Common Linux Features

On October 5, 1991, Linus Benedict Torvalds, a graduate student from the University of Helsinki in Finland, announced in a Usenet newsgroup that he had created a small UNIX-like operating system called Linux. Today Linux has stepped into the spotlight as a complete UNIX-like operating system.

Its cost is low and its source code is open. Linux has been ported to many hardware platforms, many softwares (some are free or well-known) have been developed for execution on Linux.

Some Common Features of Linux are:

1. Multiuser

Linux maintains multiple user accounts, and allows multiple users to log in and use the system simultaneously.
Different users can set different working environments (e.g., different desktop interfaces).

2. Multitasking

Linux can manage to run multiple programs at the same time.
It can run background processes called daemons.

3. Graphical User Interface (X Window System)

Linux supports a powerful framework for graphical applications interface. This framework is called X Window System (or simply X).
There are several desktop environments and many desktop managers. (Red Hat provides several desktop managers, but focuses on GNOME and KDE desktop environments.)

4. Hardware support

Linux supports nearly all types of hardware (e.g., floppy disk drives, CD-ROMs, removable disks).

5. Networking connectivity

Linux supports a variety of communication devices (e.g., LAN cards, modems, and serial devices).
Linux supports a variety of communication protocols in all the layers (e.g., TCP/IP for the Internet, IPX for Novell networks).

6. Network servers

Linux is stable, so it can run servers to provide services to clients.

7. Application support

Linux is compatible with POSIX and several application programming interfaces (APIs), so there are many freewares and sharewares for execution on Linux.

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