LINUX (OS)

1. Chapter 1
Background:
History of Linux
The History of Linux began in 1991 with the commencement of a personal project by
a Finnish student, Linus Torvalds, to create a new operating system kernel.
Since then, the resulting Linux kernel has been marked by constant growth throughout its
history. Since the initial release of its source code in 1991, it has grown from a small number
of C files under a license prohibiting commercial distribution to its state in 2009 of over
370 megabytes of source under the GNU General Public License.
Gartner claimed that Linux-powered personal computers accounted for 4% of unit sales
in 2008.[7] However, it is common for users to install Linux in addition to (as a dual
boot arrangement) or in place of the pre-existing Microsoft Operating platform.
Timeline
1983 (September): GNU project was announced publicly
1991 (September): first version of the Linux kernel was released to the Internet
1999 EmperorLinux started shipping specially configured laptops running modified Linux
distributions to ensure usability[9]
2001 (second quarter): Linux server unit shipments recorded a 15% annual growth
rate[10][dead link]
2004: Linux shipped on approximately 50% of the worldwide server blade units, and 20% of
all rack-optimized servers[10]
2005 System76, a Linux-only computer OEM, starts selling Ubuntu pre-installed on laptops
and desktops.[11]
2007
Dell announced it would ship select models with Ubuntu Linux pre-installed[12]
ZaReason is founded as a Linux only hardware OEM.[13]
Lenovo announced it would ship select models with SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop pre-
installed[14]
HP announced that it would begin shipping computers preinstalled with Red Hat Enterprise
Linux in Australia[15]
ASUS launched the Linux-based ASUS Eee PC[16]
2008
Dell announced it would begin shipping Ubuntu-based computers to Canada and Latin
America[17]
Dell began shipping systems with Ubuntu pre-installed in China[18][19]
Acer launched the Linux-based Acer Aspire One[20]
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2. Chapter 1
In June 2008 the Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu (ELCOT), a bulk computer buyer for
students in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, decided to switch entirely to supplying Linux
after Microsoft attempted to use its monopoly position to sell the organization Windows
bundled with Microsoft Office. ELCOT declined the offer stating "Any such bundling could
result in serious exploitation of the consumer."[21]
In August 2008 IBM cited market disillusionment with Microsoft Vista in announcing a new
partnership arrangement with Red Hat,Novell and Canonical to offer "Microsoft-free"
personal computers with IBM application software, including Lotus Notes and Lotus
Symphony.[22]
2009
In January 2009 the New York Times stated: "More than 10 million people are estimated to
run Ubuntu today".[23]
In mid-2009 Asus, as part of its It's better with Windows campaign, stopped offering Linux,
for which they received strong criticism. The company claimed that competition from other
netbook makers drove them to offer only Windows XP. Writing in May
2010ComputerWorld columnist Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols said "I'm sure that the real
reason is Microsoft has pressured Asus into abandoning Linux. On ASUS' site, you'll now see
the slogan 'ASUS recommends Windows 7' proudly shown. Never mind that, while
Windows 7 is a good operating system, Windows 7 is awful on netbooks."[24][25][26][27][28]
In May 2009, Fedora developer JefSpaleta estimated on the basis of IP addresses of update
downloads and statistics from the voluntary user hardware registration service Smolt that
there are 16 million Fedora systems in use.[29] No effort was made to estimate how much
the Fedora installed base overlaps with other Linux distributions (enthusiasts installing
many distributions on the same system).
In June 2009 ZDNet reported "Worldwide, there are 13 million active Ubuntu users with use
growing faster than any other distribution."[30]
2010
In April 2010 Chris Kenyon, vice president for OEM at Canonical Ltd., estimated that there
were 12 million Ubuntu users.[31]
In June 2010 a Quebec Superior Court Judge Denis Jacques ruled that the provincial
government broke the law when it spentCdn$720,000, starting in the fall of 2006 to migrate
800 government workstations to Microsoft Windows Vista and Office 2007 without carrying
out a "serious and documented search" for alternatives. The search for alternatives was
legally required for any expenditures over Cdn$25,000. The court case was brought
by Savoir Faire Linux, a small Montreal-based company that had hoped to bid Linux
software to replace the government's aging Windows XP. The judge dismissed the
government's contention that Microsoft software was chosen because employees were
already familiar with Windows and that switching to a different operating system would
have cost more.
