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    What Is Linux

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    Sakthi Sathyan
    Linux is an open-source operating system that was first created in 1991 and has since grown into a large ecosystem powering many devices. It is developed collaboratively by thousands of developers from hundreds of companies, with each contributing to ongoing support and innovation. This collaborative development model has resulted in widespread software improvements at a lower overall cost compared to proprietary operating systems developed by single companies.

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    What Is Linux

    Uploaded by

    Sakthi Sathyan
    11 views2 pages
    Linux is an open-source operating system that was first created in 1991 and has since grown into a large ecosystem powering many devices. It is developed collaboratively by thousands of developers from hundreds of companies, with each contributing to ongoing support and innovation. This collaborative development model has resulted in widespread software improvements at a lower overall cost compared to proprietary operating systems developed by single companies.

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    What is Linux

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    Linux is an open-source operating system that was first created in 1991 and has since grown into a large ecosystem powering many devices. It is developed collaboratively by thousands of developers from hundreds of companies, with each contributing to ongoing support and innovation. This collaborative development model has resulted in widespread software improvements at a lower overall cost compared to proprietary operating systems developed by single companies.

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    11 views2 pages

    What Is Linux

    Uploaded by

    Sakthi Sathyan
    Linux is an open-source operating system that was first created in 1991 and has since grown into a large ecosystem powering many devices. It is developed collaboratively by thousands of developers from hundreds of companies, with each contributing to ongoing support and innovation. This collaborative development model has resulted in widespread software improvements at a lower overall cost compared to proprietary operating systems developed by single companies.

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    of 2

    What is Linux?

    Linux is, in simplest terms, an operating system. It is the software on a computer that enables
    applications and the computer operator to access the devices on the computer to perform desired
    functions. The operating system (OS) relays instructions from an application to, for instance, the
    computer's processor. The processor performs the instructed task, then sends the results back to
    the application via the operating system.

    Explained in these terms, Linux is very similar to other operating systems, such as Windows and
    OS X.

    But something sets Linux apart from these operating systems. The Linux operating system
    represented a $25 billion ecosystem in 2008. Since its inception in 1991, Linux has grown to
    become a force in computing, powering everything from the New York Stock Exchange to
    mobile phones to supercomputers to consumer devices.

    As an open operating system, Linux is developed collaboratively, meaning no one company is


    solely responsible for its development or ongoing support. Companies participating in the Linux
    economy share research and development costs with their partners and competitors. This
    spreading of development burden amongst individuals and companies has resulted in a large and
    efficient ecosystem and unheralded software innovation.

    Over 1,000 developers, from at least 100 different companies, contribute to every kernel release.
    In the past two years alone, over 3,200 developers from 200 companies have contributed to the
    kernel--which is just one small piece of a Linux distribution.

    This article will explore the various components of the Linux operating system, how they are
    created and work together, the communities of Linux, and Linux's incredible impact on the IT
    ecosystem.

    Section 1: What Is UNIX?


    UNIX is an operating system. The job of an operating system is to orchestrate the various parts
    of the computer -- the processor, the on-board memory, the disk drives, keyboards, video
    monitors, etc. -- to perform useful tasks. The operating system is the master controller of the
    computer, the glue that holds together all the components of the system, including the
    administrators, programmers, and users. When you want the computer to do something for you,
    like start a program, copy a file, or display the contents of a directory, it is the operating system
    that must perform those tasks for you.

    More than anything else, the operating system gives the computer its recognizable
    characteristics. It would be difficult to distinguish between two completely different computers,
    if they were running the same operating system. Conversely, two identical computers, running
    different operating systems, would appear completely different to the user.
    UNIX was created in the late 1960s, in an effort to provide a multiuser, multitasking system for
    use by programmers. The philosophy behind the design of UNIX was to provide simple, yet
    powerful utilities that could be pieced together in a flexible manner to perform a wide variety of
    tasks.

    The UNIX operating system comprises three parts: The kernel, the standard utility programs, and
    the system configuration files.

    The kernel

    The kernel is the core of the UNIX operating system. Basically, the kernel is a large program that
    is loaded into memory when the machine is turned on, and it controls the allocation of hardware
    resources from that point forward. The kernel knows what hardware resources are available (like
    the processor(s), the on-board memory, the disk drives, network interfaces, etc.), and it has the
    necessary programs to talk to all the devices connected to it.

    The standard utility programs

    These programs include simple utilities like cp, which copies files, and complex utilities, like the
    shell that allows you to issue commands to the operating system.

    The system configuration files

    The system configuration files are read by the kernel, and some of the standard utilities. The
    UNIX kernel and the utilities are flexible programs, and certain aspects of their behavior can be
    controlled by changing the standard configuration files. One example of a system configuration
    file is the filesystem table "fstab" , which tells the kernel where to find all the files on the disk
    drives. Another example is the system log configuration file "syslog.conf", which tells the kernel
    how to record the various kinds of events and errors it may encounter.

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