Week 2

Exp 2 (a) (b): Introduction to LINUX OS, Installation of LINUX OS, Basic DOS commands

– mkdir, cd, cls, del, copy, attrib, date, path, type, format, exit. Basic commands in LINUX -

cat, ls, pwd,, rm, rmdir, cd, cp, mv, who, date, cal, clear, man, wc

Introduction to LINUX OS

Linux is a UNIX-base operating system. Its original creator was a Finnish student

name Linus Torvalds, although being ‘open source’ it has change a great deal since its

original conception. It belongs to nobody, and is free to download and use. Any changes to it

are open for all to adopt, and as a result it has developed into a very powerful OS that is

rapidly gaining in popularity worldwide, particularly among those seeking an alternative to

Windows.

In 1991, hardware was expanding rapidly, and DOS was the king of operating systems.

Software development was slower, and Macs, while better, were also much pricier than PCs.

UNIX was growing, but at that time in its history the source code was jealously guarded and

expensive to use.

In 1991 he announced the creation of a new core operating system that he had named Linux. It

is now one of the most used systems for the PC, and is particularly suitable for businesses with

small IT budgets. Linux is free to use and install, and is more reliable than almost all other

systems, running for many months and even years without a reboot being necessary.

Advantages and Benefits of Linux

One of the significant benefits of open source software such as Linux is that because it has no

owner, it can be debugged without resource to a license owner or software proprietor.

Businesses therefore have the flexibility to do as they wish with the OS without having to worry

about conforming to complex license agreements.

The major advantage of Linux is its cost: the core OS is free, while many software applications

also come with a GNU General public License. It can also be used simultaneously by large

numbers of users without slowing down or freezing and it is very fast. It is an excellent

networking platform and performs at optimum efficiency even with little available hard disk

space.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linus_Torvaldshttp://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html

Linux also runs on a wide range of hardware types, including PCs, Macs, mainframes,

supercomputers, some cell phones and industrial robots. Some prefer to dual-boot Linux and

Windows while others prefer Linux and Mac OS. System76 machines come pre-installed with

Linux in the form of Ubuntu, a Debian distribution of Linux. This is the most popular

distribution of Linux for laptops.

Linux Vs Windows

The main benefits and advantages of Linux over other operating systems, particularly

Microsoft Windows, are:

It is free to use and distribute.

Support is free through online help sites, blogs and forums.

It is very reliable – more so than most other operating systems with very few crashes.

A huge amount of free open source software has been developed for it.

It is very resistant to malware such as spyware, adware and viruses.

It runs in a wide variety of machines than cannot be updated to use newer Windows

versions.

Since the source code is visible, ‘backdoors’ are easily spotted, so Linux offers greater

security for sensitive applications.

Linux offers a high degree of flexibility of configuration, and significant customization

is possible without modifying the source code.

The Linux operating system is widely use by both home and business users, and its usage is

increasing daily. It is considered that Linux will eventually overtake Microsoft Windows as the

most popular operating system, which could also open the door further for more free

software such as Open Office, The Gimp, Paint, Thunderbird, Firefox and Scribus. It is easy to

install and run alongside your existing operating system, so give it a try, because it is also easy

to remove if you don’t like it – which is unlikely.

Installation of Federo OS

Insert the Fedora DVD in your DVD drive and hit enter to start the installer.

http://www.ubuntu.com/http://www.techlila.com/free-vs-paid-software-what-works-for-you/http://www.techlila.com/free-vs-paid-software-what-works-for-you/http://www.techlila.com/useful-mozilla-firefox-tips-tricks/

1. You'll have to wait a little while for the kernel to boot and start the installation, on the next

screen you'll be prompted to start a media check. You should select ok and hit enter to go to

the next screen.

2. On the next screen you'll have to select Test and hit enter to start the media check.

3. You'll get a sliding progress indicator bar.

4. If the media check is successful the dvd will be ejected automatically and you'll be asked if

you want to check another disk. Since you don't want to test any more disks push the disk

back in and after the dvd stops reading select continue. At that point you'll see anaconda

starting up.

5. After anaconda starts up you'll see a fedora splash screen, you'll need to click Next to go to

the next step.

6. You'll need to select your keyboard and click Next to go to the next step.

7. Enter a name for your computer and click Next, if you're not sure what name you want to

use you can use the default and change it later.

8. On the next screen you'll have to select your timezone and whether your BIOS is using

UTC/GMT and then click Next.

9. On this screen you'll prompted to enter your root password which has to be at least 6

characters. You'll be warned if you've chosen a weak password. You should choose a very

strong password to keep your system safe and secure.

10. Warning: I'm assuming you're installing on an emtpy drive, the options selected on these

screens will overwrite your hard drive. If you don't want to delete your entire drive stop here.

Next you'll have to choose which drive you want to install on if you want to encrypt the

system and whether on not to modify the partitioning layout. If you're experienced with

partitioning you should select Review and modify partitioning layout.

11. If you've selected Use entire drive on the previous screen fedora's going to automatically

select a fairly reasonable default layout. You don't have to chance this unless you want to

save some space for another operating system. Dual booting's going to be covered in a future

guide.

12. If you're happy with the partitioning click Next and Write changes to disk.

13. If you've opted to enable encryption you'll be prompted for your secret key. You should

choose a very strong encryption key to keep your system safe and secure. Make sure you

don't lose or forget it, the system's going to ask you for your ecryption key every time you

boot. Don't write it on a post-it(TM) note and stick it under your keyboard or on your

monitor, if you can't remember it and you've got to write it down put it in a fireproof safe. If

your computer's lost or stolen and your encryption key is taped to your computer other people

are going to be able to get all your files and data. When you're done with the ecryption key

you can also use a bootloader password if you're so inclined. The default bootloader settings

are safe for most users so click Next. Again, dual booting's going to be covered in a future

guide.

