What is Linux?

botond published March 2018, 04, Thu - 12:22 time

What is Linux?

Az Operating System the program that needs to be connected to all the hardware and get them to behave properly. The operating system software handles all the hardware and runs other software at your command. You, as a user, enter commands by selecting menus, clicking icons, or typing mysterious text. THE Linux an operating system like Unix, Mac OS, or Windows. The Linux operating system is modeled on Unix; in its most basic, no-frills form, the Linux operating system is also called the Linux kernel.

The most important task of an operating system is to load software (computer programs) from the hard disk (or other storage device) into memory and get the CPU to run these programs. Everything that you do with your computer is possible due to the operating system, so if for some reason something goes wrong with the operating system, the whole system freezes. Fortunately, Linux almost never happens - it's known for being a very reliable operating system.

Linux is one multi-user, multi-tasking Operating System. These terms mean that multiple users can log on to Linux and each user can run multiple programs at the same time. Nowadays, almost all operating systems are multi-user and multi-tasking, but when Linux first appeared in 1993, multi-user and the multi-tasking there were still significant distinguishing factors.

 

Short story

The Linux operating system was developed on the Internet by a huge team of volunteers. The work was started in 1990 by Linus Torvalds, a Finnish university student who originally treated the creation of an operating system as a study task. Since then, like the avalanche of Linux, it has grown enormously and become a full-featured Unix clone that is the most diverse
can run applications.
Linux is a powerful, fast and free software that is gaining popularity in the online world.

The Linux operating system is governed by the GNU General Public License and is protected by the same copyright protection as the Free Software Foundation programs developed by The license allows anyone to distribute and modify the programs (for free or for a fee), provided that all modifications and distributions remain freely redistributable. "Free software" refers to freedom of use, not royalty.

Linux is a real exception to the "get what you pay for" principle. Although Linux is free, performance, features, and reliability leave nothing to be desired. The strength of Linux stems from the way it is developed and updated. Developers from around the world are working together to add features. Users are constantly downloading incremental versions and testing them on systems with different configurations. Linux updates go through much more stringent beta testing than any commercial software!

 

Getting Linux

Linux does not exist in one form: you can get several different distributions of the software. Examples include Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora, Red Hat, SUSE, Gentoo or Slackware. Distributions contain everything you need to run a complete Linux system: the kernel, basic utilities, libraries, support files, and applications. Linux distributions can be obtained for free from many online sources, such as the Internet. All major distributions are independent FTP has a page and a website. Let's see some examples:

Many more Linux distribution can be found and each of them contains the Linux kernel and the following major software packages:

  • The X Window System (X11 or X for short): This is a display protocol that allows window management on different viewers. X provides the basic framework for building GUI environments (drawing windows, moving on the screen, operating the keyboard, mouse).
  • X-based window managers and / or graphical desktop environments: Window managers provide only the most basic window management. Examples include OpenBox, FVWM, Fluxbox, IceWM, and more. These usually only include creating and moving windows, and possibly one or two more menus. Desktop environments, on the other hand, provide a complete, modern user interface with a number of additional software packages. The most well-known desktop environments: Gnome, KDE, LXDE, XFCE, etc.
  • Selected applications: Linux programs are available in the form of ready-to-run software, but also have their source code and documentation.

Today's Linux distributions contain a wide variety of software - so much so that some distributions usually fit on more than one DVD.

Most Linux distributions come with a Live CD / Live DVD, which is good enough to boot into a fully functioning Linux system so you can try it without having to install anything on your computer. Many can be downloaded separately for each desktop environment. These will help you decide which distribution and which desktop environment you want to use. In addition, Live CDs / DVDs can be used to assess whether all of your computer's hardware is recognized by Linux.

 

We interpret the version numbers

The Linux kernel - and every Linux distribution - has its own version number. Other software included in Linux distributions (such as Gnome or KDE) also have their own version number. The versions of the Linux kernel and the Linux distributions have nothing to do with each other, but both have their own significance.

The Linux kernel version numbers

After 1994. March 14 The 1.0 version of the Linux kernel was released, and the loose Linux development community has developed a numbering system. Numbers such as 1.xy or the 2.xyin which x doubles were considered stable versions. The last number is y the level of improvement that increases with the resolution of problems. For example, 2.6.14 is an average stable version of the Linux kernel. These versions consist of three parts - főverzió.alverzió.javítás form.

Versions where the subversion is unmatched are for developers only beta; they may not be stable, so do not install such versions for everyday use. For example, if you crash into the 2.7.5 version of the Linux kernel, the 7 version of the sub-version warns you that it is a beta version. Developers are adding new features to these odd versions of Linux.

For example, about Linux kernel versions www.kernel.org English page or Wikipedia page.

Distribution own version numbers

Each Linux distribution also has its own version number. These versions are usually the xy format, where x a The main version, y and it is subversion.

Unlike the Linux kernel version numbers, the odd and odd subversion numbers are not associated with any special meaning here. Each version of a given Linux distribution contains specific versions of the Linux kernel and other major components such as GNOME, KDE and many applications.

Developers of active Linux distributions usually release new versions of their distribution on a regular basis, approximately every six to nine months. For example, Ubuntu 16.04 is 2016. was released on April 21, and the 15.10 version was released on October 2015. Usually, every new major release of a Linux distribution has important new features.

Debian always has at least three versions at any given time - one stable, one not stable, and one test version.

  • Stabile: Most users prefer this type of release because it is the latest officially released distribution.
  • Unstable: Developers are working on this release.
  • test: This version contains packages that have already been tested at some level but are not yet ready to be loaded into the stable version.

 

Linux Standard Base (LSB)

Linux has become important enough to bring out a standard, the Linux Standard Base (LSB for short). LSB is a set of code standards designed to reduce the differences between Linux distributions and to facilitate application portability. The idea behind LSB is to provide an interface for applications to run on any LSB-compliant Linux (or other Unix) system.

I will not go into the details of this in this article, more information about LSB is in encyclopedia It is located.

 

Areas of application

Linux systems can be found in a variety of places: supercomputers, mainframes, servers, network and storage devices, desktops, notebooks, industrial devices, mobile phones, or even the refrigerator. In many respects, these systems are built from the same elements, but the end user achieves all of this on different interfaces. Outstanding among these interfaces is the command line interface (CLI), which is available in some form on all machines, usually through a screen and keyboard, network, or serial line.

Consumer devices (PCs, tablets, mobile phones) are usually available on a graphical interface. Within this, the basic tool for interfaces used on PCs is the window system, which allows you to run and switch between multiple applications at the same time. Tablets and mobile phones solve this problem differently. Finally, devices that are not directly connected to the screen, but that communicate with the user in a unique way with other peripherals, should not be overlooked.

 

Resources used:

  • Tony Bautts - Terry Dawson - Gregor N. Purdy: A Guide for Linux Network Administrators (2005)
  • Péter Mátó, Gábor Rózsár, Máté Őry, Sándor Csaba Varga, Gábor Zahemszky: 20/80 - Unix and Linux basics for system administrators (2014)
  • Emmett Dulaney: Linux - 7 Book in 1 (2016)
  • Wikipedia