REPUBLIQUE DU CAMEROUN REPUBLIQUE OF CAMEROON

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MINISTERE DE L’ENSEIGNEIGNEMENT
SUPERIEURE
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JFN-HIGHTECH UNIVERSITY INSTITUTE
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Peace-Work-Fatherland
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MINISTRY OF HIGHER EDUCATION
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JFN-HIGHTECH UNIVERSITY INSTITUTE
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Bp 3712 DOUALA
TEL :(237) 233 43 43 43 /680 06 60 15 /
694 00 56 70 / 675 37 05 69
E-mail :Info@jfn-it.com

EXPOSEE

TOPIC:LINUX OS

WRITTEN AND PRESENTED BY; LECTURER;

GROUP 1 STUDENTS Mr. EDWIN NFEH

ACADEMIC YEAR : 2023 -2024

 LINUX OS

GROUP MEMBERS

DJANKOU GRACE LOVELY

FOKOU MOUBE OTHNIEL
TSAKENG MANEKENG SAMIRA FLORINE
PEKETE NOKA LESLIE
SIEYANJI TIENTCHEU FRANK BAUREL
TALLA WAFFEU YVAN RANDY
PIEMEU MEUSSEUNYE ANDY
MOUSSI ONDOUA SAMUEL JUNIOR
NAGUE MINTIDEM YVAN MAXIME
SONAH KELLY YANGOH

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Contents
A. INTRODUCTION..............................................................................................................................3
B. HISTORY..........................................................................................................................................3
C. Linux Architecture..........................................................................................................................3
D. Features of Linux Operating System...............................................................................................4
E. Linux as compared to UNIX............................................................................................................5
F. Linux as compared to Windows......................................................................................................5
G. The Advantage of Linux Operating System.....................................................................................6
H. Disadvantages of Linux os..............................................................................................................7
I. The distributor of Linux..................................................................................................................7
J. Directory structure in Linux............................................................................................................8
K. Directories in Linux.........................................................................................................................9
L. How to download and install Linux OS...........................................................................................9

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A. INTRODUCTION

Linux is a true 32/64-bit operating system that run on different platforms. It is a multi-user, multi-
tasking and time sharing operating system. Linux is a very stable OS and is used in many application
areas, such as by Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and as a network OS for providing various services.
The Linux OS derived its name from its creator, Linux Torvalds. Linux started writing the Linux kernel
in 1991, as a hobby, and created one of the most powerful operating systems available today.
Perhaps the most important factor for the immense success of Linux is that it is free. It can be copied
and redistributed without having to pay any fee or royalty.

B. HISTORY

All modern operating systems have their roots in 1969 when Dennis Ritchie and Ken Thompson
developed the C language and the UNIX operating system at AT&T Bell Labs. They shared their source
code with the rest of the world, including the hippies in Berkeley California. By 1975, when AT&T
started selling UNIX commercially, about half of the source code was written by others. The hippies
were not happy that a commercial company sold software that they had written; the resulting (legal)
battle ended in there being two versions of UNIX in the Seventies: the official AT&T UNIX, and the
free BSD UNIX.

In the Eighties many companies started developing their own UNIX: IBM created AIX, Sun SunOS
(later Solaris), HP HP-UX and about a dozen other companies did the same. The result was a mess of
UNIX dialects and a dozen different ways to do the same thing. And here is the first real root of Linux,
when Richard Stallman aimed to end this era of UNIX separation and everybody re-inventing the
wheel by starting the GNU project (GNU is Not Unix). His goal was to make an operating system that
was freely available to everyone, and where everyone could work together (like in the Seventies).
Many of the command line tools that you use today on Linux or Solaris are GNU tools.

The Nineties started with Linus Torvalds, a Swedish speaking Finnish student, buying a 386 computer
and writing a brand new POSIX compliant kernel. He put the source code online, thinking it would
never support anything but 386 hardware. Many people embraced the combination of this kernel
with the GNU tools, and the rest, as they say, is history.

C. Linux Architecture
The Linux operating system consists of three main software components as shown below:

Components of the Linux OS

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1. Kernel

The kernel is a program that constitutes the central core of a computer operating system. It has
complete control over everything that occurs in the system. Since the kernel communicates directly
with the hardware, the parts of the kernel must be customized to the hardware features of each
system. However, the kernel does not deal directly with a user. Instead, the login process starts up a
separate, interactive program, called the shell, for each user.

2. Shell

A shell is a program that provides the traditional, text-only user interface for Linux and other Unix-
like operating systems. Its primary function is to read commands that are typed into a console (i.e.,
an all-text display mode) or terminal window (an all-text window) in a GUI (graphical user interface)
and then execute (i.e., run) them.

The shell is a program that acts as an interface between users and kernel. It is a command interpreter
and also has programming capability of its own.

