An Introduction to LINUX

“ Operating system is the software that

provides the interface between the hardware
of a computer system and the applications
programs that are used on it.”
 Open Source Software (OSS)
• Open source software (OSS) refers to the software
which uses the code freely available on the
Internet. 

• The code can be copied, modified or deleted by

other users and organizations.

• As the software is open to the public, the result is

that it constantly updates, improves and expands as
more people can work on its improvement.
 Closed Source Software (CSS)
• Closed source software (CSS) is opposite to OSS and
means the software which uses the proprietary and
closely guarded code.

• Only the original authors of software can access,

copy, and alter that software.

• In case with closed source software, you are not

purchasing the software, but only pay to use it.
 Open Source Software VS Closed Source Software
Open Source software(OSS) Closed Source Software(CSS)
(Propriety Software)
Purchased with its Source code Purchased without its Source Code
User can get open software for free of charges User must pay to get the proprietary software
User can modify the software User cannot modify the software
User can install software freely into any User cann’t install software freely into any
computer computer
The purchase of OSS is generally referred to as The Source code is with the developer only use
Licensing of that software is sold to buyers
OSS are not secure because due to source code CSS are more secure as compared to OSS.
is available to users
Debugging or error finding is easy Debugging or error finding is not easy

User can add new functionality in the software User can’t add new functionality in the
by adding new codes software because source code is not available.
LINUX, Apache, MySQL, open officw.org Window Vista, Microsoft word Adobe
Photoshop are few example of CSS.
 What is Linux
• Linux is a true 32 bit UNIX-like OS developed
originally for home PCs, but now it runs on a variety of
platforms including PowerPC, Macintosh, Amiga, DEC
Alpha, Sun Sparc, ARM, and many others.
• The source code for Linux is freely available to
everyone.
• Linux was created by Linus Torvalds in 1991, and it has
been developed with the help of many programmers
across the Internet.
• Now it has evolved into a very functional, powerful
and usable clone of Unix which has at least 10 million
users worldwide
 LINUX UNIX
Linux vs. Unix
The source code of Linux is freely available to The source code of Unix is not available for the
it’s users. general public
Linux primarily uses Graphical User Interface Unix primarily uses Command Line Interface
with an optional Command Line Interface
Linux OS is portable and can be executed in Unix is not portable.
different hard drives.
Linux is very flexible and can be installed on Unix has a rigid environment of the hardware.
most of the home based PCs. Hence, cannot be installed on every other
machine.

Linux is used on home based PCs, Mobile Unix is mainly used in Server Systems,
Phones, Desktops, etc. Mainframes and High End Computers.
Different version of Linux are Ubuntu, Linux Different Versions of Unix are AIS, HP-UX, BSD,
Mint, RedHat, Solaris, etc. Iris, etc
Linux installation is economical and doesn’t Unix installation is comparatively costlier as it
require much specific and high end hardware requires more specific hardware circuitry.
The file systems supported by Linux are as The file systems supported by Unix are as
follows: xfs, ramfs, nfs, vfat, cramfsm, ext3, follows: zfs, js, hfx, gps, xfs, vxfs.
ext4, ext2, ext1, ufs, autofs, devpts, ntfs.

Linux is development by an active Linux Unix is developed by AT&T Developers.

Community worldwide.
 The Historical Development of Linux
• In the early 1990s, Torvalds became interested in a
freeware product called Minix were written by
Andrew S. Tanenbaum. Developed by Andrew
S.Tanenbaum, Minix was a clone of the commercial
UNIX operating system.
• Linux version 0.02, released on October 5, 1991,
consisted of only the Linux kernel and three
utilities:
■ bash : a command-line interface
■ update : a utility for flushing file system buffers
■ gcc : a C++ compiler
In 1991, Linus Benedict Torvalds was a second year student of Computer Science
at the University of Helsinki and a self-taught hacker.
 Why Linux
• A Linux Distribution has thousands of dollars worth
of software for no cost.
• Linux is a complete operating system:
– stable - the crash of an application is much less likely to
bring down the OS under Linux.
– Reliable - Linux servers are often up for hundreds of days
compared with the regular reboots required with a
Windows system.
– extremely powerful
• Linux provides a complete development
environment
 Why Linux (contd.)
• Excellent networking facilities
• Ideal environment to run servers such as a web server,
or an ftp server.
• A wide variety of commercial software is available if not
satisfied by the free software
• Easily upgradeable.
• Supports multiple processors.
• True multi-tasking, multi-user OS.
• An excellent window system called X, the equivalent of
Windows but much more flexible.
• Full source code is provided and free.
 Interested Facts About Linux
• Linux is not an OS, but it is the kernel, GNU Linux is the OS and it comes in several hundred
flavors.
•  Linux Kernel was written by a 21 year finnish college student as a part of his hobby. Yup! His
name is Linus Torvalds.
• As Torvald began its project, the first Linux kernel occupied only 65 KB.
• Major part of today’s Linux kernel is written in C programming language and assembly language
and only 2%of today’s kernel contains code written by Torvalds.
• A Standard Linux Kernel of today has over 10 Million lines of code and it grows at the rate
of 10% every year. About 4500 lines of codes are added and 1500 lines of code are changed
everyday.
• The Linux kernel’s official mascot is a penguin named Tux, abbreviation of tuxedo.
• A guy named William Della Croce Jr. registered the name Linux and demanded royalty for using
its name and mark.
• 90% of the world’s most powerful supercomputers are using GNU/Linux.
•  Linux Torvalds has been honoured by naming an astroid after his name.
• There are over 300 distributions GNU / Linux activities ranging from the well
known Debian or Fedoradistributions through governmental or educational level.
• Now the area of application of Linux – U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Navy Submarine Fleet,
Federal Aviation Administration, Tamil Nadu for education purpose, Japan’s bullet trains, traffic
control of San Francisco, the New York Stock Exchange etc.
 Interested Facts About Linux

