell utilities (the terminal interface and many of the commands you use)

The X server (which produces a graphical desktop)

The desktop environment (which runs on the X server to provide a graphical desktop) System services, graphical programs, terminal commands – many are developed independently from another. They’re all open-source software distributed in source code form.



LINUX DISTRIBUTIONS



You’ve probably heard of Linux distributions which are often shortened to "Linux distros"

When deciding to use Linux on a desktop computer or server you’ll first need to choose a distro.

The top 10 Linux distributions are:

Linux Mint

Ubuntu

Fedora

Debian

OpenSUSE

PCLinuxOS

CentOS

Mageia

Slackware Linux

Crunchbang Linux


















PACKAGE MANAGEMENT



One of the things that sets Linux apart from other operating systems is the way software is installed and managed. Traditionally when you wanted to install software on the Windows operating system you would find the software, download the software, and install the software. These are steps that the end user has to perform one-by-one. Imaging browsing the web for an application, downloading that application to your “Downloads” folder, double clicking on the download to start the installation process and then answering a series of questions to finally install the software. To install software on a Linux system you use the package manager that comes with the distribution. To install a new piece of software you search for it and install it from the operating system itself. The package manager takes care of downloading the desired software along with any required dependencies and then installs all of the components. Not only can package managers control applications, they can also manage the operating system itself. A package manager can update and upgrade the system and all of its installed applications to latest versions. Software and applications are bundled into packages and Linux distributions are categorized by these package types.

The three basic types of packages are:

Debian (.DEB)

RedHat Package Manager (RPM)

and other distributions.


Debian Based Linux Distributions - use the .DEB package manager

Debian

Ubuntu

Linux Mint

SteamOS


RedHat Based Linux Distributions - use RPM (Redhat Package Manager)

RedHat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)

CentOS

Fedora

OpenSuse

Mageia


Other Linux Distributions- Not all

Arch Linux - uses Pacman Package Manager

Slackware Linux - uses pkgtools and slackpkg

Gentoo Linux - uses Portage Package Manager




linux keywords



Unix - Operating system written in C.


Linux - is a clone of Unix GNU Another free operating system as well as a collection of software. Can work alongside Linux.


Kernel - A program that controls everything in the system, found in the OS



breaking down the operating system



The Operating System is comprised of a number of different components:

Bootloader - (boots up the operating system)

Kernel

Daemon(s)

Shell

Graphical (X) Server

Desktop Environment

Applications


Without the operating system software wouldn’t function.

The and all of its components manage the communication between the software and hardware, so without it, nothing can run!