Linux is often used as a catch-all term for a kernel, operating system, desktop environment, and other features that everyday users calls an "operating system." Linux is actually just the kernel, what many would consider the most important part of an operating system. Following the above links, browsing other areas of Wikipedia pointed to on those pages, searching Google for either term, linux.org and also your book are all great resources of information on Linux. One thing you will find is that there are many many distributions that are based on Linux. You may or may not have heard of any of them, the most likely candidates are Ubuntu and Red Hat. Our class is using CentOS, which is a version of Red Hat. Linux was also a big spring board for the open source movement, which we will learn more about later.

One of the most important things to grasp is the concept of multiple users and home directories. Unlike Windows, Linux (because of it's Unix ancestry) was from the start a multi-user operating system, meaning it is capable of having multiple users logged in at once. The OS can handle this and running the same program for multiple users is easy enough, but each person needs their own space to work so they do not get in the way of the other. Thus, home directories were born, which are similar to "My Documents" on Windows. Everything associated with you--your browser favorites, application settings, files, etc.--are stored in your home directory, which can be accessed from any computer on the proper network you log into.

There are many ways to get to your home directory. One is to open Konqueror and type a tilde (~) into the URL bar and hit enter. You will then get a listing of all your folders and files. In many file dialogs there will be a shortcut provided to your home directory that will either say "Home" or your user name. The tilde is a shortcut in Linux to stand for the actual path to your home directory.

The file structure is a little more confusing in the beginning than Windows and understanding it is not terribly important to this class. The only thing you really need to know is how to find your home directory. Thus, we will not go over the FS arrangement as a class, you may study it further if you have extra time because of finishing something earlier.

What we will use

  • As stated, CentOS is the OS we will be using, which is a Linux distribution.
  • Eclipse is the Integrated Development Environment (or IDE).
  • Firefox and/or Konqueror for the web browser.
  • Seamonkey for web page creation.
  • KDE as our desktop environment, which includes many programs that we may use at times, such as Kate, Konsole, and Konqueror (they really like the letter K don’t they?).

Tips

  • Files stored on your Desktop are located in ~/Desktop/ (remember ~ means your home directory).
  • Alt+F2 is your best friend. It will bring up a command box where you can type in a program and it will start up. Usually easier than finding it in the menu system. For example, it is an easy way to bring up Eclipse by typing "eclipse" into the box, or "firefox" for Firefox (both without quotes).
  • The file browser you will want to use, assuming you are using KDE, is called Konqueror. Assuming you have used Windows My Computer or Explorer, Konqueror should be easy to pick up immediately.
  • Konqueror also works as a web browser, though rarely pages are not coded to web standards and so it does not display the page as well as Firefox. Your journals/sites should work in both.