Operating System:

An operating system (OS) is the program that, after being initially loaded into the computer by
a boot program, manages all of the other application programs in a computer. The application
programs make use of the operating system by making requests for services through a defined
application program interface (API). In addition, users can interact directly with the operating
system through a user interface such as a command line or a graphical user interface (GUI).

An operating system can perform the following services for applications:

 In a multitasking operating system, where multiple programs can be running at the same
time, the OS determines which applications should run in what order and how much time
should be allowed for each application before giving another application a turn.

 It manages the sharing of internal memory among multiple applications.

 It handles input and output to and from attached hardware devices, such as hard disks,
printers and dial-up ports.

 It sends messages to each application or interactive user (or to a system operator) about
the status of operation and any errors that may have occurred.

 It can offload the management of batch jobs (for example, printing) so that the initiating
application is freed from this work.

 On computers that can provide parallel processing, an operating system can manage how
to divide the program so that it runs on more than one processor at a time.

All major computer platforms (hardware and software) require and sometimes include an
operating system, and operating systems must be developed with different features to meet the
specific needs of various form factors.
Types of operating systems

A mobile OS allows smartphones, tablet PCs and other mobile devices to run applications and
programs. Mobile operating systems include Apple iOS, Google Android, BlackBerry OS and
Windows 10 Mobile.

An embedded operating system is specialized for use in the computers built into larger
systems, such as cars, traffic lights, digital televisions, ATMs, airplane controls, point of sale
(POS) terminals, digital cameras, GPS navigation systems, elevators, digital media receivers
and smart meters.
A network operating system (NOS) is a computer operating system system that is designed
primarily to support workstation, personal computer, and, in some instances, older terminals that
are connected on a local area network (LAN).

A real-time operating system (RTOS) is an operating system that guarantees a certain

capability within a specified time constraint. For example, an operating system might be
designed to ensure that a certain object was available for a robot on an assembly line.

Examples of operating systems

Common desktop operating systems include:

 Windows is Microsoft’s flagship operating system, the de facto standard for home and
business computers. Introduced in 1985, the GUI-based OS has been released in many
versions since then. The user-friendly Windows 95 was largely responsible for the rapid
development of personal computing.

 Mac OS is the operating system for Apple's Macintosh line of personal computers and
workstations.

 Unix is a multi-user operating system designed for flexibility and adaptability. Originally
developed in the 1970s, Unix was one of the first operating systems to be written in C
language.

 Linux is a Unix-like operating system that was designed to provide personal computer
users a free or very low-cost alternative. Linux has a reputation as a very efficient and
fast-performing system.

History of Linux

Linux, computer operating system created in the early 1990s by Finnish software engineer Linus
Torvalds and the Free Software Foundation (FSF).

While still a student at the University of Helsinki, Torvalds started developing Linux to create a
system similar to MINIX, a UNIX operating system. In 1991 he released version 0.02; Version 1.0
of the Linux kernel, the core of the operating system, was released in 1994. About the same time,
American software developer Richard Stallman and the FSF made efforts to create an open-
source UNIX-like operating system called GNU. In contrast to Torvalds, Stallman and the FSF
started by creating utilities for the operating system first. These utilities were then added to the
Linux kernel to create a complete system called GNU/Linux, or, less precisely, just Linux.
Linux grew throughout the 1990s because of the efforts of hobbyist developers. Although Linux
is not as user-friendly as the popular Microsoft Windows and Mac OS operating systems, it is an
efficient and reliable system that rarely crashes. Combined with Apache, an open-source
Web server, Linux accounts for more than a third of all servers used on the Internet. Because it
is open source, and thus modifiable for different uses, Linux is popular for systems as diverse as
cellular telephones and supercomputers. The addition of user-friendly desktop environments,
office suites, Web browsers, and even games helped to increase Linux’s popularity and make it
more suitable for home and office desktops. New distributions (packages of Linux software) were
created throughout the 1990s. Some of the more well-known distributions include Red Hat,
Debian, and Slackware.

