What is a computer operating system?
An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware and software resources and provides common services for computer programs. Nearly every computer program requires an operating system to function. The two most common operating systems are Microsoft Windows and Apple’s macOS.
An Operating System (OS) is a software that acts as an interface between computer hardware components and the user. Every computer system must have at least one operating system to run other programs. Applications like Browsers, MS Office, Notepad Games, etc., need some environment to run and perform its tasks.
The OS helps you to communicate with the computer without knowing how to speak the computer’s language. It is not possible for the user to use any computer or mobile device without having an operating system.
Features of Operating System (OS)
Here is a list important features of OS:
- Protected and supervisor mode
- Allows disk access and file systems Device drivers Networking Security
- Program Execution
- Memory management Virtual Memory Multitasking
- Handling I/O operations
- Manipulation of the file system
- Error Detection and handling
- Resource allocation
- Information and Resource Protection
What is Linux os?
Just like Windows, iOS, and Mac OS, Linux is an operating system. In fact, one of the most popular platforms on the planet, Android, is powered by the Linux operating system. An operating system is software that manages all of the hardware resources associated with your desktop or laptop. To put it simply, the operating system manages the communication between your software and your hardware. Without the operating system (OS), the software wouldn?t function.
The Linux operating system comprises several different pieces:
- Bootloader – The software that manages the boot process of your computer. For most users, this will simply be a splash screen that pops up and eventually goes away to boot into the operating system.
- Kernel – This is the one piece of the whole that is actually called ?Linux?. The kernel is the core of the system and manages the CPU, memory, and peripheral devices. The kernel is the lowest level of the OS.
- Init system – This is a sub-system that bootstraps the user space and is charged with controlling daemons. One of the most widely used init systems is systemd? which also happens to be one of the most controversial. It is the init system that manages the boot process, once the initial booting is handed over from the bootloader (i.e., GRUB or GRand Unified Bootloader).
- Daemons – These are background services (printing, sound, scheduling, etc.) that either start up during boot or after you log into the desktop.
- Graphical server – This is the sub-system that displays the graphics on your monitor. It is commonly referred to as the X server or just X.
- Desktop environment – This is the piece that the users actually interact with. There are many desktop environments to choose from (GNOME, Cinnamon, Mate, Pantheon, Enlightenment, KDE, Xfce, etc.). Each desktop environment includes built-in applications (such as file managers, configuration tools, web browsers, and games).
- Applications – Desktop environments do not offer the full array of apps. Just like Windows and macOS, Linux offers thousands upon thousands of high-quality software titles that can be easily found and installed. Most modern Linux distributions (more on this below) include App Store-like tools that centralize and simplify application installation. For example, Ubuntu Linux has the Ubuntu Software Center (a rebrand of GNOME Software? Figure 1) which allows you to quickly search among the thousands of apps and install them from one centralized location.
Linux is the best-known and most-used open source operating system. As an operating system, Linux is software that sits underneath all of the other software on a computer, receiving requests from those programs and relaying these requests to the computer’s hardware.
How does Linux differ from other operating systems?
In many ways, Linux is similar to other operating systems you may have used before, such as Windows, macOS (formerly OS X), or iOS. Like other operating systems, Linux has a graphical interface, and the same types of software you are accustomed to, such as word processors, photo editors, video editors, and so on. In many cases, a software’s creator may have made a Linux version of the same program you use on other systems. In short: if you can use a computer or other electronic device, you can use Linux.
But Linux also is different from other operating systems in many important ways. First, and perhaps most importantly, Linux is open source software. The code used to create Linux is free and available to the public to view, edit, and—for users with the appropriate skills—to contribute to.
Linux is also different in that, although the core pieces of the Linux operating system are generally common, there are many distributions of Linux, which include different software options. This means that Linux is incredibly customizable, because not just applications, such as word processors and web browsers, can be swapped out. Linux users also can choose core components, such as which system displays graphics, and other user-interface components.
Why is Linux better than other operating systems?
There are many features of the Linux operating system that demonstrate that it is better than other operating systems. However, in some prospective other operating systems can be more useful than Linux. Let’s see the top 20 advantages of Linux OS.