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3. Chapter 1
The creation of Linux
- In 1991, in Helsinki, Linus Torvalds began a project that later became the Linux kernel. It was
initially a terminal emulator, which Torvalds used to access the large UNIX servers of the
university. He wrote the program specifically for the hardware he was using and independent of
an operating system because he wanted to use the functions of his new PC with an 80386
processor. Development was done on MINIX using the GNU C compiler, which is still the main
choice for compiling Linux today (although the code can be built with other compilers, such as
the Intel C Compiler).[citation needed]
As Torvalds wrote in his book Just for Fun,[9] he eventually realized that he had written an
operating system kernel. On 25 August 1991, he announced this system in a Usenet posting to
the newsgroup "comp.os.minix."
The name
Linus Torvalds had wanted to call his invention Freax, a portmanteau of "freak", "free",
and "x" (as an allusion to Unix). During the start of his work on the system, he stored the files
under the name "Freax" for about half of a year. Torvalds had already considered the name
"Linux," but initially dismissed it as too egotistical.[9]
In order to facilitate development, the files were uploaded to the FTP server (ftp.funet.fi) of
FUNET in September 1991. Ari Lemmke, Torvald'scoworker at the Helsinki University of
Technology (HUT) who was one of the volunteer administrators for the FTP server at the time,
did not think that "Freax" was a good name. So, he named the project "Linux" on the server
without consulting Torvalds.[9] Later, however, Torvalds consented to "Linux".
To demonstrate how the word "Linux" should be pronounced (English
ɪnəks/ LIN-əks), Torvalds included an audio guide with the kernel source code.
pronunciation: /ˈl
Linux under the GNU GPL
Torvalds first published the Linux kernel under its own licence, which had a restriction on
commercial activity.
The software to use with the kernel was software developed as part of the GNU
project licensed under the GNU General Public License, a free software license. The first release
of the Linux kernel, Linux 0.01, included a binary of GNU's Bash shell.[13]
In the "Notes for Linux release 0.01", Torvalds lists the GNU software that is required to run
Linux:[13]
Sadly, a kernel by itself gets you nowhere. To get a working system you need a shell, compilers,
a library etc. These are separate parts and may be under a stricter (or even looser) copyright.
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4. Chapter 1
Most of the tools used with Linux are GNU software and are under the GNU copy left. These
tools aren't in the distribution - ask me (or GNU) for more info.[13]
In 1992, he suggested releasing the kernel under the GNU General Public License. He first
announced this decision in the release notes of version 0.12.[14] In the middle of December
1992 he published version 0.99 using the GNU GPL.[15]
Linux and GNU developers worked to integrate GNU components with Linux to make a fully
functional and free operating system.[16]
Torvalds has stated, “making Linux GPL'd been definitely the best thing I ever did.
GNU/Linux naming controversy
The designation "Linux" was initially used by Torvalds only for the Linux kernel. The kernel was,
however, frequently used together with other software, especially that of the GNU project. This
quickly became the most popular adoption of GNU software. In June 1994 in GNU's bulletin,
Linux was referred to as a "free UNIX clone", and the Debian project began calling its
product Debian GNU/Linux. In May 1996, Richard Stallman published the editor Emacs 19.31, in
which the type of system was renamed from Linux to Lignux. This spelling was intended to refer
specifically to the combination of GNU and Linux, but this was soon abandoned in favor of
"GNU/Linux".[18]
This name garnered varying reactions. The GNU and Debian projects use the name, although
most people simply use the term "Linux" to refer to the combination.
Official mascot
Torvalds announced in 1996 that there would be a mascot for Linux, a penguin. This was
due to the fact when they were about to select the mascot, Torvalds did mention he was bitten
by a Little Penguin (Eudyptula minor, J. R. Forster 1781) on a visit to the National Zoo &
Aquarium, Canberra, Australia. Larry Ewing provided the original draft of today's well known
mascot based on this description. The name Tux was suggested by James Hughes as derivative
of Torvalds' UniX.
