Welcome to the Linux World

Linux
• The Unix OS was originally designed to control
telephone switches for the Bell telephone network.
• It was designed to be highly stable and configurable.
• As it grew to maturity, it became popular for its
stability and processing power.
• Over the years, Unix went from solely a command
line environment to having a GUI.
• Its popularity led to a young university student’s
creation, during the early 1990s, of a Unix-like shell
that would work on Intel-based systems.
• This student was Linus Torvalds, and he created
Linus’ Unix, or Linux.
Comparing versions of Linux
• Since the creation of Linux, it has been a worldwide
group project, with Linus Torvalds controlling what
components go into the Linux kernel, or the core
components that make up the brains of the Linux OS.
• The only thing that is common to all versions of Linux is
the OS kernel.
• Beyond the kernel, there are applications that are used
with the kernel to give you a system that you can actually
use to accomplish tasks.
• Because it is that easy to make your own Linux system,
there are currently just about as many Linux systems as
there are tasks you want to accomplish with them.
Comparing versions of Linux
• When a group or company takes the Linux kernel,
combines it with a UI (shell), and then bundles in a
variety of applications, a distribution is created.
• All Linux distributions are cousins and have been
created with the same core components.
• There are a few major distributions of Linux, which
have changed over the years. The current major
distributions include
• ✦ Debian — GNU/Linux ✦ Knoppix
• ✦ Fedora Core — Red Hat ✦ Gentoo
• ✦ Slackware ✦ SUSE — openSUSE
• ✦ Ubuntu
Comparing versions of Linux
• The main difference among these distributions is
packaging.
• They all run the same kernel (or core), and most
applications they run are the same as well because
the applications are written to the kernel
specifications.
• The real difference is the wrapping material that ties
these elements together.
• In most cases, this wrapping includes an OS
installation tool and a packaging tool, which are
used to prepare applications for installation and
removal.
Comparing versions of Linux
• All distributions have a command line interface, and most also
include a variety of GUIs.
• Common Linux-based GUIs include XWindows with several
Window Managers, such as AfterStep, Black Box, Enlightenment,
IceWM, and Window Maker to name a few.
• In addition to these standard Window Managers, GNOME and KDE
are two complete desktop interfaces that are popular.
• Most distributions have packaging tools based on one of two
standards —
• Red Hat Package Manager (RPM) or Advanced Packaging Tool
(APT) — both of which offer the ability to install dependent
packages and resolve applications that conflict with each other.
• In addition to the Linux distributions I mention earlier, BSD Unix is
making several new inroads into the market. BSD started in the
1970s and has spawned many child distributions, such as FreeBSD,
OpenBSD, and PC-BSD.
Typical System Requirements
• Different Linux distributions have different system
requirements. To take a distribution at random, SUSE
Linux requires the following:
• ✦ 500 MHz modern processor or better
• ✦ 256MB of RAM or better
• ✦ 800MB of hard drive space
• ✦ 800 x 600 display
• Most distributions have similar installation
requirements and can install on substantially less
hardware, depending on the purpose of the installation.
• Linux runs on all the same hardware on which Windows
runs, as well as several hardware platforms on which
Windows does not run.
Typical System Requirements
• If you would like to test Linux, you can find several Live
CDs that allow you to boot the distribution directly from
the CD without installing any files on your hard drive.
• These Live CD versions include Ubuntu, Knoppix, and
others, which can be seen at www.linux.org/dist.
• A wide variety of file systems are supported by Linux;
some are journal based (such as ext3 and reiser) and
others are not (such as ext2).
• Journal based file systems keep track of writes to the
file system, and thereby provide better and faster
recoverability in the event of a system crash or power
loss.
Identifying GUI elements
• The GUI loads as a separate element on top of the core
command line OS. Even when you are using a GUI, you
will likely find occasions when you need to go back to the
command line or a command line window (a terminal
window) to accomplish your tasks.
• GNOME desktop environment is one of the popular GUI
environments for Linux.
• KDE is the other major desktop environment; and then
there are several other Window Managers that may be
used, such as Window Maker, IceWM, and FVWM95
(which looks like Windows 95), each giving you a
different interface for window management on your
Linux system.
Identifying GUI elements
• All GUI environments available for Linux have the
same basic features for window management and
work in conjunction with a file management
application.
• The major differences between these systems are in
the implementation and extra features, such as
auto-mounting CDs as they are inserted into the
drive.
• You should note that the GNOME desktop features
and layout are similar to those used by Windows XP.
Understanding the Macintosh OS
Macintosh OS
• The Macintosh OS has gone through some major
changes over the last few years.
• The original version, Mac OS 1.0, remained
essentially unchanged up through version 9.0.
• The last version of the Classic Mac OS was 9.x,
which was replaced with a totally different OS, Mac
OS X, which was based on the BSD OS.
• The first nine revisions of the Mac OS were
proprietary, built entirely by Apple.
• Mac OS X and later are based on a BSD Unix core
with Apple proprietary enhancements
Comparing versions of Mac OS
• The Mac OS originally hit the scene in 1984, running on
a hardware platform that was very different from the
hardware that was used by Windows PCs.
• It was standardized on the Motorola 68000 processor,
and PCs were using Intel processors.
• The Macintosh also used Small Computer System
Interface (SCSI) hard drives, and Windows PCs were
using Integrated Drive Electronics (IDE) drives.
• Through most of the 1990s, Mac OS 7.x was the main
Macintosh OS. Shortly after the release of Mac OS 9.1 in
2001,
• Apple also released Mac OS X, with the goal of allowing
capable computers to dual boot these two OSes.
Comparing versions of Mac OS
• Unlike Windows, Apple allowed you to dual boot the
old OS to run any applications that did not work
with Mac OS X rather than having to support legacy
Mac OS 9 applications in Mac OS X.
• Mac OS X also offered to run old applications in an
emulator called the Classic environment, which can
be slow and requires that you have a Mac OS 9.1
system folder on your hard drive.
• This change in OSes and the break with the previous
OS allowed Apple to create a new, stable OS
platform for the Macintosh product line.
Typical system requirements
• Unlike Windows, Linux, and Unix — which can run on a
wide variety of hardware, as long as it is IBM PC–
compatible — Macintosh has always run on proprietary
hardware with carefully managed BIOS and system
ROMs.
• Until recently, these systems had always been powered
by Motorola and IBM CPUs, starting with the 68000
family and more recently the Power PC G5 chip.
• Because of the processing requirements, Mac OS X
requires at least a G3 processor to function.
• Apple switched to using Intel-based 32-bit and 64-bit
CPUs in its product line, which is yet another standard
component PC hardware platform, blurring the line
between the Macintosh and the PC hardware platforms.
Identifying GUI elements
• Prior to Mac OS X, the Macintosh desktop environment was
referred to as the Finder — the place where you would find all
the items that you needed to work with.
• There were no command line interfaces for the OS because
unlike other OSes, the Mac OS was developed from the
beginning as a graphical OS.
• With the adoption of the BSD-like kernel, the system added a
powerful command line interface based on Unix to a powerful
Apple-developed GUI, which is still referred to as the Finder.
• The same features present on the Windows and Linux OS user
interfaces are present on the Mac OS.
• One difference (or as a Mac user would think, one thing that is
the same) is the Apple menu and the context-sensitive menu
bar across the top of the screen.