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+<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//Norman Walsh//DTD DocBook HTML 1.0//EN">
+<HTML
+><HEAD
+><TITLE
+>Overview of a Linux System</TITLE
+><META
+NAME="GENERATOR"
+CONTENT="Modular DocBook HTML Stylesheet"><LINK
+REL="HOME"
+TITLE="The Linux System Administrators' Guide"
+HREF="book1.html"><LINK
+REL="PREVIOUS"
+TITLE="Introduction"
+HREF="c31.html"><LINK
+REL="NEXT"
+TITLE="Important parts of the kernel"
+HREF="x83.html"></HEAD
+><BODY
+BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF"
+TEXT="#000000"
+><DIV
+CLASS="NAVHEADER"
+><TABLE
+WIDTH="100%"
+BORDER="0"
+CELLPADDING="0"
+CELLSPACING="0"
+><TR
+><TH
+COLSPAN="3"
+ALIGN="center"
+>The Linux System Administrators' Guide</TH
+></TR
+><TR
+><TD
+WIDTH="10%"
+ALIGN="left"
+VALIGN="bottom"
+><A
+HREF="c31.html"
+>Prev</A
+></TD
+><TD
+WIDTH="80%"
+ALIGN="center"
+VALIGN="bottom"
+></TD
+><TD
+WIDTH="10%"
+ALIGN="right"
+VALIGN="bottom"
+><A
+HREF="x83.html"
+>Next</A
+></TD
+></TR
+></TABLE
+><HR
+ALIGN="LEFT"
+WIDTH="100%"></DIV
+><DIV
+CLASS="CHAPTER"
+><H1
+><A
+NAME="AEN63"
+>Chapter 2. Overview of a Linux System</A
+></H1
+><DIV
+CLASS="TOC"
+><DL
+><DT
+><B
+>Table of Contents</B
+></DT
+><DT
+><A
+HREF="c63.html#AEN69"
+>Various parts of an operating system</A
+></DT
+><DT
+><A
+HREF="x83.html"
+>Important parts of the kernel</A
+></DT
+><DT
+><A
+HREF="x94.html"
+>Major services in a UNIX system</A
+></DT
+></DL
+></DIV
+><BLOCKQUOTE
+><P
+>&#8220;God looked over everything he
+ had made, and saw that it was very good. &#8221; (Genesis
+ 1:31)</P
+></BLOCKQUOTE
+><P
+>This chapter gives an overview of a Linux system. First,
+ the major services provided by the operating system are described.
+ Then, the programs that implement these services are described
+ with a considerable lack of detail. The purpose of this chapter
+ is to give an understanding of the system as a whole, so that
+ each part is described in detail elsewhere.</P
+><DIV
+CLASS="SECT1"
+><H1
+CLASS="SECT1"
+><A
+NAME="AEN69"
+>Various parts of an operating system</A
+></H1
+><P
+>A UNIX operating system consists
+ of a <I
+CLASS="GLOSSTERM"
+>kernel</I
+> and some
+ <I
+CLASS="GLOSSTERM"
+>system programs</I
+>. There are also some
+ <I
+CLASS="GLOSSTERM"
+>application</I
+> programs} for doing work.
+ The kernel is the heart of the operating system.
+
+ <A
+NAME="AEN75"
+HREF="#FTN.AEN75"
+>[1]</A
+>
+
+ It keeps track of files on the disk, starts programs and runs
+ them concurrently, assigns memory and other resources to various
+ processes, receives packets from and sends packets to the network,
+ and so on. The kernel does very little by itself, but it provides
+ tools with which all services can be built. It also prevents
+ anyone from accessing the hardware directly, forcing everyone
+ to use the tools it provides. This way the kernel provides
+ some protection for users from each other. The tools provided
+ by the kernel are used via <I
+CLASS="GLOSSTERM"
+>system calls<I
+CLASS="GLOSSTERM"
+>;
+ see manual page section 2 for more information on these. </I
+></I
+></P
+><P
+>The system programs use the tools provided by the kernel to
+ implement the various services required from an operating system.
+ System programs, and all other programs, run `on top of the
+ kernel', in what is called the <I
+CLASS="GLOSSTERM"
+>user mode</I
+>.
+ The difference between system and application programs is
+ one of intent: applications are intended for getting useful
+ things done (or for playing, if it happens to be a game),
+ whereas system programs are needed to get the system working.
+ A word processor is an application; <B
+CLASS="COMMAND"
+>telnet</B
+>
+ is a system program. The difference is often somewhat blurry,
+ however, and is important only to compulsive categorizers.</P
+><P
+>An operating system can also contain compilers and their
+ corresponding libraries (GCC and the C library in particular under
+ Linux), although not all programming languages need be part of
+ the operating system. Documentation, and sometimes even games,
+ can also be part of it. Traditionally, the operating system has
+ been defined by the contents of the installation tape or disks;
+ with Linux it is not as clear since it is spread all over the
+ FTP sites of the world.</P
+></DIV
+></DIV
+><H3
+>Notes</H3
+><TABLE
+BORDER="0"
+CLASS="FOOTNOTES"
+WIDTH="100%"
+><TR
+><TD
+ALIGN="LEFT"
+VALIGN="TOP"
+WIDTH="5%"
+><A
+NAME="FTN.AEN75"
+HREF="c63.html#AEN75"
+>[1]</A
+></TD
+><TD
+ALIGN="LEFT"
+VALIGN="TOP"
+WIDTH="95%"
+><P
+>In fact, it is often mistakenly considered
+ to be the operating system itself, but it is not.
+ An operating system provides many more services than a
+ plain kernel.</P
+></TD
+></TR
+></TABLE
+><DIV
+CLASS="NAVFOOTER"
+><HR
+ALIGN="LEFT"
+WIDTH="100%"><TABLE
+WIDTH="100%"
+BORDER="0"
+CELLPADDING="0"
+CELLSPACING="0"
+><TR
+><TD
+WIDTH="33%"
+ALIGN="left"
+VALIGN="top"
+><A
+HREF="c31.html"
+>Prev</A
+></TD
+><TD
+WIDTH="34%"
+ALIGN="center"
+VALIGN="top"
+><A
+HREF="book1.html"
+>Home</A
+></TD
+><TD
+WIDTH="33%"
+ALIGN="right"
+VALIGN="top"
+><A
+HREF="x83.html"
+>Next</A
+></TD
+></TR
+><TR
+><TD
+WIDTH="33%"
+ALIGN="left"
+VALIGN="top"
+>Introduction</TD
+><TD
+WIDTH="34%"
+ALIGN="center"
+VALIGN="top"
+>&nbsp;</TD
+><TD
+WIDTH="33%"
+ALIGN="right"
+VALIGN="top"
+>Important parts of the kernel</TD
+></TR
+></TABLE
+></DIV
+></BODY
+></HTML
+> \ No newline at end of file