Difference between Windows & Linux:

Following is the Differences Between Linux and Windows

 Linux is open source operating system whereas Windows OS is commercial.

 Linux has access to source code and alters the code as per user need whereas Windows
does not have access to source code.

 Linux will run faster than windows latest editions even with a modern desktop environment
and features of the operating system whereas windows are slow on older hardware.

 Linux distributions don’t collect user data whereas Windows collect all the user details
which lead to privacy concern.

 Linux is more reliable then windows as in Linux we can kill application if they hung
through x kill command whereas, in windows, we need to try multiple times to kill it.

 Linux supports a wide variety of free software’s than windows but windows have a large
collection of video game software.
  In Linux software cost is almost free as all programs, utilities, complex applications such
as open office are free but windows also have many free programs and utilities but most of
the programs are commercial.

 Linux is highly secure because it’s easy to identify bugs and fix whereas Windows has a
large user base and becomes a target for developers of viruses and malware.

 Linux is used by corporate organizations as servers and operating system for security
purpose at Google, Facebook, twitter etc. whereas windows are mostly used by gamers and
business users.

 Linux and windows have same priority over hardware and driver support in the present
situation.

Linux vs Windows Comparison Table

Below is the detailed Comparison of Linux vs Windows

Basis for comparison Linux Windows

Access In Linux user has access to the In windows every user won’t
source code of kernel and alter have access to the source code,
the code according to his need. only members of the selected
It has its own advantages like group will have access to it.
bugs in OS will fix at a rapid
pace and disadvantages like
developers may take advantage
of any weakness in OS if they
found.
Flavors or Variety Linux has various distributions Windows has very few
which are highly customizable customization options available.
based on user needs.

Licensing In Linux with GPL- Licensed In windows, with Microsoft

operating system, users are free license, users won’t have access
to modify the software, can re- to source code (can’t modify the
use in any number of systems software) and based on a
and even they can sell the number of licenses – we can
modified version. install only on those number of
computers.

Command line In Linux, command line is a In windows, we have command

very useful tool for line but can’t use as Linux
administration and daily tasks command line. We need to go
but for end users, it doesn’t running and enter cmd then
make much difference. command line will open.

Run level Linux has inbuilt ability to stop In windows, if we encounter any
at different run levels with this problem in order to fix it, we
we can work using a command need to reboot at run level 3 as
line and GUI if anyone has an an administrator/ root to find
issue. and fix the problem.

Usability Linux is complicated to install Windows gives user’s a simple

but has the ability to complete system to operate but it will take
complex tasks easier. a longer time to install.

Support Linux has support via a huge Windows has support which is
community of user easily accessible, online forums/
forums/websites and online websites and it has paid support
search. also.
 Updates In Linux, users have full control In windows, updates will come
of updates, we can install at inconvenient times such as
whenever we needed and it will you are giving a print to the
take less time without any printer but suddenly update pop
reboot. up will come which makes users
frustrate and took more time to
install.

Security Linux is more secure than Windows is the major target for
windows where hackers or developers of viruses and
developers of viruses will find malware and it is most
difficult to break through Linux. vulnerable without anti-virus
software.

Conclusion – Linux vs Windows

Finally, it is an overview of Linux vs Windows and I hope that you will be interested to know
more about these operating system internals after reading this differences between Linux and
Windows article.

Users who are looking to change operating system from windows to Linux or vice-versa will have
a good idea of advantages and disadvantages of both Linux and Windows operating systems and
decide based on their requirement and which has more advantages. These are the differences
between Linux and Windows operating systems and as in my opinion; I feel that Linux has more
advantages than Windows operating system.

