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Donald P. Egen Patricia Egen Consulting (PEC) dpegen@egenconsulting

Overview of the Linux Operating System. Donald P. Egen Patricia Egen Consulting (PEC) dpegen@egenconsulting.com Session 0330 - SHARE Winter 2000 Anaheim, CA. What You’ll Hear Today. What is Linux? Is it Hype? What is Free Software and Open Source? The Advantages of Linux

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Donald P. Egen Patricia Egen Consulting (PEC) dpegen@egenconsulting

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  1. Overview of the Linux Operating System Donald P. Egen Patricia Egen Consulting (PEC) dpegen@egenconsulting.com Session 0330 - SHARE Winter 2000 Anaheim, CA

  2. What You’ll Hear Today • What is Linux? • Is it Hype? • What is Free Software and Open Source? • The Advantages of Linux • What do you get? What can you do? • How is it really being used? • Drawbacks: real and imagined • Conclusions and Questions Session 0330

  3. What is Linux? • A Unix-like Operating System • Initially written by Linus Torvalds, University of Helsinki, Finland, in 1991 • Written to exceed the standards of Minix • Released as Kernel 1.0 in 1994 • Posix.1 and Unix98 compliant but not certified • It is pronounced “LIH-nucks” with a short “i” Session 0330

  4. Is it Hype? • “IBM To Offer Linux On Thin Clients, Servers, And Notebooks” - InformationWeek Daily 2/3/00 • “VA Linux jumped a record 733 percent in its first day of trading in early December” - cnnfn.com, “1999: Year of the IPO”, December 27, 1999 • “Lotus To Ship Domino Release 5 For Linux” - Lotus Development press release, 26 October, 1999 Session 0330

  5. Free Software and Open Source • The GNU General Public License • Richard Stallman, Free Software Foundation, Inc. • Copyleft • The Open Source Initiative • Two ways of saying the same thing: • Unrestricted “free” redistribution • Source code included or freely available • Must allow derived works Session 0330

  6. Linux Advantages • Support for a wide range of hardware • Low cost (essentially zero) • Low hardware requirements • Multiple providers • No legal hassles • Peer review • Multi-user Session 0330

  7. So, what do you get? • Packaged distribution • Linux kernel, GNU utilities, tools, and compilers, the packager’s hints, examples, documentation • Example distribution: SuSE 6.1 • 1312 packages in all • Base kernel, shells, and commands • X Windows system with multiple desktops • StarOffice, Word Perfect Session 0330

  8. So, what do you get? • Example distribution • Languages: • C/C++, Pascal, Lisp, Fortran, Java, Tcl/Tk, Perl • Multiple relational data base managers • PostressSQL, IBM DB2, Informix • Complete TCP/IP networking • Firewall, Masquerade/Proxy, Web server, FTP server, NFS file server, OS/2-NT file server, Mail server Session 0330

  9. So, what do you get? • Example distribution • Multiple games • Image manipulation/graphics editors • Typesetting systems (TeX) • Multimedia players and recorders • Emulators: DOS, Atari, VC20, ZX81 Session 0330

  10. How is Linux really being used? • Learning/education • Network servers and management • Web, FTP, NFS, Mail, News, File/Print • DHCP and DNS • X Terminals • Development platform for any Unix flavor Session 0330

  11. Disadvantages of Linux • Unsupported? NO!!! MYTH!!! • May not run on the latest whiz-bang hardware • Proprietary protocols and formats are difficult to support • Requires a learning curve • You may have to get your hands dirty Session 0330

  12. A word about version numbers • Every distribution has its own numbering scheme • Every package has its own version numbering scheme • The Linux kernel has its own version numbering scheme - V.R.P • V = Version, 2 being current • R = Release, 2 being current, 0 was the previous • Odd = experimental, Even = stable • P = patch level • 2.2.14 is current as of January 4, 2000 Session 0330

  13. Conclusions • Linux is a Unix-like operating system distributed in the Open Source model • Linux has a large number of packages available for it to provide a wide range of functionality • There are many niches in the enterprise computing environment where Linux could fit • Linux can perform some enterprise computing functions on cheaper/older/less powerful hardware than other available alternatives Session 0330

  14. Conclusions • Linux is not a fad or a movement. It has taken advantage of the Free Software/Open Source movement to grow and expand Session 0330

  15. References • Linux Online • www.linux.org • Free Software Foundation, Inc. • www.gnu.org • Open Source Initiative • www.opensource.org • Linux Advantages • Rob Landley, www.flash.net/~landley Session 0330

  16. References • Distributions • SuSE - www.suse.com • Slackware - www.slackware.com • Corel - linux.corel.com • Red Hat - www.redhat.com • OpenLinux - www.caldera.com • StarOffice • www.sun.com/staroffice Session 0330

  17. Questions? Session 0330

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