What is Linux/Unix?

Linux is an open-source operating system or a kernel developed in early 1990s by Finnish young and bright computer science engineer named Linus Torvalds and Free Software Foundation (FSF). It is available for 32 bit and 64 bit architecture systems. In this tutorial, we will discuss about basic introduction to Linux, installation of Linux Operating system, process management, software package update in Linux, logical volume management, Network configuration, Basic time troubleshooting in Linux, Job scheduling, Linux architecture, Linux boot process, symbolic link directories, create directories, and Hard and soft links creation, etc. So, this is the right place to learn Linux from beginner to advance level.

What is Linux?

Linux is an open-source Operating System (OS) that is available for both 32 bit and 64 bit architecture system. Linux functionality is quite similar to UNIX. The kernel is the program of the Linux Operating System which is required for the communication between hardware and software.

Distribution of Linux

There is the various distribution of Linux is available and some of them are free and some are commercial or enterprise distributions. These are as follows:

History of Linux

Linux was developed in early 1990s by Finnish young and bright computer science student named Linus Torvalds at the University of Helsinki. Linus now works for the Transmeta Corporation in Santa Clara, California. However, he is continuously working for Linux kernel also as well. Unix is one of the most popular OS globally due to its large support base and distributions. It was developed as a multitasking system between mini and mainframe computers. Linux is a freely distributable version of Unix. The Kernel is the lowest level core component of the Linux operating system.

Architecture of Linux

The Linux operation system works on some layers. Here is a basic bock diagram given below which is showing the basic architecture of the Linux OS.

Hardware: Hardware refers to all physical devices attached to the system such as hard disk drive, RAM, CPU, Motherboard. Printer, and Mouse, etc.

Kernel: “Kernal” is core component or in other words it is the heart of any (Linux) Operating System, which directly interacts with the hardware and provides low level services to upper level components. There are various functionalities provided by the Linux kernel listed below.

• Schedules programs
• Manages data/file access and storage
• Enforces security mechanisms
• Performs all hardware access
• Provides access to shell

Shell: Shell refers to the interface between a user and kernel. It takes input from the user and sends instructions to the kernel. Further, it also takes the output from kernel and sends the result back to the output shell.

Applications: These are the utility program that runs on the shell such as media player, any web browser, and text editor, etc.

User Interface: It is most important for every system which helps a user to interact with the system. It is of two types as follows:

1. Command Line Interface (CLI)
2. Graphical User Interface (GUI)