General Questions Flashcards
(46 cards)
What is Linux?
Linux is an operating system based on UNIX, and was first introduced by Linus Torvalds. It is based on the Linux Kernel, and can run on different hardware platforms manufactured by Intel, MIPS, HP, IBM, SPARC and Motorola. Another popular element in Linux is its mascot, a penguin figure named Tux
What is the difference between UNIX and LINUX?
Unix began as a propriety OS and was developed at Bell Labs. Linux is open source
What is BASH?
Bourne Again Shell written by Steve Bourne as a replacement to Bourne Shell. It combines all the features from the original version of Bourne Shell, plus additional functions to make it easier and more convenient to use.
What is Linux Kernel?
The Linux Kernel is a low-level systems software whose main role is to manage hardware resources for the user. It is also used to provide an interface for user-level interaction
What is LILO?
LILO is a boot loader for Linux. It is used mainly to load the Linux operating system into main memory so that it can begin its operations.
What is a swap space?
A swap space is a certain amount of space used by Linux to temporarily hold some programs that are running concurrently. This happens when RAM does not have enough memory to hold all programs that are executing.
What is the advantage of open source?
Open source allows you to distribute your software, including source codes freely to anyone who is interested. People would then be able to add features and even debug and correct errors that are in the source code. They can even make it run better, and then redistribute these enhanced source code freely again. This eventually benefits everyone in the community.
What are the basic components of Linux?
ust like any other typical operating system, Linux has all of these components: kernel, shells and GUIs, system utilities, and application program. What makes Linux advantageous over other operating system is that every aspect comes with additional features and all codes for these are downloadable for free.
What is the basic difference between BASH and DOS?
The key differences between the BASH and DOS console lies in 3 areas:
- BASH commands are case sensitive while DOS commands are not;
- under BASH, / character is a directory separator and \ acts as an escape character. Under DOS, / serves as a command argument delimiter and \ is the directory separator
- DOS follows a convention in naming files, which is 8 character file name followed by a dot and 3 character for the extension. BASH follows no such convention
Describe the root account
The root account is like a systems administrator account, and allows you full control of the system. Here you can create and maintain user accounts, assigning different permissions for each account. It is the default account every time you install Linux
What is CLI?
CLI is short for command line interface. This interface allows users to type declarative commands to instruct the computer to perform operation. CLI offers an advantage in that there is greater flexibility.
What is GUI?
Graphical User Interface. The use of graphical elements makes it easier to interact with the system.
How do you open a command prompt when issuing a command?
Launch a terminal app.
How can you find out how much memory Linux is using?
cat /proc/meminfo for memory usage info.
How do you refer to the parallel port where devices such as printers are connected?
you refer to it as /dev/lp. So LPT1 would be referred to as /dev/lp0
Are drives such as harddrive and floppy drives represented with drive letters?
No. In Linux, each drive and device has different designations. EX: /dev/fd0, /dev/fd1 for floppy drives and for IDE/EIDE hard drives are referred to as /dev/hda, /dev/hdb…
How do you change permissions under Linux?
chmod go+r filename to give read permissions to group and others
In Linux, what names are assigned to the different serial ports?
Serial ports are identified as /dev/ttyS0 to /dev/ttyS7.
How do you access partitions under Linux?
Linux assigns numbers at the end of the drive identifier. EX: if hard drive had three primary partitions, then you would name and number as /dev/hda1, /dev/hda2, /dev/hda3
What are hard links?
Hard links are multiple references/links to same inode. Each hard link takes up an entry in the inode table.
What is the maximum length for a filename under Linux?
Any filename can have a maximum of 255 characters. This limit does not include the pathname.
What are filenames that are preceded by a dot?
They are hidden files. These files can be configuration or script files. It makes it less likely to be accidentally deleted.
Explain Virtual desktop
Using virtual desktop, each desktop is a clean slate where you can open one or more programs. Rather than minimizing/restoring all those program as needed, you can simply shuffle between virtual desktops.
How do you share a program across different virtual desktops under Linux?
To share a program across different virtual desktops, in the upper left-hand corner of a program window look for an icon that looks like a pushpin. Pressing this button will “pin” that application in place, making it appear in all virtual desktops, in the same position onscreen.