Shell Types

 Bourne Shell (sh) (First shell by Stephen Bourne)

 C Shell(sh)
 Korn Shell (ksh)
 Bourne Again Shell(bash)
3. Linux Utilities and Application Programs

The Linux utilities or commands are a collection of programs that service day-to-day processing
requirements. These programs are invoked through the shell, which is itself another utility. Apart
from the utilities provided as part of the Linux operating system, more than a thousand Linux-based
application programs, like database management systems, word processors, and various other
programs are available from independent software vendors.

D. Features of Linux Operating System

a) Hierarchical File System

Linux provides a standard file structure in which system files/ user files are arranged.

b) Multiprogramming

Linux is a multiprogramming system means multiple applications can run at same time.

c) Time-Sharing

Multi-programming is made possible on the Linux system by time-sharing feature.

d) Multi-Tasking

A program in Linux is broken down into tasks, each task is something like reading from or writing to
the disk, or waiting for input from a user. The ability of any as to handle the execution of multiple
tasks is known as multi-tasking.

e) Multi-User

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Linux is a multiuser system means multiple users can access system resources like memory, ram, and
application programs at same time.

f) Open Source

Linux source code is freely available and it is community based development project. Multiple teams’
works in collaboration to enhance the capability of Linux operating system and it is continuously
evolving.

g) Licensing

Linux is copyrighted under the GNU General Public License. The licensing for Red Hat Linux states
that a person can make any number of copies of the software and distribute it freely or charge a
price for it. One can freely download Linux from the Internet for use.

E. Linux as compared to UNIX

Linux was developed considering UNIX as a reference model. This is why; the basic architecture and
most of the features of Linux and UNIX are the same. Actually, Linux is also considered another
version of UNIX. The main difference between Linux and UNIX is that Linux is FREE. Various
distributors of Linux charge a price, which is quite low as compared to other operating systems.

The Linux operating system requires at least 850 MB hard disk space, 64MB Memory for Red hat
Linux 9.0.

Comparison between Linux and UNIX

Feature Linux Unix
Shell Available bash, pdksh, tcsh Bourne, korn, C
zsh, ash
Variants Red Hat, Caldera, AT&T, MULTICS,
Debain, LinuxPPC, BSD, SCO, HP-Ux,
SUSE IRIX, Ultrix, Sun
Solaris
Licensing Freely Distributed Expensive licensing

F. Linux as compared to Windows

Most of the organizations having small, medium, or large networks require a few basic
services such as file and print services, E-mail access, Internet access, and Intranet services.
Most of the tasks that you are wanting to execute on a Windows machine can also be
executed on a Linux machine.
The following table compares some of the common applications used on the Linux and
Windows operating systems.
Comparison Between Linux and Windows

Comparison Linux Windows

between Linux and
Windows Service
Web Server Apache Internet Information

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Server
Email Server Send mail Microsoft Exchange

Relational Database Sybase /MYSQL Microsoft SQL

Server
Proxy Server Squid Object Cache Windows Pro Server
Backup Server BRU Included with
Windows

G.The Advantage of Linux Operating System

1. Cost

The most important advantage of using Linux is the fact that it is free to obtain. Linux distribution can
be installed on any number of computers, without paying a single penny.

2. Reliability

Users on the Linux operating system work consistently with the Linux server, without reporting any
operating system failures.

3. Backward Compatibility

Linux is perfect for those old computers with barely any processing power or memory. There are
endless possibilities to find old 386 or 486 computers with barely any RAM run Linux without any
issue.

4. Simple Upgrade and Installation Process

The installation procedure of most Linux versions is menu-driven. It includes the ability to upgrade
from prior versions. The upgrade process preserves the existing configuration files and maintains a
list of its actions during installation.

5. GUI Interface

The graphical interface for Linux is the X Window system. It is divided into two sub systems consisting
of a server and a client. Linux has a number of graphical user interfaces called Desktop Environments,
such as K Desktop Environment (KDE) and GNU Object Model Environment (GNOME), both of which
are versions of the X Window system. They run on the X server.

6. Excellent Security Features

Security - Linux provides user security using authentication features like password protection/
controlled access to specific files/ encryption of data. This is the reason why many Internet Service
Providers (ISPs) are replacing their current OS with Linux systems.

7. Stability
Linux doesn’t need to be rebooted periodically to maintain performance levels. It doesn’t freeze up
or slow down over time due to memory leaks and such. Continuous up-times of hundreds of days (up
to a year or more) are not uncommon.
8. Performance
Linux provides persistent high performance on workstations and on networks. It can handle
unusually large numbers of users simultaneously, and can make old computers sufficiently
responsive to be useful again.
9. Network friendliness

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Linux was developed by a group of programmers over the Internet and has therefore strong support
for network functionality; client and server systems can be easily set up on any computer running
Linux. It can perform tasks such as network backups faster and more reliably than alternative
systems.
10. Flexibility

Linux can be used for high performance server applications, desktop applications, and embedded
systems. You can save disk space by only installing the components needed for a particular use. You
can restrict the use of specific computers by installing for example only selected office applications
instead of the whole suite. 6.Compatibility: It runs all common Unix software packages and can
process all common file formats.

