What Is Linux?
If you’ve never worked with Linux before, you may be confused as to why there are so many different versions of it available. You’ve most likely heard terms such as distribution, LiveDVD, and GNU when looking at Linux packages and may have been confused. This section takes some of the mystery out of the Linux system before you start working on diving into Linux commands and features.
Although people usually refer to the Linux operating system as just “Linux,” in reality quite a few parts make up a complete Linux system. The Linux system has four main parts:
The Linux kernel
The GNU utilities
A user interface
Application software
Each of these four parts has a specific job in the Linux system. Although each of the parts by itself isn’t very useful, put together, they all create what people refer to as “Linux.” FIGURE 1-1 shows the basic diagram of how these parts fit together to create the overall Linux system.
FIGURE 1-1 The Linux system.
The following sections describe these four parts in detail and give you an overview of how they work together to create a complete Linux system.