Statement of the problem:
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5. Chapter 1
SPECIFIC:
Criticism of Linux
The criticism of Linux focuses on issues concerning use of operating systems which use
the Linux kernel.
As a desktop operating system, Linux has been criticized on a number of fronts, including:
A confusing number of choices of distributions, and desktop environments.
Audio handling, particularly before PulseAudio became stable and widely supported.
Poor support for some hardware, in particular drivers for 3D graphics and wireless chips,
where manufacturers were unwilling to provide full specifications.[1]
Lack of well-known native applications, such as top-selling video games and widely used
commercial applications (such as Adobe Photoshop[2] and Microsoft Word).[3][4]
Lack of standardization regarding GUI API.
Another common complaint levelled against Linux is the abundance of distributions
available. As of January, 2010, Distro Watch lists 306 major distributions.[11] While Linux
advocates have defended the number as an example of freedom of choice, other critics cite
the large number as cause for confusion and lack of standardization in Linux operating
systems.
An oops is a deviation from correct behaviour of the Linux kernel which produces a certain
error log. The better-known kernel panic condition results from many kinds of oops, but others
may allow continued operation with compromised reliability. The term does not stand for
anything, other than that it is a simple mistake.
When the kernel detects a problem, it prints an oops message and kills any offendingprocess.
The message is used by Linux kernel engineers to debug the condition which created the oops
and fix the programming error which caused it.
The official Linux Kernel documentation regarding oops messages is in the
fileDocumentation/oops-tracing.txt[1] of the kernel sources. Some logger configurations may
affect the ability to collect oops messages.[2]
Once a system has experienced an oops, some internal resources may no longer be in service.
Even if the system appears to work correctly, undesirable side effects may have resulted from
the active task being killed. A kernel oops often leads on to a kernel panic once the system
attempts to use resources which have been lost.
Kerneloops also referred to a software to collect and submit kernel oopses to the kerneloops
website.[3] oops.kernel.org provided statistics of oopses.[4] However, the website is now
defunct.
GENERAL:
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6. Chapter 1
Viability for use as a desktop system
Linux has been criticized for a number of reasons, including lack of user-friendliness[5] and
having a high learning curve,[6] being inadequate for desktop use, lacking support for exotic
hardware, having a relatively small games library, lacking native versions of widely-used
applications[7] and missing standardization in terms of GUI API.[8]
Some critics do not believe Linux will ever gain a large share in the desktop market. In May
2009 Preston Gralla, contributing editor toComputerworld.com, believed that Linux will never
be important to desktop/notebook users, even though he felt it was simple and straightforward
to use, but that its low usage is indicative of its low importance in the desktop market. [9]
Eric S. Raymond stated that the lack of usability in many open-source and Linux tools in his
essay Luxury of Ignorance: An Open-Source Horror Story is not from lack of manuals but from a
lack of thought about the users experience. [10]
James Donald from the Princeton University analysed shared library concepts of several
operation systems. In his 2003 paper titledImproved Portability of Shared Libraries, he worried
about the lack of a Windows Application Compatibility Group equivalent.
Desktop Linux was criticized in late 2010 by two writers for having missed its
opportunity to become a significant force in desktop computing. PC World Executive
Editor Robert Strohmeyer commented that although Linux has exceptional security and
stability, as well as great performance and usability, the time for desktop Linux to
succeed has been missed.[12] Nick Farrell, writing for TechEyefelt that the release of Vista
was a missed opportunity to grab significant market share.[13]
Both critics indicated that Linux did not fail on the desktop due to being "too geeky,"
"too hard to use," or "too obscure". Both had praise for distributions, Strohmeyer saying
"the best-known distribution, Ubuntu, has received high marks for usability from every
major player in the technology press". Both laid the blame for this failure on the open
source community. Strohmeyer named the "fierce ideology of the open-source
community at large"[12] as being responsible, while Farrell stated "The biggest killer of
putting penguin software on the desktop was the Linux community. If you think the
Apple fan boys are completely barking, they are role models of sanity to the loud
mouthed Open Sauce religious loonies who are out there. Like many fundamentalists
they are totally inflexible – waving a GNU as if it were handed down by God to Richard
Stallman".[13]
The accusation of over-zealous advocacy has been dealt with previously, in 2006
Dominic Humphries stated that the aims of the Linux community are not desktop
market-share or popularity, but in Linux being the best operating system that can be
made for the community.
