Running Linux, Third Edition

Chapter 1. Introduction to Linux

This is a book about Linux, a free Unix clone for personal computer systems that supports full multitasking, the X Window System, TCP/IP networking, and much more. Hang tight and read on: in the pages that follow, we describe the system in meticulous detail.

Linux has generated more excitement in the computer field than any other development of the past several years. Its surprisingly fast spread and the loyalty it inspires recall the excitement of do-it-yourself computing that used to characterize earlier advances in computer technology. Ironically, it succeeds by rejuvenating one of the oldest operating systems still in widespread use, Unix. Linux is both a new technology and an old one.

In narrow technical terms, Linux is just the operating system kernel, offering the basic services of process scheduling, virtual memory, file management, and device I/O. In other words, Linux itself is the lowest-level part of the operating system.

However, most people use the term “Linux” to refer to the complete system—the kernel along with the many applications that it runs: a complete development and work environment including compilers, editors, graphical interfaces, text processors, games, and more.

This book will be your guide to Linux’s shifting and many-faceted world. Linux has developed into an operating system for businesses, education, and personal productivity, and this book will help you get the most out of it.

Linux can turn any personal computer into ...