LPIC-1/CompTIA Linux+ Certification All-in-One Exam Guide (Exams LPIC-1/LX0-101 & LX0-102)

Common Linux Roles

Because Linux is distributed under the GPL, software vendors have been able to tweak and customize the operating system to operate in a variety of roles. While the number of these roles is virtually limitless, for the Linux+ exam you need to be familiar with the following roles:

• Linux as a desktop

• Linux as a server

• Linux as a firewall

Let’s begin by discussing Linux on the desktop.

Linux as a Desktop

Linux can be optimized to function extremely well as a desktop system. However, Linux has been somewhat slow to make inroads into this market. There are two important reasons for this.

First, historically there has been a lack of desktop productivity applications available for Linux. Users need word processing, spreadsheet, ...