Category: Fedora

Linux File System

The file system is a logical collection of files on a disk. In Linux, all users including the root user which is also known as the superuser have their own home directories to save their data in.

Linux Directory Structure:

In Linux, you can choose any method to manage files and folders with a file manager or with the command line. The thing you should consider is that you must have good knowledge of the Linux commands to use command line method.

Linux and Unix use a tree-like file system structure with root (/) at the base of the file system. All the other directories spread from there. Each of these directories has a specific purpose. Generally, they hold the same types of information so that you can easily locate files. The following are the common directories found in Linux and Unix:

/

This is the root directory which contains the directories needed at the top level of the file structure.

/bin

This directory contains the executable files. These files are available to all users.

/dev

It holds device files that represent hardware components.

/lib

It contains shared library files and sometimes other kernel-related files.

/tmp

This directory holds temporary files used between system boots.

/boot

It contains files for booting the system.

/etc

This directory host-specific system configuration files.

/home

It contains the home directory for users and other accounts on the server.

/var

Basically, it contains variable-length files such as log and print files and any other type of file that may contain a variable data.

/mnt

This directory used to mount other temporary file systems, such as CD-ROM and floppy for the respective drive.

/proc

This directory contains all processes marked as a file by process number or other information that is dynamic in the system.

/usr

This directory used for miscellaneous purposes and can be used by many users. Additionally, it has administrative commands, shared files, library files, and others

/sbin

It contains binary files, basically for system administration. For example, fdisk and ifconfig utlities.

/kernel

This directory contains kernel files.

Please refer our other file system related articles at following theselinks:

https://linux-documentation.com/linux-file-access-permissions/(opens in a new tab)

https://linux-documentation.com/modifying-file-permissions-in-linux/(opens in a new tab)

I hope these articles will help you understand the Linux File System easily.

Criteria To Choose the Perfect Linux Distribution – Part I

We have already seen some of the famous Linux distributions in our other article. You can check it out here. In this article, we are going to describe the main criteria to choose the perfect Linux distribution.

Linux is based on Unix. Various software developers worked on it and turned it into different ‘distributions’ or ‘distros’. Most of the Linux distros use the Linux kernel (the soul of the operating system). The different desktop environments for these distros are then built around that kernel.

Ubuntu

Ubuntu is a Modern operating system with full hardware integration and a complete set of applications.
If you are worried about the Linux command line, try Ubuntu, because you won’t need the terminal window at all. It is easy to install as well as easy to use with great support.

Download Link: http://www.ubuntu.com/download/desktop

Debian

Debian is one of the oldest and most stable Linux distributions. It is the base for many of the other distributions such as Ubuntu and Linux Mint. It’s community distribution ships with free software and drivers. The Debian repositories offer thousands of applications. There are different versions available for many hardware devices.

Its installation is the easiest because there are various steps you need to go through post-installation to get all of your hardware working.

Download Link: https://www.debian.org/distrib/

Fedora

Fedora is a Red Hat based community distribution. It always comes with up-to-date software and drivers and was one of the first distributions to introduce both Wayland and SystemD. Fedora has a quite regural development update.

Easy to install and contains a good range of software. Not all of the packages are stable.

Download Link: https://getfedora.org/en/workstation/download/

Linux Mint

Linux Mint is a strong option for those who are new to Linux. It is the best starter OS for those who want to switch from Windows/Mac. It provides an impressive amount of customization options with good media support. It is based on Ubuntu, Debian Linux distros.

It is easy to install, contains all the applications you need for general home computing.

Download Link: https://www.linuxmint.com/download.php

Linux Features

Please refer to our other article regarding an Introduction to Linux Operating Systems.

In this article, we are going to see what are the Linux features which makes it the first choice of developers as well as the best option for Server Management and Web Hosting.

  • Linux Features
    Linux Features
Graphical User Interface:

Basically, Linux is a command line based OS that allows converting to a GUI based OS by installing packages. It also supports Graphical Customization.
GNU/Linux is an OS allowing you to choose the GUI you like, for example from Arch Linux and install it on your system. You can change this GUI pattern any time you want.

Control Over the Entire Base System:

GNU/Linux is great when it comes to fixing errors related to any system package or tool. As the system is built with modular pieces, if any package breaks, you can either uninstall then re-install the problematic package via the Command Line or the graphical interface. Also, you can find a different tool as a replacement.

Packages:

Linux has its own software repository which allows users to download and install many applications. In Debian, there is the apt-get command that installs a program without compiling. The exact command is “apt-get install programname“. You can even use APT to install Chromium (a graphical application) if you wish. Similerly, Red Hat has yum, Arch Linux has pacman, etc.).

Multiuser capability:

More than one user can access the same system resources like memory, hard disk, etc. from different terminals.

Multitasking:

More than one function can be performed concurrently by dividing the CPU time intelligently.

Security:

It provides security in three ways i.e authentication, by giving user id with the username, authorization by giving permission to read, write and execute and encryption by converting files to an unreadable format.

Live CD/USB:

Almost all Linux distros provide live CD/USB so that users can run it without installing it.

Portability:

It supports different types of hardware.

File System: 

Files and directories are arranged in a hierarchical structure which is easy to understand by users.

Programmer-friendly: 

Linux comes with everything you need to compile both C and C++ programs out of the box, regardless of distribution. It supports different languages as well.

Introduction To Linux

Linux is a free and open source operating system released in 1991 for computers. But today, it works on computers, servers, mainframes, mobile devices, and embedded devices. Linux is one of the most popular versions of the UNIX Operating System. It was designed considering UNIX compatibility and thus it’s quite similar to Unix.

Linux-based operating systems are mostly used by developers to get their work done and develop something new. They are choosing a Linux distro for development because it’s easy to use as well as compatible with most of the programming languages i.e Java, PHP, HTML etc. Today, Linux is ideal for commercial network devices and enterprises who want to use it to customize their own network and data center infrastructure.

The following is a list of best Linux distributions for Development and Server Management:
  • Debian
  • Ubuntu
  • Fedora
  • CentOS/REDHAT
  • Raspbian
  • And more

Please check out our other article to get more information about these Linux distributions here.

Primary Components of Linux

These are the three primary components of this operating system:

Kernel

The kernel is a core part of the operating system. It performs all major activities. It consists of various modules and interacts directly with the internal hardware. The Main function of the kernel is to send instructions to the CPU, peripherals, and memory.

System Library

System libraries are the programs that allow application programs or system utilities to access the Kernel’s features. These libraries are responsible for executing most of the OS programs. They don’t have the kernel module’s code access rights.

System Utility

System Utility programs are responsible to perform specialized, individual level tasks. Beyond tthe operating system it has two modes such as Kernel Mode and User Mode. The system runs programs under one of these modes.

Kernel Mode vs User Mode

Kernel Mode has full access to all resources of the system. In kernel mode programs represent a single process. It executes in single address space and does not require any context switch. Because of which this mode is very efficient and fast.

User programs and other system programs run in User Mode. It has no access to system hardware and kernel code. User programs use system libraries to access kernel functions to get the system’s low-level tasks done.