LE Module 01-02

Module 01
Introduction to Linux
This slide deck is for LPI Academy instructors to use for lectures for LPI Academy courses.
Copyright Network Development Group 2013.
Exam Objective
1.1 Linux Evolution and
Popular Operating Systems
Objective Summary
Learn the history of Linux and Unix
Understand the parts of a Linux system
Start learning about Open Source
Find out where Linux runs
Evolution of Linux
What is Linux?
Linux is the kernel the central

controller
Add some tools to get an operating

system
Shells (enter commands into the
system)
Systems management (add users)
Applications (email, web, development)
Package it up into a Linux

Linux History
Invented as a hobby project in 1991

by Linus Torvalds while at the
University of Helsinki in Finland
People began contributing to make it

work on their hardware
The GNU project provided a base set

of tools
What is UNIX?
Started in the 1970s at Bell Labs,

adopted by universities
UNIX is now a trademark of the Open

Group
An OS must be certified to be called

UNIX
Linux is not certified so it is UNIX-like
What is Linuxs job?
The kernel manages application

processes
Allocates and reclaims memory
Arbitrates access to disk and CPU
Abstracts hardware specific functions

so applications are hardware-
agnostic
Provides security and isolation of

users
Switches between multiple processes

Open Source
Humans write software in source

code
Compilers translate source to

machine code
If you have the source, you can make

changes and see how it works
Open Source means you can

inspect and change the source
Linux Distributions
Kernel + tools + installation +

package management = distribution
Red Hat RHEL

Fedora, CentOS, Scientific Linux
Debian
Ubuntu, many appliance based
distributions
Linux runs on
Big Iron (e.g. IBM Power Systems)
Enterprise servers (Dell, HP, IBM, etc)
Desktops
Laptops
Single board (Raspberry Pi)
Custom hardware (TiVo)
Embedded devices/Phones (Android)
Exam Objective
4.1 Choosing an Operating
System
Objective Summary
Understanding distribution life cycle
management
Examine operating system differences
Distribution Life Cycle
Management
Decision Points
What will the computer do?
What software does it need to run?
Does it need specific hardware or

OS?
Who has to take care of it?
How long does it need to live for?
Release Cycles
Software and OS upgrades come on a

release cycle
Updates can be major or minor
Examples
A new version of Fedora is released
every 6 months
Minor releases of RHEL come out every
12-18mo
Major releases of RHEL come out every
Maintenance Cycles
Software generally goes through

phases
Actively developed
Bugfixes only
Security fixes only
No updates
This is the maintenance cycle
A short maintenance cycle means

more frequent upgrades are required
Pros and Cons of cycles
Faster releases means that newer

software will be available faster
Also means you might have to

upgrade faster to stay current or will
get less stable software
Longer maintenance cycle means

you will be supported at current
software levels longer, needing less
frequent upgrades
Longer maintenance cycles often

Software Terms
New features are introduced in beta

versions
Beta is less tested and therefore

stable
After the beta period, software is

promoted to stable.
If you need newer features you will

often be looking at beta software
Backward compatibility means it

still works with older versions
Comparing Operating
Systems
Windows
Split into desktop and server versions
Slow release cycle, long maintenance

cycle
Emphasis on backward compatibility
Runs a GUI
Improving scripting and management

abilities to compete with Linux
Apple OS X
Runs on Apple hardware
Server version adds packages to the

desktop version to aid in
management and sharing
UNIX certified
New major releases every 18-24

months
Linux
Unique in that after choosing Linux

you must choose a distribution
Different distributions focus on

different use cases, e.g. desktop,
server, scientific, network
Some distributions offer commercial

support, most is volunteer based
Module 2
Open Source Applications
and Licenses
Exam Objective
1.2 Major Open Source
Applications
Objective Summary
Understanding Desktop, Server, and
Mobile Applications
Introducing Development Languages
and Package Management
The Many Faces of Linux
Linux plays many roles
Servers are usually unattended and

handle data on behalf of other
machines
file servers, web servers, mail servers
Desktops a.k.a. clients are more

interactive, often graphical
Mobile is a tablet or phone
Development is much like a

desktop but with more capacity for
development
Web Servers
Serve static web pages to clients via

HTTP
Can also serve dynamic content by

adding PHP, Java, Ruby, Python, etc
Apache and Nginx are the most

popular web servers
65% of websites use Apache or Nginx
Mail Servers
Mail Transfer Agents move email

between sites
sendmail, postfix
Mail Delivery Agents deliver email

to a users mailbox
Procmail or custom software
POP/IMAP servers let clients

download mail
Dovecot, Cyrus
File Servers
Network File System is the native

UNIX file sharing protocol
Samba allows a Unix machine to

emulate a Windows client and server
Netatalk allows a Unix machine to

emulate an Apple file server
Infrastructure
ISC bind is a Domain Name System

server
resolves names to addresses and more
OpenLDAP is a LDAP server for

directory information
ISC DHCP configures dynamic

clients through the Dynamic Host
Configuration Protocol
Databases
MySQL and PostgreSQL are relational

database servers
Database servers store and report on

structured data
SQL is a language used to query a

relational database:
SELECT * FROM users;
Graphical Desktop
X-Windows is the base graphical

system
Provides windows and basic primitives
A.k.a. X11 or X.org
Window managers add menus and

window management (open, close,
hide, etc)
Desktop environments provide

window managers and tools
Window Managers
Compiz, FVWM, Enlightenment,

Metacity
Takes the basic windows and

provides the chrome to move, close,
open, etc
Switches focus between running

applications
Adds menus and application

launchers
Desktop Environment
KDE, GNOME, Unity
Window manager + tools

Basic tools like calculator, games,
notepad
File manager
Workflow tools, such as shortcuts to
launch applications or search the
computer
Office/Productivity
LibreOffice is a fork of OpenOffice
Includes word processor,

spreadsheet, presentation package,
drawing tool
Good compatibility with Microsoft

