The Linux system is a variant of UNIX that has gain popularity over the last several decades, powering devices as small as mobile phones and as large as room filling supercomputers.
Introduction –
Linux looks and feels like any other UNIX system; indeed. UNIX compatibility has been major design goal of the linux project. However, Linux is much younger than most UNIX systems. Its development began in 1991, when a Finnish University student, Linus Torvalds, began devoloping a small but self-contain kernel for the 80386 processor. It is first true 32-bit processor in intel’s range of PC-compatible CPU’s.
More About Linux –
Early in its developent, the Linux source code was made available free. Both at low cost and with minimal distributional restrictions on Internet. As a result, Linux’s history has been one of collaboration by many developers from all around the world. Corresponding it is almost exclusively over the Internet. From an initial kernel that partially implement a small subset of the UNIX system sevices, the Linux system has grown to include all of the functionality expect a modem UNIX system.
In this early days, Linux development revolved largely around the central operating-system kernel. The core, privileged executive that manages all system resources and interacts directly with the computer hardware. We need much more than this kernel of course, to produce a full operating system. The Linux kernel is an original piece of software develope from cratch by the Linux community. The Linux system, as we know it today, includes multitude of components, some written from scratch, others borrow from other development projects.
The basic Linux system is a standard environment for applications and user programming, but it does not enforce any standard means of managing the available functionality as whole. A linux distribution includes all the standard components of Linux system. Plus a set of administrative tools to simplify the initial installation and subsequent upgrading of Linux; And to manage the installation and removal of other pakages of system