Recommended minimum system requirements

Clear Linux* OS can run on most modern hardware and is capable of running with modest
hardware resources. Out of the box, Clear Linux OS can run on a single CPU core, 1 GB RAM,
and minimum of disk space of:
  4 GB for the live server
 20 GB for the live desktop

For use cases requiring minimal resources, Clear Linux OS about can be used to create a highly
customized installation that can even run on a system with a 128MB of memory and 600MB of
disk space, for example.

Installer requirements

The live desktop installer requires at least 1 GB of RAM because more resources are required to
run in live mode than after Clear Linux OS is installed onto persistent storage.

For hardware with less resources, use the live server installer because it has a smaller memory
footprint.

System requirements

Clear Linux OS requires an x86 64-bit processor which supports Intel® Streaming SIMD
Extensions 4.2 (Intel® SSE 4.2), and it requires a system that supports UEFI.

The Clear Linux OS installer performs a system compatibility check upon booting. To manually
verify system compatibility with Clear Linux OS, run the compatibility check tool or go
to http://ark.intel.com and check for these features:

 Instruction Set:
o 64-bit
 Instruction Set Extensions:
o Supplemental Streaming SIMD Extension 3 (Intel® SSSE3)
o Intel® Streaming SIMD Extensions 4.1 (Intel® SSE 4.1)
o Intel® Streaming SIMD Extensions 4.2 (Intel® SSE 4.2)
o Carry-less Multiplication (PCLMUL)

The following processor families have been verified to run Clear Linux OS:

 Intel® Core™ Processor Family (2nd generation or greater)

  Intel® Xeon® E3-xxxx processor
 Intel® Xeon® E5-xxxx processor
 Intel® Xeon® E7-xxxx processor
 Intel® Atom® processor C Series
 Intel® Atom® processor E Series

Recommended configurations

For general Clear Linux OS desktop use the recommended minimum requirements include:

Component Configuration

Processor Compatible x86 64-bit processor

Memory 4GB RAM

Disk 20 GB

Graphics Device with openGL support (e.g. Intel HD/UHD Graphics)

Network Active Internet connection

Linux mount and umounts:

The mount command mounts a storage device or filesystem, making it accessible and attaching it
to an existing directory structure.

The umount command "unmounts" a mounted filesystem, informing the system to complete any
pending read or write operations, and safely detaching it.

All files accessible in Unix, or a Unix-style system such as Linux, are arranged in one big tree:
the file hierarchy, rooted at /. These files can be spread out over several devices.
The mount command attaches a filesystem, located on some device or other, to the file tree.
Conversely, the umount command will detach it again.

The standard form of the mount command is:

mount -t type device dir

This tells the kernel to attach the filesystem found on device (which is of type type) at the
directory dir. The previous contents (if any), owner, and mode of dir become invisible, and as long
as this filesystem remains mounted, the pathname dir refers to the root of the filesystem on device.

If only directory or device is given, for example:

mount /dir

then mount looks for a corresponding mountpoint (and then, if not found, for a corresponding
device) entry in the /etc/fstab file, and attempts to mount it.

Description: umount

The umount command detaches the specified file system(s) from the file hierarchy. A file system
is specified by giving the directory where it has been mounted. Giving the special device on which
the file system lives may also work, but is an obsolete method, mainly because it will fail in case
this device was mounted on more than one directory.

Note that a file system cannot be unmounted when it is busy - for example, when there are open
files on it, or when some process has its working directory there, or when a swap file on it is in
use. The offending process could even be umount itself - for example, umount opens the
common C libraries, which in turn may open (for example) locale files, which, if they are located
on the device in question, will prevent it from being unmounted. A "lazy" unmount (see -l in
the umount options section, below) attempts to unmount even if this conflict arises.

Listing Mounts And Getting Help

Three forms of the mount command do not actually mount anything:

mount -h

prints a help message, and exits;

mount -V

prints mount's version information, and exits;

mount [-l] [-t type]

lists all mounted filesystems (of type type). The option -l adds labels to this listing.

