Saturday, June 27, 2009

What is LINUX?

Linux is the Core of Kernel of the free operating system first developed and released to the world by “Linux Benedict Torvalds” in 1991. A graduate student at the University of Helsinki, Finland and now an Engineer with the CPU design and fabrication company Transmute. Fortuitously choose to distribute under free software license named the GNU (general public license) GPL.

Thursday, June 25, 2009

LINUX


Tux the penguin, mascot of the Linux kernel


  • OS family Unix-like
  • Working state Current
  • Latest stable release Kernel 2.6.30 (9th June 2009)
  • Latest unstable release n/a
  • Supported platforms x86, MIPS, x86-64, SPARC, DEC Alpha, Itanium, PowerPC, ARM, and more
  • Kernel type Monolithic kernel
  • License Various including GNU General Public License, BSD License, Apache License and others

FORGET IT ALL USING JUST LINUX

There are lots of International Companies which made operating systems for us. Microsoft provides the major contribution in the making of an OS. Microsoft’s WINDOWS is the best OS and easy to use for all environments, but here in the syllabus of Diploma of Associates Engineer (DAE) in third year we are studying and discussing the UNIX/LINUX.

Linux is a generic term referring to Unix-like computer operating systems based on the Linux kernel. Their development is one of the most prominent examples of free and open source software collaboration; typically all the underlying source code can be used, freely modified, and redistributed by anyone under the terms of the GNU GPL and other free licenses.

Linux is predominantly known for its use in servers, although it is installed on a wide variety of computer hardware, ranging from embedded devices and mobile phones to supercomputers. Linux distributions, installed on both desktop and laptop computers, have become increasingly commonplace in recent years, owing largely to the popular Ubuntu distribution and to the emergence of netbooks.

The name "Linux" comes from the Linux kernel, originally written in 1991 by Linus Torvalds. The rest of the system usually comprises components such as the Apache HTTP Server, the X Window System, the K Desktop Environment, and utilities and libraries from the GNU operating system (announced in 1983 by Richard Stallman). Commonly-used applications with desktop Linux systems include the Mozilla Firefox web-browser and the OpenOffice.org office application suite. The GNU contribution is the basis for the Free Software Foundation's preferred name GNU/Linux.

This technology give us lots of opportunity to us. We're the students of third year are excited and happy to read this information.


Monday, June 22, 2009

OS is abbrivated as OPERATING SYSTEM

What is an Operating System (OS)?

An operating system is a program that acts as an intermediary between user of a computer and the computer hardware. An operating system is an important part of almost every computer system.

Purpose of an Operating System:

The purpose of an operating system is to provide an environment in which a user can execute programs.


Goal of an Operating System:
There are two goals of an operating system which are as follows:



Primary Goal:
The primary goal of an operating system is thus to make the computer system convenient to use.

Secondary Goal:
A secondary goal is to use the computer hardware in an efficient manner.

Sunday, June 21, 2009

THE OPERATING SYSTEM

The Operating System controls and coordinates the use of the hardware among the various applications programs for the various users. An operating system is similar to a government. The operating system provides the means for the proper use of these resources in operation of the computer system. Like a government, the operating system performs no useful function by itself. It simply provides an environment within which other programs can do useful work.

Operating system
(commonly abbreviated to either OS or O/S) is an interface between hardware and user; it is responsible for the management and coordination of activities and the sharing of the resources of the computer. The operating system acts as a host for computing applications that are run on the machine. As a host, one of the purposes of an operating system is to handle the details of the operation of the hardware. This relieves application programs from having to manage these details and makes it easier to write applications. Almost all computers (including handheld computers, desktop computers, supercomputers, video game consoles) as well as some robots, domestic appliances (dishwashers, washing machines), and portable media players use an operating system of some type. Some of the oldest models may however use an embedded operating system, that may be contained on a compact disk or other data storage device.

