Chapter 3: Welcome to Linux

Overview

In this chapter, you will start becoming acquainted with Linux. I hope that you have the system installed, because it would be preferable to immediately try everything described. This way you will understand and remember the material better.

We will take a close look at the file system, the main configuration files, and commands for everyday work. Linux can work in two modes: graphical and text. Many authors for some reason consider only the text mode. This intimidates those readers who are used to Windows with its intuitive interface. I will consider both modes in parallel. Nevertheless, the console will be given more attention, because many problems often can be solved much faster using the console than using graphical utilities. I will try to show you the advantages of using the console over using the mouse. Commercial servers often are placed in separate rooms and often are not even equipped with a monitor. They are controlled through a remote console without using Linux graphical features. Why, then, waste memory by loading bulky graphics libraries, files, and other resources? You will be better off to preserve it for other, more useful things.

The graphical mode, however, is useful for working with user utilities. It can also be useful when doing the initial server configuration. Taking into account that not all Linux computers are used as servers and that workstations can run under this operating system, a convenient and easy-to-use graphical interface for Linux is simply a must.

As you can see, being able to work in two modes is one of the advantages of Linux, not a shortcoming. If you were to unload the graphical shell in Windows and leave only the command-line interface, you could conserve memory resources and increase the reliability of this operating system. When graphics libraries are not used, they cause no problems. Remember those blue screens of death caused by buggy video card drivers? You will not see those in the Linux console.

If you are configuring a home computer or a small network, you can leave the graphical shell in place. But for a commercial server demanding maximum availability, I recommend that you use the text mode so that you make the server secure against failures, and increase its performance.