Linux Operating System - Research Paper Example

Linux Operating System Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Introduction 3 Understanding the Linux Operating System 3 The Fundamental Architecture of the GNU/Linux Operating System 4 History 4 Timeline of Linux History 5 5 Strengths of Linux 6 Weaknesses of Linux 6 Conclusion 7 References 8 Introduction In plain and simple words, Linux is an operating system. It is a software that helps enabling applications and accessing the computer devices to execute required functions by the operator of the computer.

The operating system communicates instructions, for example from any particular application to the processor of the computer. The processor carries out the tasks as instructed and then the results are conveyed again to the particular application through the operating system (Linux, “What Is Linux: An Overview of the Linux Operating System”). Understanding the Linux Operating System Linux is a computer operating system similar to UNIX which utilizes the Linux kernel (Vadera, K. & Gandhi, B.

, “Open Source Technology”). Linux kernel refers to the actual core that is a part of a complex and huge operating system. Although it is huge and vast, yet it is quite properly arranged and organized with regard to layers and subsystems (Jones, “Anatomy of the Linux kernel”). Linux first began as a personalized computer system for individual use and has been successful in gaining approval of numerous large corporations since then, for example Sun Microsystems, IBM and HP. It is popularly being used as an operating system of the server, along-with few large organizations for desktops by using enterprise versions.

Linux can be cited as a significant example of development of the open-source implying that the source of code is freely available. The Fundamental Architecture of the GNU/Linux Operating System Source: (Jones, “Anatomy of the Linux kernel”). History Linux was originally developed by Linus Torvalds who was a Finnish student back in 1991 with the assistance and help of developers across the world. It was developed under the name of ‘GNU General Public License’. Source code of Linux is available to all for free such as the Linux Ubuntu Christian Edition (Defree, “Strengths and Weaknesses of Linux”).

Timeline of Linux History Date Event 1984 January 1984 Richard Stallman quit working at MIT in order to start working on GNU Project 1985 Month Unknown An organization called Free Software Foundation was formed by Richard Stallman for promoting and creating free software March 1985 The manifesto of GNU, a statement made by Richard Stallman was published in the journal of Dr. Dobb in its March issue, advocating the reason for free movement of software (GNU Operating System, “Letter to the Editor of Dr.

Dobb's Journal”) 1991 August 25, 1991 The idea for Linux was conceived by Linus Torvalds who then in a Usenet Post announced the commencement of the project Linux September 1991 A 0.01 Version was released online 1992 January 1992 First Linux Newsgroup: alto.os.linux was founded in UseNet April 1992 The newsgroup of Linux alto.os.linux which was already popular was started in the UseNet by Ari Lemmke November 1992 Announcement of the first release of Linux Distribution from the very own company Yggdrasil of Adam Ritcher was made 1993 June 1993 Slackware, the popular Linux Distribution was issued by Peter Volkerding August 1993 Matt Welsh released ‘Linux Installation and Getting Started : version 1’ 1994 March 1994 The kernel version 1.

0 of Linux was released Source: (Hasan, “History of Linux”). Strengths of Linux The source code is available for free in case of any change to be made in the system’s behavior which is currently being used. Also there is no user charge, no fee for registration and no charge for renewing the system Linux works in a broad variety of diverse hardware The system of Linux is soundly capable to continue working without restarting or rebooting Linux is quite secure and it’s popular for its quality and strength Linux is known for its flexibility As Linux was tested and developed by lot of professionals worldwide, thus, people who are expert in fixing the errors can be easily found (Defree, “Strengths and Weaknesses of Linux”).

Weaknesses of Linux A vast amount of diverse distributions Using Linux is not easy and is confusing for the new users Not everyone trusts open source products (Defree, “Strengths and Weaknesses of Linux”). Conclusion From the above study, it can be concluded that Linux Operating System is widely used throughout the world and is quite popular. The important advantages are that it is easy to use, comes for free and can be performed in varied kinds of hardware. References Defree. “Strengths and Weaknesses of Linux”.

July 05, 2011. Articles, December 27, 2009. GNU Operating System. “Letter to the Editor of Dr. Dobb's Journal”. July 05, 2011. Philosophy, 2010. Hasan, Ragib. “History of Linux”. July 05, 2011. Timeline of Linux History, October 18, 2005. < https://netfiles.uiuc.edu/rhasan/linux/> Jones, M. Tim. “Anatomy of the Linux kernel”. July 05, 2011. Technical library, June 06, 2007. Linux. “What Is Linux: An Overview of the Linux Operating System”. July 05, 2011. Learn Linux, 2011. Vadera, Kailash.

& Gandhi, Bhavyesh. Open Source Technology Laxmi Publications Ltd., 2009.