What is Linux?

Linux is the widely used operating system that is used in most security areas like banking across the globe. Many firms use this operating system to enhance security and increase data confidentiality from hackers. Even though many operating systems were available in the market, the importance of this operating system has not decreased in the market. Do you know why? Read the following article to know the details

Let's start our discussion with,

What is an operating system?

An Operating system is software that manages all the hardware resources, associated with a laptop(or) desktop. This operating system is responsible for managing the communication between the software as well as the hardware. Moreover, no software would work without an operating system.

What is Linux?

Similar to Windows and iOS,  Linux is an operating system. It is one of the most powerful platforms available on this planet. As an operating system, the Linux software sits below the other software on the computer. This software receives requests from those programs and relays these requests to the computer hardware. This platform was designed similar to the UNIX and is capable of running on a variety of platforms from phones to supercomputers. Since Linux operating system is open-source, the combination of software may vary among the Linux distributions.

Know more on Linux from real-time professionals at Linux Online Training

What is the benefit of the Open Source Operating system?

a)It has the freedom to run the program for any purpose.

b)It has the freedom to study how the program works and allows the user to make the changes

c)It also allows the user to distribute the modified versions to the others.

What does the Linux Operating system consist of?

The Linux operating system comprises of several pieces. They are:

a)Boot loader: This is a software that manages the boot process of the computer. For most users, it might be a splash screen that pops up and eventually goes away to boot an operating system

b)Kernel: This is the core of the system that manages CPU, memory, and peripheral devices. It is the operating system's lower level.

c)Init System: This is a subsystem that bootstraps the user space and is charged with the controlling daemons. Systemd is one of the most widely used init system. This system is responsible for managing the boot process once the initial booting is handed over from the boot loader.

d)Daemons: These are the background services that startup during the boot (or) when you log in to the system.

e)Graphical Server: This is the subsystem that displays graphics on the monitor. It is commonly called the ‘X’ Server (or) X.

f)Desktop Environment: This is a piece that the users interact with. They are many desktop environments to choose from. Each desktop environment includes built-in applications such as file managers, configuration tools, web browsers, and games.

g)Applications: Desktop environments don’t offer a full array of apps. Just like windows and Mac Os, Linux offers thousands of applications that can be easily installed.

How Linux is different from other operating systems?

In many ways, Linux is similar to the other operating system that you have used before. Like another operating system, Linux has a graphical interface and has rich software like word processors, photo editors, video editors, and so on. In the most number of ways, the software creator has made the Linux version of the same program to use on the other systems. On the other hand,

Firstly, Linux is an open-source operating system. The code used to create Linux is free and is available for the users to view, edit for the users with appropriate skills. Even though the core pieces of the Linux operating systems were the same, many Linux distributions include different software operations. Linux users can choose the core components such as display graphics and other user interface components.

What are the Linux distributions?

Many agencies modified the Linux operating system and make their systems. This operating system is available in the different distribution in the market. It provides different flavors of Linux operating systems to the users.  Any user can choose any distribution according to the needs. Some of the popular Linux distributions are  Ubuntu, Fedora, Linux Mint, Debian, centosos, and many more.

For beginners, ubuntu and Linux mint were extremely useful. And for a proficient developer, Debian and Fedora will be a good choice.

How to use Linux?

We can use Linux as an interactive user interface as well as from the terminal. Different distributions have different distributions but almost all the commands will have the same behavior for all the distributions. You can run Linux from the terminal by pressing “Ctrl + Alt +T ”.  And to explore its functionality press the application button given on the left side of your desktop.

What is the difference between Linux and Unix?

Unix is an operating system developed in 1970 at Bell Labs by Ken Thomson. Linux and Unix were similar in many ways. Linux is created to be indistinguishable from Unix.  The major differences between Linux and Unix were as follows:

  • Linux is an open-source operating system and is freely available to everyone whereas Unix is also an operating system that can be used only by the copyrighters.
  • Linux suits best for the home user, developer as well as a student whereas Unix suits best for work stations, mainframes as well as servers.
  • Linux is freely distributed and downloaded whereas Unix Copyright vendors decide the different costs for their respective operating systems.
  • Linux supports more file system than Unix
  • Linux is just a kernel, whereas Unix is a complete system of packages.
  • It has higher security that has 60-100 viruses to date whereas Unix has 85-120 viruses to date.

Likewise, there are many differences between Linux and Unix. By reaching the end of this blog, I hope you people have gained enough information regarding Linux. When you interact with the operating system, you people can acquire practical knowledge on this operating system. And you can also get practical exposure to this platform from real-time working professionals at Linux Online Course. In the upcoming post of this blog, I'll be sharing the details on the installation and various commands of the Linux operating system. Meanwhile, have a look at our  Linux Interview Questions