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What is Linux?Linux is a free UNIX work alike operating system. It basically allows you to turn your PC into a UNIX workstation without the enormous cost. It comes with full source code and oodles of UNIX freeware including the GNU C (and C++) compiler, Perl and Tcl/Tk. Linux runs on a variety of computer architectures, including ARM, SPARC, Alpha, PowerPC, M68k, MIPS, and Intel. Linux is free on the Internet and you can purchase CD-ROMs with Linux for about US $30-$50. Major companies are now endorsing Linux as a platform for their wares, including IBM, Hewlett-Packard, Silicon Graphics, Apple Computer, Oracle, Informix, and Sybase. Linux is used by a number of companies, primarily as a server, and by countless individuals, often as a home UNIX system. For students new to linux it is strongly advisable that you view the ofical red hat linux Getting Started Guide. This is available at file:///usr/share/doc/rhl-gsg-en-7.3/index.html Short History of LinuxThe roots of Linux can be traced back to the origins of Unix TM. In 1969, Ken Thompson of the Research Group at Bell Laboratories began experimenting on a multi-user, multi-tasking operating system using an otherwise idle PDP-7. Dennis Richie soon joined him and the two of them, along with other members of the Research Group produced the early versions of Unix TM. Richie was strongly influenced by an earlier project, MULTICS and the name Unix TM is itself a pun on the name MULTICS. Early versions were written in assembly code, but the third version was rewritten in a new programming language, C. C was designed and written by Richie expressly as a programming language for writing operating systems. This rewrite allowed Unix TM to move onto the more powerful PDP-11/45 and 11/70 computers then being produced by DIGITAL. The rest, as they say, is history. Unix TM moved out of the laboratory and into mainstream computing and soon most major computer manufacturers were producing their own versions. Linux was the solution to a simple need. The only software that Linus Torvalds, Linux's author and principle maintainer was able to afford was Minix. Minix is a simple, Unix TM like, operating system widely used as a teaching aid. Linus was less than impressed with its features, his solution was to write his own software. He took Unix TM as his model as that was an operating system that he was familiar with in his day-to-day student life. He started with an Intel 386 based PC and started to write. Progress was rapid and, excited by this, Linus offered his efforts to other students via the emerging worldwide computer networks, then mainly used by the academic community. Others saw the software and started contributing. Much of this new software was itself the solution to a problem that one of the contributors had. Before long, Linux had become an operating system. It is important to note that Linux contains no Unix TM code, it is a rewrite based on published POSIX standards. Linux is built with and uses a lot of the GNU (GNU's Not Unix TM) software produced by the Free Software Foundation in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Where do I get Linux
Linux is available in several formats, called "distributions". Each distribution has it's own set
of features and functionality that makes it unique. Some distributions are available for
download at no charge. Others are provided on CD or floppy disk and have a (usually)
nominal charge associated with them. If you don't have a
high-speed connection to Internet or a drive that writes to blank CDs then
downloading is probably not the best way for you to
get a full-featured Linux distribution. You can, though, depending on your
location, get Linux free in magazines or from
retailers that will sell you a distribution on one or more CDs at very
low cost. Distributions obtained in this way do not usually include
documentation or support. There are also many books that include a Linux distribution.
The main Linux distributions include:
Which is the best distributionUnfortunately theres no easy answer to this question. Each distribution has its advantages and disadvantages. Mandrake for example is easy to install relative to other distributions of linux. SUse on the other hand has an easy to use system administration tool called "yast". Not only does this program install the SuSE distribution for you, it is also always there when you need to configure the system, long after the installer has disappeared. Slackware is not equipped with a graphical installer so this distribution would be more difficult to install particularly to somebody new to the operating system. The best solution to the dilemma is to evaluate the distribution that you already have. With time you should become more comfortable with the operating system to explore different versions yourself. Installing LinuxThe first thing you need to do when installing Linux is set up a partition for it. Disk partitions have been around since the earliest DOS hard disk days. Basically, what you need to do is reserve space for Linux and separate that space from that used by any other OS, such as Windows. Typically, you create a Linux partition for data, and another, smaller, partition for swap space. Since Windows comes pre-installed on most PCs, this means you must go through an extra step to install any non-Windows OS. To some, setting up a partition makes Linux harder to install. But, this task is necessary for BeOS or any other OS you install on PC hardware, including Windows NT. Linux on LaptopsLinux will operate as normal on laptops. There are however a number of problem points to watch out for. Most Linux installs involve a boot floppy, a supplemental floppy, and a CD. Thus, you need to access both the floppy and the CD-ROM at the same time. Smaller laptops often shed these devices to save on weight and power consumption. You can get around a missing floppy or CD-ROM drive, but it makes your work harder. Linux Commands
Man command where command is the specific command on which you want information on. The following is a summary of some of the common commands and some examples related to their use. ls:List Directoryls denotes list directory contents. This command lists the contents of the current directory. Directories are denoted by / after the name of the directory. There are many options available with this command. Some of the more useful ones are:
Consult the man pages for more detailed explaination of optional parameters. cd:Change Directorycd is a common Unix/linux command for navigating between directories. This command must be typed along with a directory name or pathname indicating that you wish to change to the named directory. Some examples of cd command are given below. Nonetheless you are advised to consult the man pages on cd command for further information.
