Chapter - 1 Paktia institute

Directorate of Academic Affairs

Faculty of Computer Science
Curriculum Committee

Introduction to Linux operating system

Prepare by: FARID-KHAN

Email: [email protected]
 Course Objectives

• After successfully completing this course, you will be able to know the following
concepts:
• System Administration & system administrator
• Role of different operating systems in networking
• Open source OS as a network operating system
• Differences between different operating systems
• Server and client flavors of Linux
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 What is system administration?

• System administration refers to the management of resources such as printers,

computers, network shares, user accounts etc. in a Local Area Network.
• The professional who is responsible for managing these resources is known as
system administrator.
• System administrator needs a bunch of skills and certifications to perform the
system administration.

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 Operating systems in Network environment

• There are different operating systems which are providing the services in the
networking field and they are installed on different types of servers.
• These server operating systems are installed on midrange servers, mainframes
and even the super computers. The server operating systems from different
vendors are Windows server, UNIX and Linux servers.
• Perhaps the most interesting operating system available today is Linux which is a
free and a powerful network operating system often used in large networks.

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 What is an open source operating system?

• Open source OS is software whose source code is published and made available
to the public. The people can see the code, edit the code and improve the code.
• Open source code evolves through community cooperation. These communities
are composed of individual programmers as well as very large companies.

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 What is an open source operating system?

Examples of Open source software and OS are:

• PHP - Scripting language suited for the web
• Linux — operating system kernel based on UNIX
• NetBSD - operating system derived from UNIX
• OpenBSD — operating system derived from UNIX
• FreeBSD — operating system derived from UNIX
• OpenSolaris — An OS from Sun Microsystems.
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 Introduction to Linux Operating System

• Linux is a UNIX like operating system that uses the Linux kernel. Linux is an open
source operating system because the source code of Linux can be used, freely
modified, and redistributed by anyone.
• Develop in 1991 Sep 17 by Linus Torvalds.
• Today Linux is a popular operating system used in the networking and can be
installed on almost any computer from a personal computer to large mainframe
computers.
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 Major Linux Distributions

• There are many distributions of Linux available in the market. These

distributions are also called as distros or the flavors. Linux has flavors for the end
users as well as professional users.
• Linux flavors used by the professional users are installed on dedicated server
computers while flavors installed on the client computers are used by the end
users.

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 Major Linux Distributions

Linux Server Flavors

• Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)
• Community Enterprise Operating System (CentOS)
• Ubuntu Server
Linux Client Flavors
• Ubuntu Linux
• Mint Linux
• Debian Linux
• Elementary Linux
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 Red Hat Enterprise Linux

• Red Hat Enterprise Linux is a Linux distribution produced by Red Hat company
and it mostly targets the commercial market.
• Red Hat commits to supporting each version of RHEL for 7 years after its release.
• This flavor of Linux is installed on large server computers.

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 Client Flavors of Linux

 For end users, it is often difficult to choose the right Linux flavor. The beginners
don’t know where to start, how to start or which Linux distro to start with
because each Linux distribution has its own set of differences.
• The recommended flavors for the beginners are:
• Ubuntu (Recommended for any novice, but a little difficult to use)
• Mint (Recommended for users who have previously used the windows)
• Elementary (Recommended for users who have previously used the Mac OS)
• Debian
• Many more ........
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Client Flavors of Linux

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 Red Hat Certifications

• Red Hat offer a wide variety of certifications in this field. These certifications
have a respectable position in the IT industry.
• All certifications are given after passing the performance-based exams where
the students must perform tasks on a live system, rather than answering
multiple choice questions.

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 Red Hat Certifications

• Red Hat Certified System Administrator (RHCSA)

• Red Hat Certified Engineer (RHCE)
• Red Hat Certified Security Specialist (RHCSS)
• Red Hat Certified Datacenter Specialist (RHCDS)
• Red Hat Certified Architect (RHCA)
• Red Hat Certified Virtualization Administrator (RHCVA)
• JBoss Certified Application Administrator (JBCAA)
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 Comparison between Linux, Windows & UNIX
Points Windows Linux UNIX
File Systems FAT, NTFS, ReFS Ext3, ext4, XFS JFS, GPFS
Firewalls Windows Firewall Netfilter/iptables ipfilter
Use Used as server & client Used as server & client Used as server only

Price Expensive Cheaper & mostly free More Expensive

Platform Dependency Platform Independent Platform Independent Platform Dependent

CLI case sensitivity Case Insensitive Case Sensitive Case Sensitive

Nature Closed source Open source Closed source
Security Less Secure More Secure More Secure
Applications Availability Easily available Less easily available Available for specific use
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 Conclusion

• Management of resources in a LAN is called as system administration.

• Linux is an open source operating system because its source code is available to
public for editing and improvement.
• Linux is available as a client flavor or the server flavor.
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux is the most widely used server flavor of the Linux.
• Linux has the most reputed certification in the IT industry enabling the
professionals to earn a good amount of money.
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