| | |
| Titel: | A free Basic UNIX-training with muLinux | |
| Startseite english | ||
| ||
 |
![[Home]](images/home.gif){kind=small}
![[Forward]](images/forward.gif){kind=small}
A free Basic UNIX-training with muLinux
General Information
What is Unix?
Unix was considered so far as elitist system, which was not developed for all the world. The hardware necessary for the Unix application had until a few years ago still commanded a substantial price. Who could afford a such system? Having found funds for that, consideration had also still to be given for the cost of a data processing specialist and his/ her qualification. Today the conditions are different. Clearly the number of the potential users of Unix rises The dilemma is pre-programmed: Unix exceeds the boundary between specialists and users.The History of Unix
Unix developed from the desire to have a hardware-independent and universal operating system as possible. At the end of the seventies, available was the first standard design. Advancements led then to the version III. At the beginning of the 80's, among other things, the basis for first microcomputer microkernel porting was done.Authors of Unix are the Bell laboratories. After a start-up phase, in which Unix was used greatly at universities and, later the interest of other hard and software producers began.
The advancement and maintenance of Unix was soon wide spread, since now the Porting took place on the most different of hardware. According to the license conditions of the author, these products were allowed to be a separate 'Unix'. However not under the name 'Unix', only under similarly sounding names in (Xenix, Venix, SunOS, Solaris, BSD, NEXTstep, etc.). These products were normally sold commercially.
Unix is a multitasking system. That is, several programs (a program called in Unix a process) can be processed apparently at the same time. Additionally Unix is normally a multi-user environment. Thus several users can operate at the same time on the system. Before a user receives acces to the system, the user must identify themselves by a user name and a password.
After logging in the user is normally placed in a special directoy, the 'home dirctory'. Each user has certain rights of access, and thus it is possible that only a reduced number of commands are available to call. This serves for data security, since Unix is a multi-user system.
The Superuser
Only one user, the Superuser, has unlimited access to the system. Only the Superuser can call certain commands for systems management. New users in the system take up... etc.. The log in name Superuser is root . The Superuser has special rights, which go far beyond those of the other users. Numerous commands maybe executed only by the Superuser. The Superuser can jump over the different protective mechanisms of the system.A Superuser must, if he wants to become really good at this function, have substantially more knowledge than the other users. Those who would like to use Unix on their PC, thereby inevitably perform functions the Superuser must fulfill.
So for a long time one with no founded knowledge of the system possessed, should resist one the temptation to execute commands which are not directly for the 'high' which would drive the system down unnecessarily.
One should log in only as a Superuser if the functions of systems management must be fulfilled.
What is Linux?
Linux is a Unix version. Better said: Linux is a new programmed Unix. The
difference between Linux and most operation systems is however that Linux is
freely available.
Everyone may not use Unix freely - because it commands royalty payments in consideration of licencing.
This makes the GNU General Public License (GPL) possible. This also designates that the source code of the programs is freely available - by way of the licence, the source code must be available. Therefore programmers in the whole world can study the code and identify weak points, discover bugs and eliminate most sources of trouble. Linux and the numerous application programs are often more stable than commercial products. Additionally no "hidden functions" can be built into the software.
Linux possesses strengths particularly as server operating system. Increasingly it wins points in the Desktop arena, since it is a very economical version to transform the home PC into an efficient Unix workstation.
History of Linux and the Open Source
1991
August: Linus Torvalds programs an operating system fragment, which he announces in a newsgroup.Linus has the need a good operating system for his studies. A Sparc Workstation was too expensive, and with little alternative, he started to write his own Unix. This new Unix could be run on the hardware Linus could afford. 3 months later: Some programmers returned the bug-fixed code to Torvalds.
1992
Linux run on Intel-x86-Processor. Graphical user surface adapted.1,000 users.
1993
Over 100 programmers volunteer to write code for Linux. Five programmers, whom Torvalds selected, worry about the advancement of the software.20,000 users.
1994
Linux becomes network able.100,000 users.
1995
Digital and Sun Sparc run on processors from made by Intel. Linux journal now at edition 10,000.500,000 users.
1996
Linux version 2.0 heads for multi processors at the same time.1.5 million user.
1997
Updated Linux versions appear weekly. Linux magazines in Japan, Poland, Germany, Yugoslavia, Great Britain.3.5 million user.
1998
KDE project started. KDE is one of the graphic surfaces under Unix.About 10,000 programmers, 7.5 million user.
1999
Linux becomes CHIP CEBIT HIGHLIGHT in the category software.Over 10 million user.
2000
Microsoft use source code of FreeBSD for Windows 2000.Apple use officially FreeBSD as a main part of Mac OS 10 (http://www.apple.com/macosx).
The most importand search engine http://www.google.de is running on 8000 normal personal computers with Linux.
2001
Linux is running on nearly all hardware plattforms - from Mainframe to a handheld. The first PDA with Linux is from Agenda Computing (http://www.agendacomputing.com).
What is muLinux?
muLinux (µLinux) is fully configured, a minimalistic, application oriented
little Linux Distribuntion from Michele Andreoli (Italy).
This
The Linux distribution fits on 1.722 MByte a formatted diskette (in words: ONE).
On a second diskette the x-Window-software is stored. Further diskettes contain additional extensions. The emphasis of this training manual is based however on the first diskette.
System request
- at least a 386er
- at least 8 MByte RAM, with only 4 MByte an Swap area on the fixed disk is
necessary.
- 3.5 floppy disk drive
- A fixed disk is not necessary!
Available fixed disks can remain unchanged!
muLinux: quickly (minimalistic) a workstation can be made from a PC.
Applications would be:
- Rescue system
(e.g. with forgotten password) - Hardware test
- Network monitoring
- Transmitting and receiving from emails and News
- Application on laptops
- Use of old hardware
- Unix training courses
- ...
Those who do not shrink from themselves, can enjoy the most important text-based instructions of Unix. To learn this on the basis of muLinux is something great to do.
For pure mouse users, this starting point would be unusual, and, greatly educational as well as highly enlightening about what you can do with one or a couple of floppy disks. Not only this, but there is generally a close similarity between Unix commands. The university Unix-commands are however very efficient and with only small modifications they are applicable on all Unix platforms.
Here everybody can finally be the Superuser! - many times.
The muLinux Site:
http://sunsite.dk/mulinux
Robert.Warnke@giso.de (copyleft) Robert Warnke, Berlin (Germany) - You can write me in English. | http://rowa.giso.de | translated by Alex Wild
Zurück zur Themenseite:
StudyPaper.com/Startseite/Computer/Informatik
Das Setzen von Verweisen (Links) auf diese Seite ist gestattet und bedarf keine vorherige Absprache.