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7. Chapter 1
Other General Problems on LINUX
- It is debatable why Linux remains a weaker platform for multimedia and gaming
use than other operating systems
- The lack of strong API standards for multimedia has been criticised.
- Linux has in the past been criticized for a lack of driver support; however this was
largely due to manufacturers not supporting the Linux system.
- Wireless driver support has been a problem area for Linux.
- The problem has been largely fixed in recent years and there are now a fairly
large number of drivers, adding support to most wireless cards available today.
However, many features are still missing from these drivers, mostly due to
manufacturers not providing specifications and documentation, and thus forcing
developers to reverse engineer cards.
If there is any one big problem with kernel development and Linux it is the complete
disconnection of the development process from normal users.
Objectives of the study:
- The GNU project is a mass collaboration of programmers who seek to create a
completely free and open operating system that was similar to Unix but with
completely original code. Meanwhile, the Linux kernel began as a side project
of Linus Torvalds, a university student from Finland. In 1991, Torvalds began
work on it, and posted information about his project on a newsgroup for
computer students and programmers. He received a wave of support and
volunteers who ended up creating a full-fledged kernel. Programmers from GNU
took notice, and members of both projects worked to integrate the finished GNU
parts with the Linux kernel in order to create a full-fledged operating system.
The components of an operating system all exist in order to make the different parts of
a computer work together. All user software needs to go through the operating system in order
to use any of the hardware, whether it is as simple as a mouse or keyboard or as complex as an
Internet component.
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8. Chapter 1
Scopes & Delimitations:
Features of Fedora
Distribution
The Fedora Project distributes Fedora in several different ways:
Fedora DVD/CD set – a DVD or CD set of all major Fedora packages at time of shipping;
Live images – CD or DVD sized images that can be used to create a Live CD or boot from
a USB flash drive and optionally install to a hard disk;
Minimal CD – used for installing over HTTP, FTP or NFS.
The Fedora Project also distributes custom variations of Fedora which are called Fedora
spins.[19] These are built from a specific set of software packages and have a combination of
software to meet the requirements of a specific kind of end user. Fedora spins are
developed by several Fedora special interest groups.[20] It is also possible to create Live
USB versions of Fedora using Fedora Live USB creator, UNetbootin or dd.
Extra Packages for Enterprise Linux (EPEL) is a volunteer-based community effort from the
Fedora project to create a repository of high-quality add-on packages that complement the
Fedora-based Red Hat Enterprise Linux and its compatible spinoffs such as CentOS or Scientific
Linux.[21]
Software package management is primarily handled by the yum utility.[22] Graphical interfaces,
such as pirut and pup are provided, as well as puplet, which provides visual notifications in the
panel when updates are available.[22] apt-rpm is an alternative to yum, and may be more
familiar to people used to Debian or Debian-based distributions, where Advanced Packaging
Tool is used to manage packages.[23] Additionally, extra repositories can be added to the
system, so that packages not available in Fedora can be installed.
Software repositories
Fedora comes installed with a wide range of software that
includes LibreOffice, Firefox, Empathy, Evolution and GIMP. Additional software that is not
installed by default can be downloaded using the package manager.
Before Fedora 7, there were two main repositories – Core and Extras. Fedora Core contained all
the base packages that were required by the operating system, as well as other packages that
were distributed along with the installation CD/DVDs, and was maintained only by Red Hat
developers. Fedora Extras, the secondary repository that was included from Fedora Core 3, was
community-maintained and not distributed along with the installation CD/DVDs. Since Fedora
7, the Core and Extras repositories have been merged, hence the distribution
dropping Core from its name.[25] That also allowed for community submissions of packages that
were formerly allowed only by Red Hat developers.
