Linux Operating System
The author of the first Linux, Linus Torvaalds created Linux as a Unix-style operating system written to run on i386 platforms (Intel based and Intel compatible machines). Linux is not a 'port' or copy of Unix, but it's own operating system developed with the same concepts in mind. There are several 'versions' of Linux, and most are derivatives of the Linus Torvaalds version, but some are derived from the actual System V code, and there is even a variant from the BSD Unix line called FreeBSD. All these different versions of linux are all called 'distributions'.
Linux has the advantage of being available as 'open source', which means that the instruction statements, called 'source code' that the OS was compiled from is freely available and can be modified without violating the license in most cases, so long as no money is charged for the distribution.
Because it is 'open source', thousands of people have encountered errors, security concerns and other issues, tracked down the source code, repaired it themselves, and posted the solution on the Internet where others can download and use it. (See SourceForge ). With as many people use this operating system, it has far fewer bugs than you would expect from a package that by and large is not commercially produced. In fact, it has been argued that Linux has fewer 'bugs' in it than Windows in most cases.
Linux is very Unix-ish by design, and therefore is quite stable and robust. This is primarilly because the Linux kernel prevents direct access to the computer's hardware, the main cause of nearly every Windows crash.
LINUX DISTRIBUTIONS
Red Hat
Mandrake
Slackware
Debian
SuSE
LINUX COMPONENTS
- The Kernel
- Devices/Drivers
- Shells
- Graphical User Interface (GUI)
USING LINUX
- Logging In
- Navigating the Filesystem
LINUX ADMINISTRATION
- Installation
- Startup
- Shutdown
- Adding Users
- Adding Groups
- Configuring Networking
- Configuring Services
- Backups
- Logging and Auditing