Find out now, what should you do to grasp Linux fundamentals and core concepts

Find out now, what should you do to grasp Linux fundamentals and core concepts

Linus Torvalds created the linux operating system as a research project at first. Computers all throughout the world utilise linux, an open source, free operating system. It’s particularly well-liked for use in servers.

Linux is supported by a wide range of hardware platforms, including Intel, AMD, Mac, Sun, Dec, Alpha. Linux is an important skill for Developer, Cyber security, Cloud computing, Networks engineer, etc.

For developers that require a dependable, stable platform with open source code, linux is a suitable option. However, linux file systems differ in structure from those available on Windows or MacOS, begineers to linux may find it challenging to get started. Additionally, whereas the majority of personal computers use graphical user interfaces, linux-based operating systems mainly rely on using the command line interface.

In this blog, we will see all the fundamental concepts of Linux and what skills and knowledge are required to master it. The following topics will be discussed in this blog:

Linux distribution system

Linux Command line

Filesystem or file operations

Various types of text editor

Shell scripting

Linux distributions system

Linux is different from any other operating system; each part of Linux is developed by different organizations. Various sections of linux include the kernel, shell tools, X server, system environment, graphical applications, and so on.

The popular linux distributions are Red hat enterprise, Debian, SUSE, Arch linux, and many more. Ubuntu, Linux mint, Raspbian, Kali, Backtrack all are debian based linux operating system. Red hat based linux operating systems such as, CentOS, Fedora core, Oracle linux, CERN, etc are mostly used.

SUSE is a worldwide open-source software firm with headquaters in Germany that creates and markets linux products to corporate clients. SuSE was founded in 1992, they have build lots of linux products and operating system such as, SUSE linux enterprise server, openSUSE, SUSE linux enterprise desktop.

Arch linux is an independently developed linux distribution, the Arch linux project was initiated by Judd Vinet in march 2002. Using Arch linux different types of linux operating systems are build such as BlackArch, Chakra, Arch linux 32, Arch linux ARM, etc.

Linux Command line

A command line is an interface that accepts lines of text and transforms them into instructions for your computer. We can execute both simple and complex jobs through its terminal. We can perform some simple operations like adding, removing, and moving files. Additionally, we are capable of performing complex jobs including administrative chore (such as user management and package installation), networking operations (such as ssh connections), security tasks, etc.

Let’s check out 10 mostly used linux commands in our day-to-day life:

pwd – Command used to print current working directory

mkdir – This command used to create directories in linux

touch – Its create blank files

echo – Print the text, that provided in command

cat – It help to show the file contents

man – Provides an access to manual pages or use of all commands

ls – The directories will all be listed by this command

cp – Use to copying files

mv – To move files from one directory to other directories

rm – To remove / delete the files or directories

There are lots of other commands are also available such as less, whoami, tar, uname, In, grep, head, diff, cmp, sort, export, zip, unzip, ssh, service, traceroute, ifconfig, iwconfig, iptables, wget, and many more.

The linux file system is a group of data and/or files that are kept on a computer’s hard drive or storage. Your computer depends on this file system to identify the position and location of files in your storage; if it weren’t there, the files would act as though they were invisible, which would obviously result in a lot of issues.

In fact, there are a variety of file systems available for linux; the base of every linux file system is known as root and also denoted as a slash (/).

The root directory contains of several file system such as:

bin – command binaries

boot – It show the static files of boot loader

dev – device files

etc – host - specific system config

lib – Essential shared libraries

mnt – Mount point for mounting temp filesystem

opt – Add - on application software

sbin – Essential system binaries

tmp – Temporary files

usr – Secondary hierarch

var – variable data

There are different types of linux file system are available, if you want to check what type of file system is mounted into your linux distro then you can use df -T command in terminal. Let’s check different types of file system are use in linux.

Ext – Extended file system

Ext2 – Second extended file system, it helps to contains data upto 2 TB

Ext3 – Third extended file system, journaling file system records in a separate log

Ext4 – Fouth extended system, extension of the ext3 file system.Default file system for most of the linux OS such as Red hat enterprise.

Xfs – External file system

Jfs – Journaling file system

There are other file system are also available such as Btrfs, vfat, tmpfs.

Types of text editor

A built-in text editor is included with every linux distribution. However, some editors include extra functions or a user-friendly interface. An application created for coding and editing in HTML, CSS, Javascript, PHP, and many other programming languages is referred to as a text editor, known as code editor.

The majority of editors have options for search and replace, easy navigation, syntax highlighting, and other features.

Let’s see different types of text editor available for linux user:

Vi editor – Vi editor is regarded as one of Linux’s most basic editors.Command mode and insert mode are Vi two default modes.

Gedit – The GNOME desktop environment includes the text editor Gedit. The simplicity of the design makes gedit a wonderful editor for newcomers. Gedit is a strong tool despite having a straightforward interface.

Emacs – The most capable editor available for linux is called emacs. The X - Windows version comes with a wide variety of menus and panels for setting preferences.

Nano editor – Nano comes with pre - loaded on most of linux os.For newbies, Nano is a great lightweight editor.For rapid setup changes, learning Nano is worthwhile because it is much simpler to use than Vi / Vim.

Lots of other editors are also present for linux user such as; Atom, Visual studio code, Notepadqq, Brackets, Bluefish, gVim, Neovim, Pico, Lime, Kate, and many more.

Shell Scripting

Shell scripting help to implement the process automation in linux. Nothing is more annoying than having to repeatedly type out lengthy commands. Shell scripts are straight forward text files that compile a list of shell commands into a useful “tool” that you can use rather than repeatedly putting them all in by hand.

The GNU Bourne-Again shell is the standard shell for many linux distribution (bash). The startup script used by the shell when it is first launched may be found in the .bashrc or .bash profile file and allows you to modify how the shell behaves.

A file containing a succession of the commands is called a bash script. The bash programme reads and processes these. The computer programme runs line by line.

Conclusion

Linux is a very important skill for those who are working or want to work in the cloud computing, networking, or cyber security domains. Because linux is mostly used in servers, anyone who wants to gain a thorough understanding of linux fundamentals and core concepts must master the skills listed above.

The most important part of linux skills is shell scripting; if anyone wants to master shell scripting, then learn all the topics inside the bash shell. It will help to automate daily tasks.

There are also some other skills one need to master, such as networking interface and configuration in Linux, the Boot Process in Linux, Native Linux Compilers, Software and Services, etc. When someone is taking a course like CCNA, CCNP, CEH, AWS or Azure, then they have to learn these concepts before learning their actual course. Furthermore, because linux is a lighter operating system than Windows or Mac, most professionals prefer to use Linux distributions.

Keep learning and keep exploring!