Linux Operating System
Presentation outline
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Shreejana Singh
– Introduction
– History
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Charles Chong
– Technical Features
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Luis E. Solis
– Why use Linux?
– FUD factor
Presentation outline
conti…
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Dina Rodriguez
– Hardware Requirements
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Himanshu Kathuria
– Preview of the Linux Operating System
– Live demonstration of the OS
History
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Unix-like operating system, based on a
kernel written by Linus Benedict Torvald
– Inspired by the Minix operating system
– The GNU "guh-NEW“ project started in 1983 by
Richard Stallman at the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology
– A UNIX-compatible software system developed
by the Free Software Foundation (FSF)
History
conti…
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Philosophy of GNU
– To produce software that is non-proprietary
– Anyone can download, modify and redistribute GNU software
– The only restriction is that they cannot limit further redistribution
– Given away for free.
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Symbol of Linux
– Linux doesn't have a formidable serious looking symbol
– Rather Tux, as the penguin is lovingly called
– Symbolizes the care-free attitude of the total movement
History
conti…
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Began work in 1991
– August 25, 1991 the historic post was sent to the MINIX news group by
Linus .....
– September, 1991 - Linux version 0.01 is released
– October, 1992 - The first standalone Linux installed
– Dec 1993 - a stable 'beta' version (0.99 patchlevel 14) was available.
– March 1994 - Version 1.0 released
– First ``Linux virus'' discovered - Bliss
– Today, there are an estimated 5 million Linux users worldwide
Timeline
1991-2002
Platforms Linux been
Ported
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In addition to the Intel 386
Linux has been ported to all of the following platforms:
– Alpha Processor
– MIPS
– Motorola 68K (MAC, Atari, Amiga, etc.)
– PowerPC (PowerMac, etc.)
– SPARC
– Sun3
– SGI (Indy)
– HP PA-RISC (HP 700)
– VAX
– VME
– ARM (Palmtops)
– Intel 8086 & 80286
Operating System
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A program that controls the execution
of application programs.
And acts as an interface between the
user and the computer hardware
Linux is licenses under the General
Public Licenses (GPL)
– Ensures that the source code will always
be freely available to anyone wants it.
Open Source/Free
Software
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People often think of software at no cost,
has no owner, and thus no support or
warranty of continuation
In reality the 'free' in free software means
that the source code has been liberated and
anybody may copy and compile it, but that
does not exclude payment
Not Free of charge
Commercial Software
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The opposite of OSS/FS is “closed” or
“proprietary” software.
Software
– source code that can be viewed
– But cannot be modified and redistributed
without further limitation
What is Linux
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Kernel
Kernel Module
Benefits of using Module
Multitasking
Multi-User
Virtual Memory
Kernel Development
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Internet OSI open system
USC Berkeley UNIX
Linux member of UNIX family
Kernel manages system hardware
Standard Kernel loads entire Kernel
and base set in RAM
Linux real-time modules
O/S as a Resource
Manager
Linux Modules
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Speed and efficiency
Object file link/unlink to Kernel during
run time
Example SCSI standard device driver
Portable written in C language
Single User
Multi-Programming with
Two Programs
Multi-Programming with
Three Programs
Virtual Memory
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Swaps partition on hard disk
Linux swaps pages in and out of swap
space as required
More physical than exist
Linux’s sponsors and
contributors
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Sponsors
– Hewlett Packard
– IBM
– Intel
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Contributors
–
–
–
–
–
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Caldera Inc.
Corel Corporation
Oracle
SGI
Turbolinux Inc.
Red Hat Software
Linux Corporate
Customers
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Air New Zealand
Deutsche Telekom
7-Eleven
Wolfermans
Wesport River Winery
Satellite Records
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Mississippi State University
Triaton
Fear, Uncertainty, and
Doubt (FUD)
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Can we trust production data to a free
software program?
Free software
Linux is a Unix clone cut down to run
on a PC
Why compromise just to save a few
bucks?
Linux is insecure
Hardware Requirements
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Linux hardware requirements
Limitations
Disadvantages
Motherboard and CPU
Requirements
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Does not support the Intel 286 and
earlier processors.
Supports the Intel 80386, 80486,
Pentium, Pentium Pro, Pentium II,
Pentium III, etc.
Memory Requirements
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Linux requires very little memory to run
You should have a minimum 2 MB of RAM
The more memory, the faster it will run
8 MB is enough for personal use
16 MB or more for a power users
Hard Drive Controller
Requirements
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You can run a minimal system
completely from floppy.
You must have an AT-Standard (16-bit)
controller
Rule for non-SCSI controllers
Hard Drive Space
Requirements
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A complete system requires 10-20MB of
memory space
A larger system requires 100-150MB
Installing Linux on a system with so little
disk space will omit useful applications
Linux as a workstation: minimum of 600 MB
Linux as a server: minimum 1.6 GB of free
disk space needed
Monitor & Video Adaptor
Requirements
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Linux supports all Hercules, CGA, EGA,
VGA, IBM monochrome, and super
VGA video cards and monitors for the
default text-based interface
Other Supported Hardware
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CD-ROM storage
Soundboards
Pointing Devices (Mouse, trackball)
Printers
Linux Performance
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Key factors: features and performance
It runs on a wider range of hardware
platforms and run on less expensive
and powerful systems.
Linux exceeds other operating systems
in its multiprocessing capabilities and
its support of advanced TCP/IP
networking facilities
Linux Performance
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Linux does not restrict the number of
clients connected at the same time
It provides more reliable data storage
than other operating systems
Linux provides advanced disk
management (RAID) which makes it
possible to automatically duplicate
stored data on several hard drives
LINUX SOFTWARE
(RedHat Distribution)
Applications:
 Word Processor
 Spreadsheet
 PowerPoint
 Scheduler
 Databases
Development Software
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All development software is free and
covered under the GNU public License
Linux systems come standard with C
and C++ compilers and an assembler
BASIC, FORTRAN, LISP, Pascal, Perl,
Python are standard
Open Source
– Bugs are discovered and corrected
almost immediately
Games
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Large varieties of games
Recently turned their attention to
producing slick, commercial 3-D
games
Some common games
– CHESS, GO, JEZZBALL
Scientific Software
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TeX and LaTeX scientific typesetting
packages
Scientific applications for astronomy,
biology, cartography, chemistry,
laboratory work, mathematics,
graphics, and visualization, available.
Often used to laboratories
System Software
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Linux supports
– parallel processing
– RAID
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Has resources for managing
– all sorts of hardware issues
– power management, multi-user/multigroup systems administration, backup,
and system diagnostics.
Utilities
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Disk and file manipulation,
Terminal customization, compression,
archiving,
Scripting and other small but
important things that keep a home
computer running at its best.
Linux has command-line and even
graphic interfaces
COST
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Microsoft Office
2000 Standard:
Microsoft
Office2000 Prof:
OpenOffice1.0:
mostly free of
cost
StarOffice 6.0:
$181.95
$299.99
$39.99
$69.99
Previewing the Linux
Operating System
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Switch Desktop
Future of Linux
 Constantly on the news whether computer or
business related
 Difficult to install and use
 Free therefore insecure (Japanese gov.)
 Lack of support (IBM Red hat RHCE)
Q and A
 What is an operating system?
 What is the difference between open
source and commercial proprietary
software?
 What is Linux?
 What is a Kernel module?
 What are the benefits of using modules?
Thank You