Introduction to Linux
Explore the basics of the Linux operating system and its shell environments. Understand what Linux is, the role of the kernel, and the types of shells like BASH, CSH, and ZSH. This lesson provides foundational knowledge to confidently navigate and use Linux command line interfaces efficiently.
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Linux is a free open-source operating system that works just like Windows and Mac OS X. It is a Unix clone, multi-tasking and a multi-user operating system that was developed by Linus Torvalds with the collaboration of the developers around the world.
Linux - A Kernel, not an Operating System
Strictly speaking, Linux is a kernel, not an entire operating system. A kernel provides access to computer hardware and a controlled access to system resources such as:
- Security and firewall
- GNU libraries and utilities
- Other management and installation scripts
- Logged in users
- Running and loading programs to memory
- Networking systems
- Files and data
- Process management
- Device management
- I/O management
Shell Classification
- Command line shell
- Graphical shell
Introduction to Linux Shell
A shell is an environment provided for the user to interact with the machine.
Shell is not a part of Linux kernel, but it uses the kernel to execute programs, create files etc. Several command line shells are available for Linux including:
- BASH ( Bourne-Again SHell ) - It’s the default open source shell on many Linux distributions today
- CSH (C SHell) - The C shell’s syntax and usage are very similar to the C programming language
- KSH (Korn SHell) - It is a high-level interactive command language
- TCSH - It is an enhanced but completely compatible version of the Berkeley UNIX C shell (CSH)
- ZSH - It is an interactive shell that incorporates features of other Linux shells including some unique ones too
- Fish (Friendly Interactive Shell) - It is a smart and user-friendly interactive shell along with some other features