Fw: [Lust] Linux

[tony.tibbenham at sonoco.com]

David, John,

> Has anybody got the time and patience to teach an old fool
> the basics of Linux.

No one is a fool for asking questions.

Lets start with 'what is Linux?'  Whole websites have been written on this.
Linux is the Linux kernel as originally written by Linus Torvalds.   The
kernel provides a programming interface for all 'user space' programs to
interact with, protecting users and their programs from themselves,
managing memory, access to drives, screen and the rest of the 'hardware'.
The kernel is fundamental but on it's own is of limited use.

To make 'Linux' useful various people have included other tools e.g. the
GNU utilities, Apache, Open Office and Samba into a bewildering range of
collections.  These collections are called Linux Distribution's.   There is
a huge variety of programs available so each distribution is different,
have different ways of being constructed and maintained and have a massive
range of functionality from setups that run from 1 or 2 floppy disks
through to DVD's full of programs.

These Linux Distributions are commonly referred to as 'Linux' (e.g. Linux
user group as opposed to Linux + GNU tools + Apache + SAMBA + any software
under a BSD,  GPL or other 'free' licence user group).

Refer www.kernel.org

Which Linux Distribution have you got and what do you want to do with it?

Puzzle:
Linux is free software that you can pay for.
When you can explain this you shall be a long way to understanding what
'Linux' is and why it works.

GNU, BSD and FLOSS are related acronyms.

GNU - GNU's not UNIX
BSD - Berkeley Software Distribution
FLOSS - Free, Libre and Open Source software.

Regards


Tony





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