eAction

On December 14/06 I announced that I was going to start taking some online Linux courses, so I could make sure I covered the missing gaps in what I’ve learned as I went along bumping from one need-to-learn to another. This way I’ll be better prepared to teach others.

So here’s where I went this morning: Linux.org/lessons/

It’s all rather tame background information, but for those totally new to this field, that’s good. I also find the writing style here easy to read and very informative.

Here’s a few things that caught my attention;

1. Linux is an operating system meant to be used as an alternative to other operating systems like MS-DOS, the various versions of MS Windows, Mac OS, Solaris and others. Linux is not a program like a word processor and is not a set of programs like an office suite.

2. The kernel was designed by Linus Torvalds, a student at the university of Helsinki, who wanted something that would take into account the ideas and suggestions of users for improving it.

3. Linus joined together with Richard Stallman at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, (MIT) who had programs, but no kernel. Neither one could accomplish much until they helped each other out. (Sort of like the horse and carriage, or love and marriage - you really can’t have one without the other).

4. Linux systems now have such a reputation for stability that some computers have been known to run for a year without needing to be rebooted except for some maintenance. That stability is what is attracting people. While it was considered mainly for geeks and gurus in the 1990s, Red Hat began to produce it on CDs with simple instructions that anyone could understand and use to install on their computer. Now it is taking off in the 2000s!

Next time we’ll move to lessons on installation.

Blessings,
Ruth