Top 20 Advantages of Linux os
Following are top 20 advantages of the Linux operating system:
1. open Source
As it is open-source, its source code is easily available. Anyone having programming knowledge can customize the operating system. One can contribute, modify, distribute, and enhance the code for any purpose.
2. Security
The Linux security feature is the main reason that it is the most favorable option for developers. It is not completely safe, but it is less vulnerable than others. Each application needs to authorize by the admin user. The virus is not executed until the administrator provides the access password. Linux systems do not require any antivirus program.
3. Free
Certainly, the biggest advantage of the Linux system is that it is free to use. We can easily download it, and there is no need to buy the license for it. It is distributed under GNU GPL (General Public License). Comparatively, we have to pay a huge amount for the license of the other operating systems.
4. Lightweight
Linux is lightweight. The requirements for running Linux are much less than other operating systems. In Linux, the memory footprint and disk space are also lower. Generally, most of the Linux distributions required as little as 128MB of RAM around the same amount for disk space.
5. Stability
Linux is more stable than other operating systems. Linux does not require to reboot the system to maintain performance levels. It rarely hangs up or slow down. It has big up-times.
6. Performance
Linux system provides high performance over different networks. It is capable of handling a large number of users simultaneously.
7. Flexibility
Linux operating system is very flexible. It can be used for desktop applications, embedded systems, and server applications too. It also provides various restriction options for specific computers. We can install only necessary components for a system.
8. Software Updates
In Linux, the software updates are in user control. We can select the required updates. There a large number of system updates are available. These updates are much faster than other operating systems. So, the system updates can be installed easily without facing any issue.
9. Distributions/ Distros
There are many Linux distributions available in the market. It provides various options and flavors of Linux to the users. We can choose any distros according to our needs. Some popular distros are Ubuntu, Fedora, Debian, Linux Mint, Arch Linux, and many more.
For the beginners, Ubuntu and Linux Mint would be useful and, Debian and Fedora would be good choices for proficient programmers.
10. Live CD/USB
Almost all Linux distributions have a Live CD/USB option. It allows us to try or run the Linux operating system without installing it.
11. Graphical User Interface
Linux is a command-line based OS but, it provides an interactive user interface like Windows.
12. Suitable for programmers
It supports almost all of the most used programming languages such as c++,Java,python and Rubby, and more. Further, it offers a vast range of useful applications for development.
The programmers prefer the Linux terminal over the Windows command line. The package manager on Linux system helps programmers to understand how things are done. Bash scriptings also a functional feature for the programmers. It also provides support for SSH, which helps in managing the servers quickly.
13. Community Support
Linux provides large community support. We can find support from various sources. There are many forums available on the web to assist users. Further, developers from the various opensource communities are ready to help us.
14. Privacy
Linux always takes care of user privacy as it never takes much private data from the user. Comparatively, other operating systems ask for the user’s private data.
15. Networking
Linux facilitates with powerful support for networking. The client-server systems can be easily set to a Linux system. It provides various command-line tools such as ssh, ip, mail, telnet, and more for connectivity with the other systems and servers. Tasks such as network backup are much faster than others.
16. Compatibility
Linux is compatible with a large number of file formats as it supports almost all file formats.
17. Installation
Linux installation process takes less time than other operating systems such as Windows. Further, its installation process is much easy as it requires less user input. It does not require much more system configuration even it can be easily installed on old machines having less configuration.
18. Multiple Desktop Support
Linux system provides multiple desktop environment support for its enhanced use. The desktop environment option can be selected during installation. We can select any desktop environment such as GNOME (GNU Network Object Model Environment) or KDE (K Desktop Environment) as both have their specific environment.
19. Multitasking
It is a multitasking operating system as it can run multiple tasks simultaneously without affecting the system speed.
20. Heavily Documented for beginners
There are many command-line options that provide documentation on commands, libraries, standards such as manual pages and info pages. Also, there are plenty of documents available on the internet in different formats, such as Linux tutorials, Linux documentation project, Serverfault, and more. To help the beginners, several communities are available such as Ask Ubuntu, Reddit, and StackOverflow.
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