1) 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.
2) 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.
3) 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.
4) What is BASH?
BASH is short for Bourne Again SHell. It was written by Steve
Bourne as a replacement to the original Bourne Shell (represented by
/bin/sh). It combines all the features from the original version of
Bourne Shell, plus additional functions to make it easier and more
convenient to use. It has since been adapted as the default shell for
most systems running Linux.
5) 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.
6) 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.
7)
What is CLI?
CLI is short for Command Line Interface. This interface allows
user to type declarative commands to instruct the computer to perform
operations. CLI offers an advantage in that there is greater
flexibility. However, other users who are already accustom with using
GUI find it difficult to remember commands including attributes that
come with it.
8) What is GUI?
GUI, or Graphical User Interface, makes use of images and icons
that users click and manipulate as a way of communicating with the
computer. Instead of having to remember and type commands, the use of
graphical elements makes it easier to interact with the system, as
well as adding more attraction through images, icons and colors.
9)
How can you find out how much memory Linux is using?
From a command shell, use the “concatenate” command: cat
/proc/meminfo for memory usage information.
10) What are
symbolic links?
Symbolic links act similarly to shortcuts in Windows. Such links
point to programs, files or directories. It also allows you instant
access to it without having to go directly to the entire pathname.
11) What are hard links?
Hard links point directly to the physical file on disk, and not on
the path name. This means that if you rename or move the original
file, the link will not break, since the link is for the file itself,
not the path where the file is located.
12) Are drives such as
hard drive and floppy drives represented with drive letters?
No. In Linux, each drive and device has different designations.
For example, floppy drives are referred to as /dev/fd0 and /dev/fd1.
IDE/EIDE hard drives are referred to as /dev/hda, /dev/hdb, /dev/hdc,
and so forth.
13) 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 path name, so therefore the entire pathname and
filename could well exceed 255 characters.
14)What are
filenames that are preceded by a dot?
In general, filenames that are preceded by a dot are hidden files.
These files can be configuration files that hold important data or
setup info. Setting these files as hidden makes it less likely to be
accidentally deleted.
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