Discussion 1: An Overview of Linux - What is Linux? A Brief Introduction Linux is an operating system like Windows and Mac OS. Linux, however, is an 'open source' system that allows people to modify and create different versions or 'distributions' and share them with other people. This means that not one single company or person owns Linux as a whole. Instead, many companies and people contribute to the modification, support, and design of many different Linux systems. In 1991, Linus Torvalds announced on a Internet forum that he was creating a operating system as a project and was wanting people to give feedback on his project. This was the start of the free, open source system called Linux. The Linux operating system, like Mac OS, is similar to the UNIX operating system that was created by AT&T's Bell Labs. The UNIX similarity allows Linux to be a modular system that is multi platform capable and can have very specific or diverse tasks. UNIX is a command line, plain text, platform that uses a basic hierarchal file system to preform basic tasks similar to DOS. Unix was eventually rewritten in the C language in the 1970s. Even though today's Linux is very similar to UNIX, GNU was the real set of building blocks that got Linux started. GNU was created by Richard Stallman in 1983 as a basic set of modular “tools” or instructions that could be expanded to create new systems just like UNIX. This, along with the idea of the 'kernal', and UNIX are the basic fundamentals of the formulated, open source operating system called Linux. - Linux: A More In-depth Look at the Basics Linux has now become a multi-million dollar industry; growing exponentially since 1991. Many government agencies and private companies have invested in and use Linux because of the many uses, simplicity, portability, multi platform design, and ability the to create their own specialized versions of Linux. This operating system can be found on many devices including cell phones, network devices, and even popular internet sites like YouTube, Twitter, and Linked In. Let's examine the internals of all Linux distributions a little closer. In order to understand why Linux is so versatile and customizable we need to understand the kernal. A kernal is a basic set of instructions that every operating system has in order to perform basic tasks and tell the hardware components in a computer what to do. Unlike Windows or Mac OS, the Linux kernal, think of it as a core of software, is then surrounded by many layers of modules of code that allow the computer to preform extra functions. Modularity causes the Linux kernal to be special because certain pieces or modules can be added or taken off of a kernal to scale up or down a version of Linux. This operating system as whole is then composed of the kernal and all of the modules of applications that allow users to preform all kinds of tasks specific to the distribution or version of Linux. For example, a cell phone software developer can take a certain Linux kernal and shave off modules to create a new distribution that is small and fast enough to operate a cell phone efficiently. This is the reason for the success of Linux. The idea of a developer being able to create a new version of Linux is the idea of a distribution. There are many distributions out there for free just waiting to be downloaded and used. This is why I have decided to use Linux for the majority of my computer tasks because I can choose a version that fits my needs and preferences best. I can also modify a version even further to fit my needs. Distributions are also 'rolling releases' which means that most of them are not in their final stage and a constantly being updated for free. For example, almost every time I start up my computer with Ubuntu 14.04, I can type in the command line: “sudo apt-get install update” to check, download, and install updates all with one command. The command line will be addressed in a later discussion. Linux environment is also modular. Again, unlike Windows or Mac OS, almost every Linux distribution GUI or graphical user interface, can be modified or changed. There are many types out there, but the couple that I have used are KDE and GNOME. Again, this allows Linux to be a modular open source system that allows almost anyone the ability to customize a distribution to fit his or her needs. Some interfaces are very heavy with graphics which makes the distribution easy to navigate and pretty to look at. However, this can slow down older computers with much less processing power. Other distributions may only include a command line interface. This can be a lot of fun trying to figure out how to communicate with the computer and preform tasks, but it is not recommended for a beginning Linux user. I will discuss choosing appropriate distributions for certain needs in a later discussion. If you wish to continue reading and learning about the basics of Linux and UNIX, here are the sources that I used. Sources - Basics of Linux: (photo of a kernal) https://www.linux.com/learn/new-user-guides/376 - UNIX: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unix Mark Hodge Linux Project 10/6/14 Fall 2014 Mr. Brown