introduction to linux

10
May

Linux Introduction

Linux Introduction


 

Some historical fact for Linux:

In 1991, in Helsinki, Linus Torvalds began a project that later became the Linux kernel. He wrote the program specifically for the hardware as he wanted to use the functions of his new PC with an 80386 processor.

What is Linux?

Linux is an Operating System.

What is Operating System?

Low level software that supports a computer’s primitive function such as scheduling tasks and controlling peripherals.

Types of Operating System:

  1. System Software: System software are those software which incorporate the programs that are dedicated to manage the computer itself, such as the operating system, file management utilities, and disk operating system.For instance : Linux , Windows etc
  1. Application Software: Application software or simply applications, are often called productivity programs or end-user programs because they enable the user to complete. Specific examples of application software incorporate Microsoft Office, Excel and Outlook, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox and Skype.
  1. Utilized Software: Utilized Software or a business application is any software or set of computer programs used by business users to perform variety of business functions.  For instance: Antivirus, McAfee etc.

Finally we conclude: Linux is Open Source Operating System. Specifically Linux is System Software providing an interface between user and computer.

Advantages of Linux:

  • Linux is very durable.
  • Linux is less susceptible to computer malware.
  • Linux as compared to other OS is fast and does not slow down over time.
  • Old desktop/Laptops can be given new life using Linux OS
  • Linux has variety of distributors so we have many varieties in Linux.
  • Because there are many distributors you can freely access this software.
  • It’s a superior method of upgrading software

Disadvantages of Linux:

  • Many windows programs will not run in Linux thus requires a change.
  • There is a smaller selection of peripheral hardware drivers for Linux.
  • People who are new to Linux requires to learn this skill thoroughly in order to use the Operating System.

Features of Linux OS:

  • There are two prompts in Linux
    • $ -> Local user prompt
    • # -> Admin user prompt or Root Prompt
  • Commands are followed by switches but it does not matter in which order we are using switch.
    Example: ls –lrt is same as ls –rtl same as ls -l -r -t
  • Linux is case sensitive so using upper case will give different output and lower case different.
  • Linux is Open source operating system.
  • Several program are running at same time.
  • Several users on same machine at same time

Wild characters in Linux

S. No. Wild Characters Description
1 * Asterisk find any number of characters in a filename, including none.
2 ? Question mark find any single character.
3 [] Square brackets enclose a set of characters, any one of which may match single character at that position.
4 Hyphen used within [ ] denotes a range of characters
5 ~ Tilde at the beginning of a word expands to the name of home directory.