14. On this screen you'll be able to select what software you'd like to install on your

computer. It's best to select Office and Productivity, Customize later and click next. If you've

going to install nvidia kernel drivers, ATI drivers, VirtualBox or anything along those lines

select Software development too. The Web Server's optional, it's up to you. If you've happy

with your selections click Next.

15. You'll see a progress indicator for the package dependencies and then two more progress

indicators on the next screen. The installer's going to show each package as it's installed.

16. Finally when the installer's done installing packages it'll prompt you to reboot. Click the

reboot button to do so. The installer's job is done at this point.

Basic DOS commands

1. MKDIR: -Used to create a new Directory or nested Directories. Syntax: MKDIR OR MD [DRIVE:] PATH DIRECTORY NAME

Example: C:\> MD SAMS

2. CD: - This command allows you to change present directory to another directory. Syntax: CD [DRIVE:] PATH

Example: C:\> CD SAMS and press

3. CLS: - Clears the cluster screen. Syntax: CLS

Example: C:\> CLS

4. DEL: This command removes one or more files from the disk or current working directories.

Syntax: DEL filename

Example: C:\> DEL C:*.BAK

5. COPY: - Using this command you can make duplicate files of an exiting file from one

location to another or one directory to another with different name or exiting name.

Syntax: COPY < SOURCE FILE NAME>

Example: C:\> COPY SAMS.TXT D:\TAJ

6. ATTRIB: Every File on the Disk has its own description like size, space occupied, the type, the

date it was created, etc. Likewise, every file has few attributes. The attributes of a file

indicates whether it is a

i) Read-Only File: r ii) Archive File: a iii) Hidden File: h iv) iv) System File s

With the ATTRIB command you can check the attributes of a file.

SYNTAX: ATTRIB [+r][+a][+h][/+s] [filename]

Switches:

+r, -r : +r Read-Only attribute or, -r turn of Read-Only attribute

+a,-a : +a archive attribute, or -a turn of archive attribute

+h,-h : +h hidden attribute, or –h turn of hidden attribute

+s, -s : +s system attribute and it should not be used generally.

EXAMPLE: C:\> ATTRIB my.txt +R and then press

EXAMPLE: C:\> ATTRIB my.txt +H and then press

7. DATE: - Used to display the current system date and prompt for entering new date. Syntax: Date

Example: C:\> date

8. PATH: - This command defines a list of directories DOS Searches for external commands.

Syntax: PATH (Display the current Search Path)

9. TYPE: - This command allows you to see the contents of an existing file on the screen.

SYNTAX: TYPE

Example: C:\> TYPE SAMS

10. FORMAT:- Formats a disk for use with MS-DOS.

11. EXIT :- The exit command is used to withdrawal from the currently running application and the MS-DOS session

LINUX Commands:

1. cat: The cat command concatenates and display files.

Syntax: 1. cat file prints file on your terminal

(Note: cat -n file will do the same with line numbering)

2. cat file1 file2 > file3 concatenates file1 and file2, and writes the results in file3

2. ls: ls command list a directory

ls -l list a directory in long (detailed) format

for example:

$ ls -l

drwxr-xr-x 4 cliff user 1024 Jun 18 09:40 SVEC

-rw-r--r-- 1 cliff user 767392 Jun 6 14:28 abc.txt

^^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^

| | | | | | | | | | |

| | | | | owner group size date time name

| | | | number of links to file or directory contents

| | | permissions for world

| | permissions for members of group

| Permissions for owner of file: r = read, w = write, x = execute -=no permission

type of file: - = normal file, d=directory, l = symbolic link, and others...

ls -a List the current directory including hidden files. Hidden files start

with "."

ls -ld * List all the file and directory names in the current directory using long format.

Without the

"d" option, ls would list the contents of any sub-directory of the current. With the

"d" option,

ls just list them like regular files.

3. pwd: pwd Show the "present working directory", or current directory.

Syntax: pwd

Ex: /home/ITWS/ week10

4. rm: rm command remove or delete a file

Syntax: rm file1 [file2 ...] remove or delete a file

rm -r dir1 [dir2...] recursively remove a directory and its contents.

5. rmdir: remove an empty directory

Syntax: rmdir dir1 [dir2...] remove an empty directory.

6. cd: Change current directory to your HOME directory

Syntax:

cd Change current directory to your HOME directory

cd... Change current directory to the parent directory of the current directory

7. cp: Copies files from one location to another

Syntax: cp file1 file2 copy a file

Ex: cp file1.txt newdir Copies the file1.txt in the current directory to the newdir

directory.

8. mv: move or rename a file

Syntax: mv file1 newname move or rename a file

9. who: Lists who is logged on your machine

Syntax: who lists who is logged on your machine

10. date: Tells you the date and time in unix

Syntax: date tells you the date and time in Unix

Ex: List the date and time of the server. Below is an example of the output.

Thu Apr 9 16:47:32 MST 2012

11. cal: Calendar for the month and the year

Syntax: cal [month] [year]

EX: cal Give you the calendar for this month.

cal 3 2012 Give you the calendar for march of 2012

12. clear: Clears the screen

13. man: The man command is short for manual and provides in depth information about the

requested command

Syntax: man topic Displays the manual for the topic or command typed in.

Ex:man mkdir Lists help information on the mkdir command

14. wc: Short for word count, wc displays a count of lines, words, and characters in a file.

Syntax: wc file1

Ex: wc myfile.txt

Displays information about the file myfile.txt. Below is an example of the output.

5 13 57 myfile.txt

5 = Lines

13 = Words

57 = Characters