Environments, Applications, Distributions

The Environments

The windows, menus, and dialog boxes most people think of as part of the operating system are actually separate layers, known as the windowing system and the desktop environment.

These layers provide the human-oriented graphical user interface (GUI) that enables users to easily work with applications in the operating system and third-party applications to be installed on the operating system.

In Linux, there a lot of choices for which windowing system and desktop environment can be used, something that Linux allows users to decide. This cannot be done in Windows and it's difficult to do in OS X.

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Linux Operating System

Developers need special tools (like the compilers and command lines found in GNU) to write applications that can talk to the kernel. They also need tools and applications to make it easy for outside applications to access the kernel after the application is written and installed.

This collective set of tools, combined with a kernel, is known as the operating system. It is generally the lowest layer of the computer's software that is accessible by the average user. General users get to the operating system when they access the command line.

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The Code & Kernel

The Code

Linux is also unique from other operating systems in that it has no single owner. Torvalds still manages the development of the Linux kernel, but commercial and private developers contribute other software to make the whole Linux operating system.

The Kernel

All operating systems have kernels, built around the architectural metaphor that there must be a central set of instructions to direct device hardware, surrounded by various modular layers of functionality. The Linux kernel is unique and flexible because it is also modular in nature.

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The Birth of Linux

On August 25, 1991, a Finn computer science student named Linus Torvalds made the following announcement to the Usenet group comp.os.minux:

I'm doing a (free) operating system (just a hobby, won't be big and professional like gnu) for 386(486)
AT clones. This has been brewing since april, and is starting to get ready. I'd like any feedback on things people like/dislike in minix, as my OS resembles it somewhat (same physical layout of the file-system (due to practical reasons) (among other things).

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Redhat Enterprise linux 5 GUI Installation-Part4

Redhat Enterprise linux 5 GUI Installation-Part3

Redhat Enterprise linux 5 GUI Installation-Part2

Redhat Enterprise linux 5 GUI Installation-Part1

The Future of Linux

Linux is already successful on many different kinds of devices, but there are also many technological areas where Linux is moving towards, even as desktop and server development continues to grow faster than any other operating system today.

Linux is being installed on the system BIOS of laptop and notebook computers, which will enable users to turn their devices on in a matter of seconds, bringing up a streamlined Linux environment. This environment will have Internet connectivity tools such as a web browser and an e-mail client, allowing users to work on the Internet without having to boot all the way into their device's primary operating system--even if that operating system is Windows.

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What is Linux?

What is Linux?

Linux is, in simplest terms, an operating system. It is the software on a computer that enables applications and the computer operator to access the devices on the computer to perform desired functions. The operating system (OS) relays instructions from an application to, for instance, the computer's processor. The processor performs the instructed task, then sends the results back to the application via the operating system.

Explained in these terms, Linux is very similar to other operating systems, such as Windows and OS X. But something sets Linux apart from these operating systems. The Linux operating system represented a $25 billion ecosystem in 2008. Since its inception in 1991, Linux has grown to become a force in computing, powering everything from the New York Stock Exchange to mobile phones to supercomputers to consumer devices.

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