mkdir:make a Directory
mkdir is the Unix/linux command for creating a new directory or
folder in linux.The command format is
An alternative way of creating the subdirectory week1 inside examples would be to use the
following command:
pwd:Print Working DirectoryThe command pwd stands for print working directory. When you type pwd, you are asking your Linux system, "Where am I?" Your system respondes by displaying on monitor the directory you are in ()also known as the standard output). The following image shows the execution of the pwd command
Bash, the shell for your Linux system shows, by default, your current directory. To determine your current working directory use the following steps.
For more information view the man pages on pwd. At the terminal prompt type man pwd cp:Copy file
The CP command in linux is used to copy files from one location to another
or make a copy of an existing file. If the last argument names an existing directory,
cp copies each other given file into a file with the same name in that directory.
Otherwise, if only two files are given, it copies the first onto the second.
It is an error if the last argument is not a directory and more than two files are given.
By default, it does not copy directories. To copy a file from one directory to another simply cd into the
location of the file to be copied. Then type rmdir:Remove directory Directory
rmdir is linux command used to delete directories.
The command must be used with the name of the directory you wish to delete. For example to delete
the directory week1 one would use the following syntax:
rm:remove file
rm removes each specified file. By default, it does not remove directories.
If a file is unwritable, the standard input is a tty, and the -f or --force option is not given,
rm prompts the user for whether to remove the file. If the response does not begin with `y' or `Y',
the file is skipped. GNU rm, like every program that uses the getopt function to parse
its arguments, lets you use the -- option to indicate that all following arguments are non-options.
To remove a file called `-f' in the current directory, you could type either
The mv command is used in linux/Unix to move a file(s) to a new location or
rename a file.If the last argument names an existing directory, mv moves each other given file
into a file with the same name in that directory.For example: Other Linux CommandsThe following commands may prove useful from time to time. They are not as commonly used as the above but are still quite useful.
Linux InterfacesOne of the main areas that separate Linux applications from Windows or MacOs apps lies in the area of interface standards. Linux provides the freedom to use any user interface-programming library you choose. That's the good side. You can experiment with new interface styles and find the one you like. The bad side is that there is no single standard for user interfaces on Linux. Thus, one application doesn't always look like the next. Worse yet, the skills you learn for navigating a particular application don't transfer well to other applications. This can be a real drawback towards ease of use on Linux. It used to be that the UNIX world faced interface wars between OpenLook, from Sun and AT&T, and Motif, from everybody else. Eventually, that war faded away with Motif the clear winner, and long after UNIX lost any hope of capturing the desktop from Windows. Since Linux supports the X Window System, it gives you access to the full set of X programming APIs. The main development effort now revolves around KDE and GNOME. KDE and GNOMEKDE and GNOME are both complete world interfaces. Both work best with applications designed to fit into their factions. Both include a set of desktop applications, including window managers, file managers, and a framework for applications to communicate. Both KDE and GNOME provide programming APIs--different programming APIs, alas. RedHat chose GNOME and funds some of GNOME's development. (RedHat also includes KDE with its distributions, though. KDE, or K Desktop Environment is written in C++ and uses the semi-free Qt library from Troll Tech in Norway. A problem lies in the fact that Qt redefines C++, which means you must use Troll Tech's C++ preprocessor on all your applications. GNOME, is built on top of gtk, the GIMP toolkit, a C-based toolkit created to support the GIMP imaging application. Which desktop is best depends on personal opinion.
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Department of computer science and information systems University of limerick, limerick, Eire |
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