Linux Training Online

Linux is an operating system based on UNIX, and was first introduced by Linus Torvalds. It is a free and open-source operating system that can run on different hardware platforms manufactured by Intel, MIPS, HP, IBM, SPARC and Motorola.

Unix was earlier the propriety operating system from Bell Laboratories which later produced different versions for commercial purposes.

Linux is a free, open-source and non-proprietary operating system available for development and distribution for the public.

Linux acts as:

• Application platform provides application with a platform where they can run, managing their access to the CPU and system memory.
• Hardware Moderator as a mediator between running applications and the system hardware. Most applications are not written to directly address a computers hardware.
• Security and is responsible for providing a degree of security for the data it hosts.
• Connectivity: The operating system manages connectivity between computer systems using a variety of network media and interfaces, including infrared, Ethernet, and wireless. 

•  SUSE Linux
• Fedora Linux
• CentOS
• ALT Linux
• Linspire
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux
• Ubuntu

Like any other operating system, Linux has all the components such as kernel, shells, libraries, GUIs, system utilities, user interface and application program.

Serial ports are identified as /dev/ttyS0 to /dev/ttyS7. These are the equivalent names of COM1 to COM8 in Windows.

Open source helps to freely distribute the software including source codes to anyone who is interested. Anyone can add features, debug and correct errors in the source code. They can make it run better and then redistribute the enhanced source code freely. It is beneficial for everyone in the community.