Matthew Feldt, chair of the St. Louis Unix Users Group-Linux SIG and Unix Systems Administrator for Mercantile Bank, will present an introduction to the Linux Operating System.
Linux is a free Unix Operating System protected by the GNU public license. Conceived by Linus Torvalds in July 1991 and built upon the robust GNU utilities, Linux is a complete multitasking Unix Operating System with a rich suite of development tools, graphical environments, shells, editors, games and networking. Linux, originally designed for Intel 3/4/586 architectures, now runs on DEC's Alpha and ports to other architectures are under way. With increasing commercial applications and a variety of distributions, Linux is poised to have a significant influence in the Unix market.
The presentation will describe the functionality and utilities included as part of the Linux Operating System. An overview of installation procedures and requirements will be given followed by a review of some of the more popular Linux distributions, such as Slackware, RedHat, Caldera and Yggdrasil.