Operating systems offer a number of services to application programs and users. Applications access these services through application programming interfaces (APIs) or system calls. By invoking these interfaces, the application can request a service from the operating system, pass parameters, and receive the results of the operation. Users may also interact with the operating system with some kind of software user interface (UI) like typing commands by using command line interface (CLI) or using a graphical user interface (GUI, commonly pronounced “gooey”). For hand-held and desktop computers, the user interface is generally considered part of the operating system. On large multi-user systems like Unix and Unix-like systems, the user interface is generally implemented as an application program that runs outside the operating system. (Whether the user interface should be included as part of the operating system is a point of contention.)

Common contemporary operating system families include BSD, Darwin (Mac OS X), Linux, SunOS (Solaris/OpenSolaris), and Windows NT (XP/Vista/7). While servers generally run Unix or some Unix-like operating system, embedded system markets are split amongst several operating systems.

THE APPLICATIONS PROGRAMS

Database systems, games, business programs define the ways in which these resources are used to solve the computing problems of the users.

Application software is any tool that functions and is operated by means of a computer, with the purpose of supporting or improving the software user's work. In other words, it is the subclass of computer software that employs the capabilities of a computer directly and thoroughly to a task that the user wishes to perform. This should be contrasted with system software (infrastructure) or middleware (computer services/ processes integrators), which is involved in integrating a computer's various capabilities, but typically does not directly apply them in the performance of tasks that benefit the user. In this context the term application refers to both the application software and its implementation.

A simple, if imperfect analogy in the world of hardware would be the relationship of an electric light bulb (an application) to an electric power generation plant (a system). The power plant merely generates electricity, not itself of any real use until harnessed to an application like the electric light that performs a service that benefits the user.

Typical examples of 'software applications' are word processors, spreadsheets, media players and database applications.

Multiple applications bundled together as a package are sometimes referred to as an application suite. Microsoft Office, OpenOffice.org, and iWork, which bundle together a word processor, a spreadsheet, and several other discrete applications, are typical examples. The separate applications in a suite usually have a user interface that has some commonality making it easier for the user to learn and use each application. And often they may have some capability to interact with each other in ways beneficial to the user. For example, a spreadsheet may be embedded in a word processor document even though it has been created in a separate spreadsheet application.

User-written software tailors systems to meet the user's specific needs. User-written software include spreadsheet templates, word processor macros, scientific simulations, graphics and animation scripts. Even email filters are a kind of user software. Users create this software themselves and often overlook how important it is.

In some types of embedded systems, the application software and the operating system software may be indistinguishable to the user, as in the case of software used to control a VCR, DVD player or microwave oven.

It is important to note that this definition may exclude some applications that may exist on some computers in large organizations. For an alternative definition of an application: see Application Portfolio Management.

THE HARDWARE

The Central Processing Unit (CPU), the memory, and the input/output (I/O) devices provide the basic computing resources.
The term hardware covers all of those parts of a computer that are tangible objects. Circuits, displays, power supplies, cables, keyboards, printers and mice are all hardware.

COMPONENTS OF COMPUTER SYSTEM

A computer system can be divided roughly into four components: the hardware, the applications programs, the operating system, and the user. Computer is basically a man handled machine. It is made by human and its run by human too. So, therefore computer's parts and its complication is on one side but its advantages on other side.

A computer is a machine that manipulates data according to a set of instructions.

Although mechanical examples of computers have existed through much of recorded human history, the first electronic computers were developed in the mid-20th century (1940–1945). These first electronic computers were the size of a large room, consuming as much power as several hundred modern personal computers (PCs). Modern computers based on integrated circuits are millions to billions of times more capable than the early machines, and occupy a fraction of the space. Simple computers are small enough to fit into a wristwatch, and can be powered by a watch battery. Personal computers in their various forms are icons of the Information Age and are most people think of as "computers". The embedded computers found in many devices from MP3 players to fighter aircraft and from toys to industrial robots are however the most numerous.

The ability to store and execute lists of instructions called programs makes computers extremely versatile, distinguishing them from calculators. The Church–Turing thesis is a mathematical statement of this versatility: any computer with a certain minimum capability is, in principle, capable of performing the same tasks that any other computer can perform. Therefore computers ranging from a mobile phone to a supercomputer are all able to perform the same computational tasks, given enough time and storage capacity.