• For those who think Linux can’t do Animation – Oscar-winning visual effects of

the Titanic by James Cameron came from machines with Linux and Avatar was
the last movie completely developed in 3D Applications on Linux platform
using Foss Software.
• Microsoft Windows and  the Linuxkernel can run simultaneously in parallel on
the same machine using a software called Cooperative Linux (coLinux).
• An unmodified version of the Linux kernel is called – “Vanilla Kernel”
• Linux has a strong following in Smart Phones – Palm’s WebOS, Google’s
Android and Nokia’s Maemo smart phone operating systems are built on top of
the Linux kernel.
• Android’s Operating System is based off of Linux. The operating system is
primarily based off of Linuxkernel and Google has made several changes to
make it go above and beyond the original basis of Linux kernel. The
first Android Smart phone was launched by HTC.
• As of January 2010, Linux still only has a 1.02% market share within desktops.
Linux Has Many Distributions
 APACHE SERVER
• Apache is the most popular Web server software.
• It enables a computer to host one or more websites that can be
accessed over the Internet using a Web browser.
• The first version of Apache was released in 1995 by the Apache Group.
• Apache's popularity in the Web hosting market is largely because it
is open source and free to use.
• Apache also supports multiple platforms, including Linux, Windows,
and Macintosh operating systems.
• Apache can host static websites, as well as dynamic websites that use
server-side scripting languages, such as PHP, Python, or Perl.
• While the Apache Web server software is commonly referred to as just
"Apache," it is technically called "Apache HTTP Server," since the
software serves webpages over the HTTP protocol. When Apache is
running, its process name is "httpd," which is short for "HTTP
daemon."
 Linux File System
• A hierarchical file system
– a root filesystem: /bin, /lib, /etc, /dev,……
– a /usr filesystem: programs and unchanging data
– a /var filesystem: changing data (such as log files)
– a /home filesystem: user’s files

• Types of files
– Ordinary disk files
– Special files
• Each physical device on a Unix system is treated as a special file.
• Located in the /dev directory.
– Directory flies

• Naming files and directories

– File and directory names can include letters, numbers, periods(.), underscores(_), and
some other printable characters.
– Avoid characters with special programming or system meanings, such as /, *?[]<>$’”&!.
– Generally, a name of file and directory can contain up to 255 characters.
– Use the slash(/) rather than the backslash(\) you have been using in DOS.

• Accessing directories and files

– Accessing directories: cd , ls, pwd
– Finding files: find
– Viewing files: more, cat, tail, head
– Editing files: vi, ed
 Encryption
• Encryption commonly used to secure data. It is the
ancient technique of hiding information in plain
sight. Include:

– strong encryption - is stronger than the 40-bit encryption

maximum that can be exported from the United States
under U.S. law.
– Public-key Encryption - is a type of asymmetric
encryption, which is a system that you encrypt your
message with one key, and the recipient decrypts it with
a mathematically related, but different key
 Principles of security
• Two broad categories of attack exist:
– unauthorized access
– denial of service
• Defense against the attacks:
– enforce the use of password
– use TCP wrappers to limit which resources are made
available to which categories of users.
– monitor internal users, protect your organization
against unauthorized or inappropriate use of the
computer facilities to harass personnel
 Roles of Linux
• Desktop
• Server
• Firewall

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 Linux on the Desktop
• First, there has been a historical lack of
desktop productivity applications available for
Linux.
• The second issue is that the average user
tends to find Linux somewhat intimidating.

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 Linux as a Server
■ File Server Using the Network File System (NFS) or Samba
service, Linux can be configured to provide network
storage of users’ files.
■ Print Server Using the Common UNIX Printing System
(CUPS) and Samba services together, Linux can be
configured to provide shared printing for network users.
■ Database Server Linux works great as a database server.
There are a variety of database services available for
Linux servers, including MySQL and PostgreSQL.

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 Linux as a Server..
■ Web Server Linux is also widely deployed as a
Web server. The most popular Web service
currently used on Linux is the Apache Web
server.
■ E-Mail Server There are a variety of different
e-mail services available for Linux that can
turn your system into an enterprise-class e-
mail server.

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 Linux as a Server..
• Linux is extremely stable. Simply put, a Linux server
rarely crashes. It just keeps running and running.Fast
• Linux servers are very fast. Many benchmark tests have
been run pitting Linux servers against other server
operating systems.
• Linux servers are much less expensive. Most other server
operating systems charge expensive per-seat licensing
fees, making them very expensive to deploy in large
networks.

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Firewall

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 Components of Linux
• The Linux Kernel
• Libraries
• Utilities
• User Interface

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 Linux Command-Line Interface
■ Linux shells: A shell is a command interpreter that allows
you to type commands from the keyboard to interact with
the operating system kernel.
■ sh (Bourne Shell) The sh shell was the earliest shell, being
developed for UNIX back in the late 1970s.
■ bash (Bourne-Again Shell) The bash shell is an improved version
of the sh shell and is one of the most popular shells today. It’s the
default shell used by most Linux distributions.
■ csh (C Shell) The csh shell was originally developed for BSD UNIX.
It uses a syntax that is very similar to C programming.
■ tsch The tsch shell is an improved version of the C Shell. It is the
default shell used on FreeBSD systems.
■ zsh (Z Shell) The Z Shell is an improved version of the bash shell.

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 Linux Command-Line Interface
• Libraries are pre-written code “pieces” that
application programmers use in their
programs.
• Utilities maintaining the file system, editing
text files, managing running processes, and
installing new software packages.
• User Interface command-line interface (CLI)
and a graphical user interface (GUI).

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