Presented By

Shivendra Singh
What is a operating system ?

A program that controls the execution of

application programs

An interface between applications and

hardware
Operating System Objectives
Convenience
– Makes the computer more convenient to use
Efficiency
– Allows computer system resources to be used in
an efficient manner
Ability to evolve
– Permit effective development, testing, and
introduction of new system functions without
interfering with service
 Evolution of Linux
Linus Benedict Torvalds (born December 28, 1969 in Helsinki,
Finland) is a Finnish software engineer best known for initiating
the development of the Linux kernel. He now acts as the project's
coordinator.

Linus Torvalds originally developed the Linux kernel as a hobby

OS for the Intel 80386 CPU, incorporating elements from MINIX,
although with entirely new code. Initially Torvalds wanted to call
the kernel he developed Freax (a combination of "free", "freak",
and the letter X to indicate that it is a Unix-like system), but his friend Ari
Lemmke, who administered the FTP server where the kernel was first hosted for
downloading, named Torvalds' directory linux.

The designation "Linux" was initially used by Torvalds only for the Linux kernel. The
kernel was, however, frequently used together with other software, especially that of
the GNU project. This GNU variant quickly became the most popular variant of GNU,
since there was no other functioning free kernel at this time. When people started
referring to this collection as "Linux", Richard Stallman, the founder of the GNU project,
requested the name GNU/Linux be used, in order to recognize the role of GNU software.
 Pronunciation of Linux
• (‘Leenooks’)
This is Linus Torvalds’ original pronunciation, based
on the pronunciation of his name in Swedish.
• (‘Linnuks’)
This is now Linus Torvalds’ preferred pronunciation,
as he considers closer to the original than . It also
follows the pronunciation of the English word
‘linen’.
• (‘Lynuks’)
The other major alternative is based on the
pronunciation of the English version of ‘Linus’.
 What is Linux ?

Linux is a generic term referring to Unix-like

graphical user interface (GUI) based
computer operating systems.
It is Multi-user, Multitasking, Multiprocessor.
Has the X Windows GUI
Coexists with other Operating Systems
Runs on multiple platforms
Includes the Source Code
Background on Linux

Version of UNIX
Linus Torvalds – Creator of Linux
Open Source Operating System
Free Software
Source Code Available
 Why is it significant?

Powerful
– Runs on multiple hardware platforms
– Users like its speed and stability
– No requirement for latest hardware
It’s “free”
– Licensed under GPL
– Vendors are distributors who package Linux
Where is Linux Used?

75% of respondents were already using Linux

and another 14% were evaluating it
43% of all web sites use Linux servers running
the Apache Web server
 How is Linux Used?

Personal Workstation
File and Print Server
Internet Service Provider
Three-tier Client/Server
Turnkey System
Using Linux on Personal Computers

Linux kernel for free

Kernel is central component
Kernel can be customized to
user’s needs
 What is a Distro?

A Linux distribution, often simply distribution or distro, is a

member of the Linux family of Unix-like operating systems
comprising the Linux kernel, the non-kernel parts of the
GNU operating system, and assorted other software.
Because most (if not all) of the kernel and software
packages are free and open source, Linux distributions have
taken a wide variety of forms —from fully-featured desktop
and server operating systems to minimal environments.
Some Linux Distributions or Distros are ::
– Ubuntu, PC Linux OS, Debian, Redhat, Fedora, Mint,
Slax, SUSE, Mepis,
– Mandriva, CentOS, Linspire, Xandros, Gentoo, Arch ……
 Linux Distributions

Corel Linux
Debian GNU/Linux
OpenLinux (Caldera)
Red Hat
Slackware
SuSE
TurboLinux
 Desktop Environments

In graphical computing, a desktop environment (DE,

sometimes desktop manager) offers a graphical
user interface (GUI) to the computer.
Each Desktop environment is targetted towards a
specific user and his needs and likes. Linux has Lots
of options regarding this matter. Windows has, well,
none. Its Aero windows manager is only available
on its Premium version.
Some of the modern desktop environments
are :: GNOME, KDE , Enlightment, XFCE, Fluxbox for
Linux, Aero for Windows Vista.
Why did we choose Linux for Internet ?

