COSC513 ProjectLinux Features

Instructor: Prof. Mort Anvari

Student: Yingfeng Luo

ID: #103565

Abstract

Introduction

System Features

Software Features

Compare With Other OS

Basic Commands

Linux is quite possibly the

most important free software achievement

Introduction

Linux is the great success story of Open Source software development.

Linux was originally developed as a hobby project by Linus Torvalds. It was inspired by Minix, a small UNIX system

Linux is a free Unix-type operating system

Linux can run on a variety of platforms including PowerPC, Macintosh, Amiga, Atari, DEC Alpha, Sun Sparc, ARM, and many others.

Due to the very nature of Linux’s functionality and availability, I choose Linux operating system features as my project.

System Features

Multitasking, Multiuser Many people can run many different

applications on one computer at the same time.

Login session differs yourself with others. Administrator

In Linux you are the system administrator which differs from UNIX, so you must set up your own account before you can log in.

In addition, each system has a host name assigned to it. It is this host name that gives your machine a name, gives it character and charm. The host name is used to identify individual machines on a network, but even if your machine isn't networked, it should have a host name.

System Features (Cont. 1)

Stability Linux boxes are known for running months or even years at a time without crashing,

freezing, or having to be rebooted. Linux stores the date in a different way from other computers. (Its trouble date is 2038, by

which time a small modification to the kernel should have solved the problem.) Also, because it is extremely secure compared to other platforms, viruses for Linux are

practically non-existent. Speed

Linux machines are extremely fast, because the OS is very efficient at managing resources such as memory, CPU power, and disk space.

System Features (Cont. 2)

Graphical Interface Linux Linux has at least a dozen

graphical interfaces (known as window managers)

The most popular window managers are KDE (the K Desktop Environment) and GNOME (the GNU Network Object Model Environment).

These offer the point-and-click, drag-and-drop functionality associated with other user-friendly environments, but are extremely flexible and can take on a number of different looks and feels.

Programs that work with one window manager nearly always work with all the others.

System Features (Cont. 3)

Software Development Linux development environment is second to none. Linux systems come standard with C and C++

compilers and an assembler, and often include Pascal, FORTRAN, and BASIC implementations as well.

In addition, modern languages like Perl and Python and classic languages like LISP are all available, fully functional and completely free.

In addition, the source code for nearly any Linux program is freely available. This not only means that bugs are discovered and corrected almost immediately, but development of software proceeds at a much faster pace

The source code for nearly any Linux program is freely available.

This phenomenon is called Open Source.

System Features (Cont. 4)

Networking Networking comes naturally to Linux. Probably all networking protocols in use on the Internet

are native to Linux.

A large part of the Web is running on Linux boxes, especially because of the Apache Web Server proving the effectiveness and viability of the Open Source

approach. Linux Kernel

The central nervous system of Linux is Kernel The Linux kernel is developed to use protected-mode

features of Intel 80386 and better processors. Linux kernel was designed for multitasking systems like

UNIX. The kernel design is modular, so that the actual OS code

is very small yet able to load whatever functionality it needs, and free the memory afterwards.

The kernel remains small and fast yet highly extensible

Linux is created for networking.

Kernel is the central nervous system of Linux.

System Features (Cont. 5)

Other Features Jobs and processes

A running process is also called a job. Jobs can either be in the foreground or

in the background. Jobs may also be suspended

Productivity coexist on the same machine as other

OS. Etc.

You can install Linux, Windows and OS/2 all on one system

Software Features

Directory Tree The example is Linux directory tree

Text Editor there are many editors available for Linux:

vi, ex, pico, jove, and GNU emacs etc. vi -- ``visual editor.'’ is common in UNIX/Linux. /home/larry# vi test

Virtual Console Let you have more than one login session on the

console at one time. Shell Programing

A shell is just one interface to Linux. Shell is a program that takes the commands you type

and translates them into instructions to the Linux.

Compare With Other OS

Linux 2.2 MacOS 8 Solaris 7.0 NT 4

Address space

32bit on PC's 32bit Sparc's. 64bit on UltraSparc and Alpha

32 bit32 bit on Intel and Sparc, 64 bit on UltraSparc

32 bit

Multiple CPU's

SMP up to 16 CPU'sMacOS support multiprocessing, but more than 1 CPU is rare.

SMP on both Sparc and Intel, 64 CPU's on sparc

SMP, 2 CPU's in workstation edition, 4 CPU's in server edition.

Memory protection

yes no yesmostly, Needs to be switched on for some 16 bit apps

PlatformsPC >= 386,Digital Alpha, Sparc, UltraSparc, PPC,

Motorola 68040 and PowerPC based Mac's. Part of the OS runs in an 680x0

Sparc and PC >= 386

i386 >= 486, Alpha. Ther's some limited support for Prep PowerPC's and some older MIPS machines

Java yes yes yes yes

Basic Commands

Mousehouse login: larry

Password: larry's password

Welcome to mousehouse!

/home/larry# -- shell's prompt

/home/larry# exit -- logout

/home/larry# password -- change password

/home/larry# ls -- list the contents of directory

/home/larry# ls -F -- list and tell which is file/directory

/home/larry# mkdir foo -- create directory "foo"

/home/larry# cd foo -- move to directory foo

/home/larry# cp /etc/shells . -- copy file "shells"

/home/larry# mv termcap shells -- rename file "termcap" into

"shells”, you may also move "termcap" into a new directory

/home/larry# rm shells -- remove file/directory

/home/larry# more shells -- look at the file "shells"

/home/larry# man ls -- get online help for "ls”

Changing permissions command: Syntax: chmod {a, u, g, o} {+, -} {r, w, x}

A ( all ) U ( user ) G ( group ) O ( owner ) + ( add rights ) - ( take away ) r ( read ) w ( write ) x ( execute )