The Files /etc/fstab, /etc/mtab And /proc/mounts

The file /etc/fstab may contain lines describing what devices are usually mounted where, using
which options.

The command

mount -a [-t type] [-O optlist]

causes all filesystems mentioned in fstab (of the proper type and/or having or not having the proper
options) to be mounted as indicated, except for those whose line contains the noauto keyword.
This command would typically be included in a boot script. Adding the -F option will
make mount fork, so that the filesystems are mounted simultaneously.

When mounting a filesystem mentioned in fstab or mtab, it suffices to give only the device, or only
the mount point. The programs mount and umount maintain a list of currently mounted filesystems
in the file /etc/mtab. If no arguments are given to mount, this list is printed.

The mount program does not read the /etc/fstab file if both device (or LABEL/UUID) and dir are
specified. For example:

mount /dev/foo /dir

If you want to override mount options from /etc/fstab, you have to use:
mount device|dir -o options

and then the mount options from command line will be appended to the list of options
from /etc/fstab. If there are duplicate options, the usual behavior is that the one occuring last in the
command will be used.

When the proc filesystem is mounted (at /proc, for instance), the
files /etc/mtab and /proc/mounts have very similar contents. The former has somewhat more
information, such as the mount options used, but is not necessarily up-to-date (compare with the -
n option below). It is possible to replace /etc/mtab by a symbolic link to /proc/mounts. When you
have very large numbers of mounts things will be much faster with the symlink, but some
information is lost that way; in particular, the "user" option will fail.

Non-Superuser Mounts

Normally, only the superuser can mount filesystems. However, when fstab contains the user option
on a line, anybody can mount the corresponding system.

Thus, given an fstab line

/dev/cdrom /cd iso9660 ro,user,noauto,unhide

any user can mount the iso9660 filesystem found on a CD-ROM, using the command

mount /dev/cdrom

or

mount /cd

By default, only the user that mounted a filesystem can unmount it. If you'd like to allow any user
to be able to unmount a user-mount filesystem, use "users" instead of "user" in the fstab line. The
"owner" option is similar to the "user" option, with the restriction that the user must be the owner
of the special file. This may be useful, for example, for /dev/fd if a login script makes the console
user owner of this device. The "group" option is similar, with the restriction that the user must be
member of the special file's owning group.

Bind Mounts

Since Linux 2.4.0 it is possible to remount part of the file hierarchy somewhere else. The call is as
follows:

mount --bind olddir newdir

or, using the short option:

mount -B olddir newdir

or as an fstab entry:

/olddir /newdir none bind

After this call the same contents is accessible in two places. One can also remount a single file (on
a single file). It's also possible to use the bind mount to create a mountpoint from a regular
directory, for example:

mount --bind foo foo

The bind mount call attaches only (part of) a single filesystem, not possible submounts. The entire
file hierarchy including submounts is attached a second place using

mount --rbind olddir newdir

or, using the short option:

mount -R olddir newdir

Note that the filesystem mount options will remain the same as those on the original mount point,
and cannot be changed by passing the -o option along with --bind/--rbind. The mount options can
be changed by a separate remount command, for example:
mount --bind olddir newdir

mount -o remount,ro newdir

Note that behavior of the remount operation depends on the /etc/mtab file. The first command
stores the 'bind' flag to the /etc/mtab file and the second command reads the flag from the file. If
you have a system without the /etc/mtab file or if you explicitly define source and target for the
remount command (then mount does not read /etc/mtab), then you have to use bind flag (or option)
for the remount command too. For example:

mount --bind olddir newdir

mount -o remount,ro,bind olddir newdir

The Move Operation

Since Linux 2.5.1 it is possible to atomically move a mounted tree to another place. The call is:

mount --move olddir newdir

or shortoption

mount -M olddir newdir

This will cause the contents which previously appeared under olddir to be accessed under newdir.
The physical location of the files is not changed. Note that the olddir has to be a mountpoint.