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9. Chapter 1
Also prior to Fedora 7 being released, there was a third repository called Fedora Legacy. This
repository was community-maintained and was mainly concerned with extending the life cycle
of older Fedora Core distributions and selected Red Hat Linux releases that were no longer
officially maintained.[26] Fedora Legacy was shut down in December 2006.[27]
Third party repositories exist that distribute more packages that are not included in Fedora
either because it does not meet Fedora's definition of free software or because distribution of
that software may violate US law. The primary third party repositories, and the only fully
compatible ones, are RPM Fusion and Livna. RPM Fusion is a joint effort by many third party
repository maintainers. Livna is still maintained separately as an extension of RPM Fusion for
legal reasons and only hosts the libdvdcss package for encrypted DVD playback.
Desktops and Spins
The default desktop in Fedora is the GNOME desktop environment, with Fedora offering
the GNOME Shell as its default interface since the release of Fedora 15.[28] Other desktop
environments are available from the Fedora package repositories, and can also be installed
from the Fedora installer, including the KDE Plasma Workspaces, Xfce, and LXDE desktop
environments.[29] In addition, specialized "spins" are available offering these alternative
desktops custom configured and offered by default. Other spins are also available targeting
specific niche interests, such as gaming, security, design, and robotics.
Security features
Security is one of the most important features in Fedora. One of the security features in Fedora
is Security-Enhanced Linux, a Linux feature that implements a variety of security policies,
including mandatory access controls, through the use of Linux Security Modules(LSM) in
the Linux kernel. Fedora is one of the distributions leading the way with SELinux. SELinux was
introduced in Fedora Core 2. It was disabled by default, as it radically altered how the operating
system worked, but was enabled by default in Fedora Core 3 and introduced a less
strict, targeted policy.
Releases
The current release of the operating system is Fedora 17, codenamed "Beefy Miracle", which
was released on May 29, 2012.[33] Fedora released Fedora 18 alpha[34] on 18 September 2012.
The final release is currently predicted to be released on 2013-01-08.
Some of the features of Fedora 17 include:
Inclusion of Gnome 3.4 desktop, offering software rendering support for GNOME Shell
Updated to latest KDE Software Compilation 4.8.3
A new file system structure moving more things to /usr
Removable disks are now mounted under /run/media due to a change in udisks
system-login replaces Console Kit, offering multi seat improvements
Inclusion of the libvirt sandbox; virt-manager now supports USB pass-through
Services now use private temp directories to improve security
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10. Chapter 1
Version history
Color Meaning
Red Release no longer supported[35]
Green Release still supported
Blue Future release
Project Name Version Code name Release date End-of-life date[36] Kernel version
1 Yarrow 2003-11-05 2004-09-20 2.4.19
2 Tettnang 2004-05-18 2005-04-11 2.6.5
3 Heidelberg 2004-11-08 2006-01-16 2.6.9
Fedora Core
4 Stentz 2005-06-13 2006-08-07 2.6.11
5 Bordeaux 2006-03-20 2007-07-02 2.6.15
6 Zod 2006-10-24 2007-12-07 2.6.18
Fedora 7 Moonshine 2007-05-31 2008-06-13 2.6.21
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11. Chapter 1
8 Werewolf 2007-11-08 2009-01-07 2.6.23
9 Sulphur 2008-05-13 2009-07-10 2.6.25
10 Cambridge 2008-11-25 2009-12-18 2.6.27
11 Leonidas 2009-06-09[37] 2010-06-25 2.6.29
12 Constantine 2009-11-17[38] 2010-12-02 2.6.31
13 Goddard 2010-05-25[39] 2011-06-04 2.6.33
14 Laughlin 2010-11-02[40] 2011-12-08 2.6.35[41]
15 Lovelock 2011-05-24[42] 2012-06-26[43] 2.6.42[44]
16 Verne 2011-11-08[45] Early 2013 3.1.0[46]
17 Beefy Miracle[47] 2012-05-29[48] Mid 2013 3.3.4[49]
18 Spherical Cow 2013-01-08[50]
19 Schrödinger's Cat[51]
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12. Chapter 1
Delimitations
Converting the type of a file system
It may be advantageous or necessary to have files in a different file system than they currently
exist. Reasons include the need for an increase in the space requirements beyond the limits of
the current file system. The depth of path may need to be increased beyond the restrictions of
the file system. There may be performance or reliability considerations. Providing access to
another operating system which does not support existing file system is another reason.
