Linux
From DocForge
Linux is the name of the kernel used in many Unix-like operating systems. This kernel combined with utilities from GNU and other sources created what's commonly referred to as a Linux operating system. Being open source, many variations of Linux operating systems are available. Each is called a Linux distribution.
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[edit] GNU/Linux Operating Systems
Linux is a platform for many types of software systems:
- Desktop environments with various types of general purpose or specialized interfaces
- Servers, including database, email, web, and many others
- Real-time software
- Embedded systems; specialized software for specialized hardware
Of particular interest to software developers, Linux has a large variety of programming languages, run-time environments, and libraries available for it. There are literally too many to list.
[edit] Community
The other important part of GNU/Linux is the people.
Many Linux veterans will note that Linux isn't just about a wad of code. GNU/Linux is also a ridiculously close community of developers and users that are curiously eager to help each other out. Many Linux Users Groups exist, which are groups of geographically close Linux enthusiasts which do everything from launch Windows Install disks on model rockets to massive "Installfests" where anyone with a computer can come and receive help and instructions on the process of installing the GNU/Linux Operating System. In addition to the LUGs, many mailing lists, forums, magazines and newsletters also exist.
[edit] Tips
[edit] Tip for benchmarking: flushing the cache
When running benchmarks on a system, you'll often have the problem that some operations/results from your first benchmark got cached. Therefore, any benchmark you run after that may no longer be reliable. Systems using the Linux kernel have a handy way to flush all the caches:
sync; echo 3 > /proc/sys/vm/drop_caches
This only works for kernels with a version number of 2.6.16 or higher.
