Understanding the Essence of Linux: A Comprehensive Overview

Understanding the Essence of Linux: A Comprehensive Overview

As an open-source operating system, Linux's accessibility and versatility make it an integral part of the technological ecosystem. In this article, we will try to grasp the fundamental aspects of Linux, from its command line to how it operates. By the end of this article, you'll have a solid foundation that what is linux.

Understanding Linux

Linux is an open-source OS and being open-source here means that its source code is easily available. Now OS is software that directly manages the system's hardware like CPU, memory, and storage. The OS lies between the application and hardware which makes it possible for applications to interact with hardware.

What is a command line?

The command line grants you direct access to a computer system and with the help of the command line you can ask your computer to perform hardware-related tasks which you cant perform with GUI.

Command line comes up in many OS as their own or open source, but almost both are related to Linux because both command line and open source give their users unrestricted access to their system.

How does Linux work?

You can think of Linux as a car engine, it can run on its own but become a functional car when connected to other components such as axle, and wheel. Without the engine running properly, the rest of the car won't work.

Linux runs on a wide variety of devices from smartphones, to computers, and supercomputers. Every Linux-based OS involves the Linux kernel (It is the main component of Linux OS and is used for communication and managing hardware resources and the set of software packages that makes up the rest of OS).

More about Linux OS

  1. In Linux OS, the software can be updated using Linux as in Linux we have different package managers (Package manager is a group of software tools that automates the installation process, upgrading process, removal process, and configuration process of the computer programs for an OS of the computer)

  2. Linux system uses different packages such as deb, yum, and rpm. For example- centos uses the yum package (package refers to a compressed file containing all the files that come up with a particular application)

  3. These packages (deb, yum, and rpm) are distributing many software and updates with the help of repositories (centralized location from where Linux retrieves data, install software, and update applications).