Was available with all necessary Internet

software 6 years back when Microsoft Windows
was not ready for Internet.

Low cost compared to any other alternative. Sun

Solaris, Novell, MS Windows, etc.

Extremely reliable.No reboots in 450+ days.

Contd…

Easy to setup. Takes 4 easy steps to

setup a mail server. Download a CD,
Burn it, Boot from it and the server is
ready for adding users and setting
passwords.

Lower hardware requirements. Pentium

computer can act as a fast mail server
for 30 users.
Linux Provide Security

As there is a
limited access
Of user to basic
files and folders,
in Linux network
it provide
security to user’s
privacy. Without
disclosing the
secured data
Linux acts as a
efficient server.
Linux is Virus Free!!

Linux is "virus-
free" in that
there are
essentially no
viruses for
Linux in the
wild, although
research
viruses
certainly do
exist.
Contd…

There are other reasons, of course. "Normal"

user accounts have much more limited access
to the rest of the system, so making the
corruption of system binaries much harder.
Many distributions provide intrusion-detection
software for detecting binary changes.
Distributions release regular updates, which
means a virus will be overwritten in a
relatively short timeframe. Mandatory access
controls are becoming more popular, limiting
what a virus can do even if it did infiltrate a
system binary.
Windows vs Linux
Statistics

Evans Data survey in 2004 says,”don't be surprised when

Linux overtakes Windows to become the main focus for
developers.”

Linux servers made up more than 11 percent of all servers

shipped in India in the first quarter

Revenue from sales of Linux-based servers surged 90

percent in the fourth quarter 2002.

Percentage growth in the number of servers number up to

June 30, 2009.
Linux servers = 48%
Microsoft servers = 13%
Microsoft and Linux
Are still, the two
most
popular operating
Systems..
Linux
is
Cheaper
 Why Use Linux?

Costs less
Stable
Reliable
Extremely powerful
Linux Applications for Servers

All common Internet services available – Mail, Web,

DNS, etc.

Easy administration using web based interface

Very low resource utilization. A 486 66MHz can be

your firewall

No cost to setup a server. As easy as download a

CD and install.

Lower maintenance. Keeps running for years.

 Linux vs. Windows

 Keeping up to date
By Upgrading
Linux upgrades faster than Windows
 Compatibility
Linux is Backward Compatible unlike Windows
Linux vs. Windows

Financial Differences

Technical Differences

End-User Differences
 Financial Differences

COST
LINUX WINDOWS
Online Downloads Free Not Available
Retail Price, CD $50 $300
• Cost for Businesses
– Companies have to spend millions for licenses for
ever individual windows computer
– For Linux companies don’t have to spend anything
 Technical Differences
Keeping up to date
By Upgrading
Linux upgrades faster than Windows
Compatibility
Linux is Backward Compatible unlike Windows
Features Provided
Both support Dynamic Caching
Both have Multi-user Support

• Application Differences
No commercial word processor for Linux, which matches the
quality for Windows
End-User Differences

Proprietary vs. Open Source

Windows is a Proprietary Technology
Applications will only work on Windows
Linux – Open Source
Complete information needed for download
Technical help – Available on Internet (user
must be comfortable with UNIX system)
Windows word processor is better than Linux
 Linux vs. Windows
In The Commercial Arena
 Head to head competition
 Used side by side as servers
 Both handled daily workload for several small
business operations
 Linux with hardware disadvantage supported
a community of users 3 times size of NT’s
 In The Commercial Arena
 System Administration – Most significant difference
 Linux – tougher environment
 Linux requires learning multi-user issues built into
Unix-file permissions
 NT – easier environment
 NT requires less effort to get a starter server up and
running
 But in NT you have to solve multi-user issues for each
and every subsystem
 In The Commercial Arena