In-place conversion
In some cases conversion can be done in-place, although migrating the file system is more
conservative, as it involves a creating a copy of the data and is recommended. [21] On Windows,
FAT and FAT32 file systems can be converted to NTFS via the convert.exe utility, but not the
reverse.[21] On Linux, ext2 can be converted to ext3 (and converted back), and ext3 can be
converted to ext4 (but not back),[22] and both ext3 and ext4 can be converted to btrfs, and
converted back until the undo information is deleted.[23] These conversions are possible due to
using the same format for the file data itself, and relocating the metadata into empty space, in
some cases using sparse file support.[23]
Migrating to a different file system
Migration has the disadvantage of requiring additional space although it may be faster. The
best case is if there is unused space on media which will contain the final file system.
For example, to migrate a FAT32 file system to an ext2 file system. First create a new ext2 file
system, then copy the data to the file system, then delete the FAT32 file system.
An alternative, when there is not sufficient space to retain the original file system until the new
one is created, is to use a work area (such as a removable media). This takes longer but a
backup of the data is a nice side effect.
Long file paths and long file names
In hierarchical file systems, files are accessed by means of a path that is a branching list of
directories containing the file. Different file systems have different limits on the depth of the
path. File systems also have a limit on the length of an individual filename.
Copying files with long names or located in paths of significant depth from one file system to
another may cause undesirable results. This depends on how the utility doing the copying
handles the discrepancy. See also pathmunge
•Linux supports many different file systems, but common choices for the system disk on
a block device include the ext* family (such asext2, ext3 and ext4), XFS, JFS, ReiserFS and btrfs.
For raw flash without a flash translation layer (FTL) or Memory Technology Device(MTD), there
is UBIFS, JFFS2, and YAFFS, among others. Squash FS is a common compressed read-only file
system.
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13. Chapter 1
DEFINITION OF TERMS:
[2][3](00:49:21)
►GNU i
/ɡ ənuː/ is a Unix-like computer operating system developed by theGNU Project.
►A Usenet newsgroup is a repository usually within the Usenet system, for messages posted from
many users in different locations. The term may be confusing to some, because it is in fact a discussion
group. Newsgroups are technically distinct from, but functionally similar to, discussion forums on
the World Wide Web.
►The Linux kernel is the operating system kernel used by the Linux family of Unix-likeoperating
[7]
systems. It is one of the most prominent examples of free and open source software.
►An oops is a deviation from correct behaviour of the Linux kernel which produces a certain
error log. The better-known kernel panic condition results from many kinds of oops, but others
may allow continued operation with compromised reliability. The term does not stand for
anything, other than that it is a simple mistake.
►In computing, a graphical user interface (GUI, commonly pronouncedgooey[1]) is a type of user
interface that allows users to interact with electronic devices using images rather than text commands.
►An operating system (OS) is a collection of software that manages computer hardwareresources and
provides common services for computer programs. The operating system is a vital component of
the system software in a computer system. Application programs usually require an operating system to
function.
►A USB flash drive is a data storage device that includes flash memory with an integratedUniversal
Serial Bus (USB) interface.
►The Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is an application protocol for distributed,
[1]
collaborative, hypermedia information systems. HTTP is the foundation of data communication for
the World Wide Web.
►File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is a standard network protocol used to transfer files from one host or to
another host over a TCP-based network, such as the Internet.
►Network File System (NFS) is a distributed file system protocol originally developed bySun
[1]
Microsystems in 1984, allowing a user on a client computer to access files over anetwork in a manner
similar to how local storage is accessed.
►Firefox is a free and open source[10] web browser developed forMicrosoft Windows, OS X, and Linux,
coordinated by Mozilla Corporationand Mozilla Foundation.
►GNOME (pronounced /ː m/[4] or /ɡ əː m/[5]) is a desktop environment and graphical user
noʊ noʊ
interface that runs on top of a computer operating system.
►GNOME Shell is the core user interface of the GNOME desktop environmentstarting with version
3, which was released on April 6, 2011.
LINUX Page 13