Features of Linux Operating System and Its Uses

Linux is a free and open-source OS developed by Linus Torvalds and released in 1991 at AT&T Bell Labs under the GPL (General Public License). Through this article, we go through the features of the Linux operating system. Like any other operating system, the main function of the Linux operating system is to manage system resources (hardware). We can call it the interface between the user and the computer system. GNU Linux has enjoyed great success over the past two decades, with most commercial servers now using GNU Linux. Recently, home users have started using Linux as their daily operating system. Popular laptop and PC manufacturers also offer GNU Linux as an operating system preinstalled, which helps reduce the overall cost.

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Basic functions of the Linux operating system

Fast, free, and easy to use, Linux powers laptops and servers around the world. Linux has many more features to surprise its users, such as:

Live CD / USB: Almost all Linux distributions have a Live CD / USB feature that allows the user to run/try out the operating system even without installing it on the system.

Graphical User Interface (X Window System): People think Linux is a command-line operating system. It’s true somewhere, but not necessarily. Linux has packages that can install to create any Windows-based operating system graphics.

Provision for most custom or national keyboards: Linux is used worldwide, so it is available in multiple languages and supports most of their national custom keyboards.

Application Support: Linux has its software repository from which users can download and install thousands of applications by simply running a command in the Linux terminal or shell. Linux can also run Windows applications if necessary.

Features of the Linux operating system

Linux has several silent functions. Some of the most important are:

Multi-user capability: This is a capability of the Linux operating system that allows multiple users to access the same computer resources – hard drive, memory, etc. Not on a single terminal, of course, but on different terminals from which you can work. A terminal consists of at least one monitor/screen, keyboard, and mouse as input devices. All terminals connect to the main Linux server or host computer, whose resources can use connected devices such as printers.

The server/client architecture is an example of the multi-user capability of Linux, in which various clients connect to a Linux server. The client sends an appeal to the server with specific data and requests the processed data or the requested file. The client terminal is also known as the dumb terminal.

Multitasking: Linux can multitask; for example, you ran a command to sort a huge list and typed a notepad simultaneously. It manages through an intelligent division of the CPU time by implementing scheduling guidelines and the concept of context switching.

Portability: Portability was one of the important features that made Linux so popular with users, but portability doesn’t mean it has a smaller file size and can be carried on a USB drive, CDs, and computers. Memory cards. Instead, portability means that the Linux operating system and its application can function equally on different types of hardware. Linux kernels and application programs support their installation even with minimal hardware configuration.

Security: Security is a dynamic part of any operating system. For organizations/users who use the system for their confidential work. Linux offers several security concepts to protect their users from unauthorized access to their data and system.

Linux offers three main security concepts:

Authentication: This simply means claiming who you are by assigning passwords and login names to individual users to ensure that no one can access their work.

Authorization: At the folder level, Linux has authorization limits for users. There are write, read and execute permissions for each file, which decide who can access, modify and execute a certain file.

Encryption: This feature encrypts your files in an unreadable format known as “Cyphertext” so that your secrets are safe even if someone manages to open them.

Communication: Linux has an excellent function for communicating with other users; it can be in a single chief computer network or between two or more of these computer networks. Users can easily exchange e-mail, data, and programs through such networks.

Also Read: 10 Types of Mobile App Testing And Approaches

The argument under Linux is “Kernel” and not an “OS.”

Later, when various Linux distributions like Arc Linux, Ubuntu, Debian, and Fedora came out with a better GUI. And system software that was essentially custom versions of Linux, users said that Linux was a kernel and is not an operating system. What is now proven:

For those still confused as to whether Linux is an operating system or a kernel. Linux in the severe sense of the word, was a kernel written by Linus, written concerning the book on Unix internals (although the kernel Linux has the best features of many has also taken over other Unix kernels), while commercially available distributions, which in addition to the Linux kernel also contain utilities such as the graphics desktop, text editors, compilers, etc., are complete operating systems.