Office file formats
Web and Email
Chromium and FireFox are popular

open source browsers
These browsers are also cross platform
and popular, ensuring excellent support
Thunderbird, Evolution, and KMail are

popular email clients
Use POP/IMAP to retrieve email
Console tools
The Shell is the primary way of

interacting with the system
Bourne shell family
C shell family
Other hybrid shells such as ksh and zsh
Text editors
Vi/vim
Emacs
Pico/nano
Development
Languages are either Compiled or

Interpreted
C, C++, Java are compiled
PHP, Perl, Ruby, Python are interpreted
Tradeoff of programmer productivity

vs computing resources
Libraries bundle common behavior to

reduce the amount of code needed
Open Source Licensing
Exam Objective
1.3 Understanding Open
Source Software and
Licensing
Objective Summary
Describe the various software licenses
and their differences
Know the organizations involved in open
source
Software Licenses
The creator of the software owns the

copyright to the software
The creator grants a software

license for people to use the
software
Some licenses take away rights,

others give rights
Free Software Foundation
Started by Richard Stallman in 1985
Also run the GNU project that

provides tools to Linux and other
Unix Oses
GPLv2 and GPLv3 licenses allow you

to modify and redistribute the
software
Copyleft provision dictates that you

must share source code to your
GPL
GPL is a popular Free Software

license
GPL is viral as changes must also

use GPL
LGPL lets you link non GPL libraries
GPL3 prevents Tivoization

Using proprietary hardware to
circumvent GPL provisions
You may charge a nominal fee to

cover your costs of distribution
Open Source Initiative
Bruce Perens and Eric Raymond

started the OSI in 1998
Copyleft clauses are too extreme,

FSF was too political
OSI doesnt make licenses, only

endorses them
FSF licenses are OSI approved, but

OSI licenses arent necessarily FSF
approved
Permissive Free Software
An OSI license must allow the source

to be open, to be modified,
redistributed, and to be used by
anyone for any purpose
BSD and MIT licenses allow you to

use and redistribute software, or to
keep your changes private and use it
in proprietary software
FOSS/FLOSS
Free (Libre) and Open Source

Software
A catch-all term
Software can be free as in beer

and/or free as in speech
Non software licensing
Art and written material can be

licensed, too
Public domain disavows any

copyright restrictions
Creative Commons has a variety of

licenses to allow people to use the
work under certain restrictions
Creative Commons
Attribution must acknowledge the

author
ShareAlike copyleft
No-Derivs you may not change the

content
NonCommercial no commercial use
Combinations are allowed, such as

Attribution-No-Derivs-NonCommercial
No Rights Reserved public domain

Making money with Open
Source
Sell services, support, warranty
Work on features in exchange for

money
Use Open Source in your day

job/consulting
Use work time to fix/improve Open

Source
Build paid plugins/modules (subject

to license restrictions)

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Module 01

Linux is the kernel the central

Add some tools to get an operating

Package it up into a Linux

Invented as a hobby project in 1991

People began contributing to make it

The GNU project provided a base set

Started in the 1970s at Bell Labs,

UNIX is now a trademark of the Open

An OS must be certified to be called

Linux is not certified so it is UNIX-like

The kernel manages application

Allocates and reclaims memory

Arbitrates access to disk and CPU

Abstracts hardware specific functions

Provides security and isolation of

Switches between multiple processes

Humans write software in source

Compilers translate source to

If you have the source, you can make

Open Source means you can

Kernel + tools + installation +

Red Hat RHEL

Big Iron (e.g. IBM Power Systems)

Enterprise servers (Dell, HP, IBM, etc)

Single board (Raspberry Pi)

Custom hardware (TiVo)

Embedded devices/Phones (Android)

What will the computer do?

What software does it need to run?

Does it need specific hardware or

Who has to take care of it?

How long does it need to live for?

Software and OS upgrades come on a

Updates can be major or minor

Software generally goes through

This is the maintenance cycle

A short maintenance cycle means

Faster releases means that newer

Also means you might have to

Longer maintenance cycle means

Longer maintenance cycles often

New features are introduced in beta

Beta is less tested and therefore

After the beta period, software is

If you need newer features you will

Backward compatibility means it

Split into desktop and server versions

Slow release cycle, long maintenance

Emphasis on backward compatibility

Improving scripting and management

Runs on Apple hardware

Server version adds packages to the

New major releases every 18-24

Unique in that after choosing Linux

Different distributions focus on

Some distributions offer commercial

Servers are usually unattended and

Desktops a.k.a. clients are more

Mobile is a tablet or phone

Development is much like a

Serve static web pages to clients via

Can also serve dynamic content by

Apache and Nginx are the most