 NT – graphical interfaces, wizards and easy-to-grasp

metaphors
 But as server chores become more customized, NT
cannot handle it
 Linux – textual interface (with X-Window)
 But for complex jobs, Linux gives a powerful set of
tools
 In The Commercial Arena
 NT – easy for non-programmer
 Linux – programmer-based culture
 Windows Equivalents on GNU/Linux

Many of the programs we used on Linux are either ported, or have alternatives.
Lets have a look at them.

WINDOWS GNU/LINUX
Internet Explorer/Firefox Firefox/Mozilla/Konqueror/Epiphany
Adobe Photoshop GIMP
Microsoft Office OpenOffice.org(Ooo), Koffice
Windows Media Player Totem/ mplayer/ VLC/ AmaroK
Outlook Express/Outlook Evolution/ Thunderbird/ Kontact
Nero Burning Rom/ Roxio Gnome Baker/ K3B
Google Talk/ Y! Messenger/MSN GAIM/ Pidgin/ Kopete
 Security
A true comparison between Windows and Linux on the values of the inherent security
of each operating system is hard to obtain, and the matter is extremely contentious
among both security professionals and computer hobbyists.

Because there are many more Windows systems in the world, there are simply more
targets available for attack. Furthermore, the ubiquity of Windows in business means
that more sensitive information—credit card numbers, medical records, financial data—
is likely to be found on a Windows network. These factors make Windows a richer and
more attractive target for malware developers. The security differences between
Windows and Linux is heavily debated and the security track record of both operating
systems has proven Linux has fewer serious vulnerabilities. Also Linux derives its
security from the underlying Unix design philosophy.

According to some security researchers, the "Windows monoculture" contributes to

disproportionate levels of malware exposure: because Windows systems are all tightly
binary-compatible, a single successful attack can affect a large fraction of them
("cascade failure"); whereas different Linux distributions are more loosely coupled with
source compatibility and different selections of software. Thus, even if the software
were equally buggy, the chance of a single bug affecting all Linux computers is reduced.
 Malware

Windows Linux

As of 2006, more than 800 pieces of

As of 2009, well over 2 million malware
Linux malware had been discovered.
programs target Windows. However, it is
Some malware has propagated through
common for anti-malware software to
the Internet. However, in practice, reports
have more than 1,000 signatures against
of bonafide malware presence on Linux-
which potentially malicious components
based systems are extremely rare.
can be compared.
Nonetheless, anti-malware tools such as
Botnets – networks of infected
ClamAV and Panda Security's Desktop
computers controlled by malicious persons
Secure for Linux do exist. These programs
– with more than one million computers
are mainly intended to filter Windows
have been witnessed.
malware from emails and network traffic
Once malicious software is present on a
traveling through Linux-based servers.
Windows-based system, it can sometimes
The extreme rarity of this type of
be incredibly difficult to locate and
occurrence is such that it is not usually
remove. As such, users are advised to
necessary to use anti-malware programs.
install and run anti-malware programs.
The exception to this would be if the Linux-
In the event of rootkit infection, users
based system is connected to Windows-
may have to resort to reformatting the
based systems, and only to mitigate the
system's hard disk and re-installing
spread of Windows malware.
Windows.
 Linux Pros & Cons
Pros
A lot of the advantages of Linux are a consequence of Linux' origins, deeply
rooted in UNIX, except for the first advantage, of course:
Linux is free:
As in free beer, they say. If you want to spend absolutely nothing, you don't even
have to pay the price of a CD. Linux can be downloaded in its entirety from the
Internet completely for free. No registration fees, no costs per user, free updates,
and freely available source code in case you want to change the behavior of your
system.

