Linux Essentials - Chapter 2 - Operating Systems

An operating system is software that runs on a computing device and manages the
hardware and software components that make up a functional computing system.

Microsoft Windows
is unique in its underlying code. Apple’s macOS is a fully-qualified UNIX distribution
based on BSD Unix (an operating system distributed until 1995), complemented by a
large amount of proprietary code.It runs on hardware specifically optimized to work with
Apple software.
Linux
can be any one of hundreds of distribution packages designed or optimized for
whatever task is required.

Decision Points - Linux Distributions

Linux users typically obtain an operating system by downloading a distribution. A Linux
distribution is a bundle of software, typically consisting of the Linux kernel, utilities,
management tools, and even some application software in a package which also
includes the means to update core software and install additional applications.

The distribution takes care of setting up the storage, building the kernel and installing
hardware drivers, as well as installing applications and utilities to make a fully functional
computer system. The organizations that create distributions also include tools to
manage the system, a package manager to add and remove software, as well as
update programs to provide security and functionality patches.

Role:
The first decision when specifying any computer system is the machine’s role
Desktop - Running productivity applications or web browsing
Server - Accessed remotely by many users or provide services to remote users

With Linux, there are multiple options to choose from depending on organizational
needs. The variety of distributions and accompanying software allows the operating
system to be significantly more flexible and customizable.
 ●​ Network firewall
●​ Supercomputer
●​ Embedded systems
●​ Application or web servers
●​ Productivity desktops
●​ Point-of-sale systems
●​ Electronics design
●​ Statistical computing

Function:
Determine the functions of the machine. Is there specific software it needs to run, or
specific functions it needs to perform, What is the skill-set of the team managing the
computer and software?
Governments and large enterprises may also limit their choices to distributions that offer
commercial support because paying for another tier of support may be better than
risking extensive outages.
Large open source community, which monitors kernel changes for vulnerabilities and
provides bug reporting and fixes at a much larger scale than closed source vendors can
achieve.

Life Cycle:
The service lifetime and risk tolerance of the server also needs to be determined.
Operating systems and software upgrades come on a periodic basis, called a release
cycle. Vendors only support older versions of software for a certain period of time before
not offering any updates; this is called a maintenance cycle or life cycle.
Different distributions have different versions of key libraries, and it is difficult for a
company to support all these different versions.
Most distributions have both major and minor update cycles to introduce new features
and fix existing bugs. Additionally, there are development packages where users can
contribute code and submit patches for possible inclusion into new releases.

Linux distributions can be broadly classified in two main categories: enthusiast and
enterprise.

Enthusiast distribution - has a fast update cycle, is not supported for enterprise and
may not contain (or drop) features or software in the next version that are in the current
one.
Enterprise distributions - are almost the exact opposite, in that they take care to be
stable and consistent, and offer enterprise-grade support for extended periods,
anywhere from 5-13 years‌.
Stability:
Individual software releases can be characterized as beta or stable depending on where
they are in the release cycle. When a software release has many new features that
haven’t been tested, it’s typically referred to as beta. After being tested in the field, its
designation changes to stable.Some distributions offer stable, testing, and unstable
releases. When choosing an unstable release for required features, consideration must
be given to the fact that those features may change at any point during the development
cycle.

Compatibility:
Another loosely-related concept is backward compatibility which refers to the ability of
later operating systems to be compatible with software made for earlier versions. This is
usually a concern when it is necessary to upgrade an operating system, but an
application software upgrade is not possible due to cost or lack of availability.

Cost:
Cost is always a factor when specifying new systems. Microsoft has annual licensing
fees that apply to users, servers and other software, as do many other software
companies. Ultimately, the choice of operating system will be affected by available
hardware, staff resources and skill, cost of purchase, maintenance, and projected future
requirements.
Your chosen Linux distribution itself might be zero cost, but paying for support may be
worthwhile depending on organizational needs and capabilities.

Interface:
The first electronic computer systems were controlled by means of switches and plug
boards similar to those used by telephone operators at the time. Then came punch
cards and finally a text-based terminal system similar to the Linux command line
interface (CLI) in use today.Like most operating systems,
Linux can be used in one of two ways: graphical (GUI) and non-graphical (CLI).

Linux Distributions:
Red Hat started as a simple distribution that introduced the Red Hat Package Manager
(RPM). The developer eventually formed a company around it, which tried to
commercialize a Linux desktop for business.To satisfy the latter group, Red Hat
sponsors the Fedora Project which makes a personal desktop comprising the latest
software but is still built on the same foundations as the enterprise version.
Scientific Linux is an example of a specific-use distribution based on Red Hat. The
project is a Fermilab-sponsored distribution designed to enable scientific computing.
Among its many applications, Scientific Linux is used with particle accelerators including
the Large Hadron Collider at CERN.

SUSE, originally derived from Slackware, was one of the first comprehensive Linux
distributions, it has many similarities to Red Hat Enterprise Linux. While SUSE Linux
Enterprise contains proprietary code and is sold as a server product, openSUSE is a
completely open, free version with multiple desktop packages similar to CentOS and
Linux Mint.

Debian is more of a community effort, and as such, also promotes the use of open
source software and adherence to standards. Debian came up with its own package
management system based on the .deb file format.

Linux Mint was started as a fork of Ubuntu Linux, while still relying upon the Ubuntu
repositories. There are various versions, all free of cost, but some include proprietary
codecs, which cannot be distributed without license restrictions in certain countries.

Android, sponsored by Google, is the world’s most popular Linux distribution. It is

fundamentally different from its counterparts. Android uses the Dalvik virtual machine
with Linux, providing a robust platform for mobile devices such as phones and tablets.

Raspbian is a specialized Linux distribution optimized to run on Raspberry Pi

hardware. This combination has seen significant use in training for programmers and
hardware designers at all levels.

Linux From Scratch (LFS) is more of a learning tool than a working distribution. This
project consists of an online book, and source code, with “step-by-step instructions” for
building a custom Linux distribution from the source code up.