11. Choice

The large number of Linux distributions gives you a choice. Each distribution is developed and
supported by a different organization. You can pick the one you like best; the core functionalities are
the same; most software runs on most distributions.

12. Fast and easy installation

Most Linux distributions come with user-friendly installation and setup programs. Popular Linux
distributions come with tools that make installation of additional software very user friendly as well.

13. Full use of hard disk

Linux continues work well even when the hard disk is almost full. 10.Multitasking: Linux is designed
to do many things at the same time; e.g., a large printing job in the background won’t slow down
your other work.

14. Security
Linux is one of the most secure operating systems. “Walls” and flexible file access permission
systems prevent access by unwanted visitors or viruses. Linux users have to option to select and
safely download software, free of charge, from online repositories containing thousands of high-
quality packages. No purchase transactions requiring credit card numbers or other sensitive personal
information are necessary.
15. Open Source

If you develop software that requires knowledge or modification of the operating system code,
Linux’s source code is at your fingertips. Most Linux applications are Open Source as well.

H.Disadvantages of Linux os

1. It is not very user-friendly. So, it may be confusing for beginners.

2. It has small peripheral hardware drivers as compared to windows.

I. The distributor of Linux

A Linux distribution is collection software of (usually open source) software on top of a Linux kernel.
A distribution (or short, distro) can bundle server software, system management tools,
documentation and many desktop applications in a central secure software repository. A distro aims
to provide a common look and feel, secure and easy software management and often a specific
operational purpose.

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1. Red Hat

Red Hat is a billion-dollar commercial Linux Company that puts a lot of effort in developing Linux.
They have hundreds of Linux specialists and are known for their excellent support. They give their
products (Red Hat Enterprise Linux and Fedora) away for free. While Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)
is well tested before release and supported for up to seven years after release, Fedora is a distro with
faster updates but without support.

2. Ubuntu

Canonical started sending out free compact discs with Ubuntu Linux in 2004 and quickly became
popular for home users (many switching from Microsoft Windows). Canonical wants Ubuntu to be an
easy-to-use graphical Linux desktop without need to ever see a command line. Of course, they also
want to make a profit by selling support for Ubuntu.

3. Debian

There is no company behind Debian. Instead, there are thousands of well-organized developers that
elect a Debian Project Leader every two years. Debian is seen as one of the most stable Linux
distributions. It is also the basis of every release of Ubuntu. Debian comes in three versions: stable,
testing and unstable. Every Debian release is named after a character in the movie Toy Story

J. Directory structure in Linux

All the files are grouped together in a directory structure. The file-system is arranged in a hierarchical

structure, like an inverted tree.

The top of the hierarchy is traditionally called root (written as a slash /). The full path to the file
report.doc is"/home/its/ug1/ee51vn/report.doc”

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 /

home imp usr var

LINUX OS

K.Directories in Linux its scs

ug1 pg1 staff

directory function
/bin contains
ee51vn
thema51ik
binaries which are needed to run LINUX.
/boot has all the files required for booting LINUX on system.
docs pics report;doc
/dev has the devices for all the files.

/etc contains the configuration files of the various software.

Normally no one touch this directory.

/home This contains the username as the sub directory.

is like My Documents in Windows.

/lib contains the shared libraries required for the system files
/lost+found contains the files which are damaged or which are not linked to any
directory.
These damages are due to the incorrect shutdown.

/mnt This is the directory in which we mount the devices and other file
systems.

/opt Here the optional software are installed.

/root Directory for user root.

/sbin System binaries
/srv Data fro service from systems
/tmp Temporary files
/usr User utilities and applications
/proc Process information.

L. How to download and install Linux OS

Linux is an operating system, similar to Windows, but with many different versions due to the nature
of being open source and fully customizable. To install Linux, you must choose an install method and
choose a Linux distribution.

To install Linux:

Step1: Choose an install method: Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL), Bare metal Linux; or create a
Virtual Machine (VM) to run Linux locally or in the cloud.

Step2: Choose a Linux distribution: Ubuntu, Debian, Kali Linux, openSUSE, etc.

Step 3: Follow the steps for your preferred install method:

 Use the install Linux command with Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL)
 Create a Linux Virtual Machine (VM) in the cloud
 Create a Linux Virtual Machine (VM) on your local machine
 Create a bootable USB to install bare-metal Linux

Step 4: After installing Linux:

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Get familiar with your distribution's package manager, update and upgrade the packages available,
and get familiar with the other Linux resources at Microsoft, such as training courses, Linux-versions
of popular tools, news, and Open-Source events.

M. conclusion

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