Most of all, Linux is free as in free speech:

The license commonly used is the GNU Public License (GPL). The license says that
anybody who may want to do so, has the right to change Linux and eventually to
redistribute a changed version, on the one condition that the code is still
available after redistribution. In practice, you are free to grab a kernel image, for
instance to add support for teletransportation machines or time travel and sell
your new code, as long as your customers can still have a copy of that code.
 Contd…
Linux is portable to any hardware platform:
A vendor who wants to sell a new type of computer and who doesn't know what kind of OS his
new machine will run (say the CPU in your car or washing machine), can take a Linux kernel
and make it work on his hardware, because documentation related to this activity is freely
available.

Linux was made to keep on running:

As with UNIX, a Linux system expects to run without rebooting all the time. That is
why a lot of tasks are being executed at night or scheduled automatically for other
calm moments, resulting in higher availability during busier periods and a more
balanced use of the hardware. This property allows for Linux to be applicable also
in environments where people don't have the time or the possibility to control
their systems night and day.
Linux is secure and versatile:
The security model used in Linux is based on the UNIX idea of security, which is
known to be robust and of proven quality. But Linux is not only fit for use as a fort
against enemy attacks from the Internet: it will adapt equally to other situations,
utilizing the same high standards for security. Your development machine or
control station will be as secure as your firewall.
Contd…

Linux is scalable:
From a Palmtop with 2 MB of memory to a petabyte storage cluster with
hundreds of nodes: add or remove the appropriate packages and Linux fits
all. You don't need a supercomputer anymore, because you can use Linux to
do big things using the building blocks provided with the system. If you want
to do little things, such as making an operating system for an embedded
processor or just recycling your old 486, Linux will do that as well.

The Linux OS and most Linux applications have very short debug-times:
Because Linux has been developed and tested by thousands of people, both
errors and people to fix them are usually found rather quickly. It sometimes
happens that there are only a couple of hours between discovery and fixing
of a bug.
 Cons
There are far too many different distributions:
"Quot capites, tot rationes", as the Romans already said: the more people, the more
opinions. At first glance, the amount of Linux distributions can be frightening, or
ridiculous, depending on your point of view. But it also means that everyone will find
what he or she needs. You don't need to be an expert to find a suitable release.
When asked, generally every Linux user will say that the best distribution is the
specific version he is using. So which one should you choose? Don't worry too much
about that: all releases contain more or less the same set of basic packages. On top
of the basics, special third party software is added making, for example, TurboLinux
more suitable for the small and medium enterprise, RedHat for servers and SuSE for
workstations. However, the differences are likely to be very superficial.
The best strategy is to test a couple of distributions; unfortunately not everybody has
the time for this. Luckily, there is plenty of advice on the subject of choosing your
Linux. A quick search on Google, using the keywords "choosing your distribution"
brings up tens of links to good advise. The Installation HOWTO also discusses
choosing your distribution.
Contd…
Linux is not very user friendly and confusing for beginners:
It must be said that Linux, at least the core system, is less userfriendly to use than MS
Windows and certainly more difficult than MacOS, but... In light of its popularity,
considerable effort has been made to make Linux even easier to use, especially for
new users. More information is being released daily, such as this guide, to help fill the
gap for documentation available to users at all levels.
Is an Open Source product trustworthy?
How can something that is free also be reliable? Linux users have the choice whether
to use Linux or not, which gives them an enormous advantage compared to users of
proprietary software, who don't have that kind of freedom. After long periods of
testing, most Linux users come to the conclusion that Linux is not only as good, but in
many cases better and faster that the traditional solutions. If Linux were not
trustworthy, it would have been long gone, never knowing the popularity it has now,
with millions of users. Now users can influence their systems and share their remarks
with the community, so the system gets better and better every day. It is a project
that is never finished, that is true, but in an ever changing environment, Linux is also a
project that continues to strive for perfection.
 Conclusion
“When is it best to use Linux and when should
some other operating system be preferred?”
 It all depends on the user