Summary

An operating system is a software system that manages computer resources such as files and CPU, and acts as an agent between a computer user and the computer hardware. Solaris 10 from SUN is the latest version of an operating system that is a member of a family of operating systems called UNIX. Although substantial progress has been made on the GUI front, the UNIX operating system has largely been a command-based operating system. It's important for a UNIX system administrator to be proficient in using commands. When you log into a UNIX operating system such as Solaris, a shell is started. This is a software system that will interpret the commands from you for the kernel—the core of the operating system. The files in a UNIX operating system are organized into a directory tree, and when you log into the system, you are put into your home directory, which is created at the time your account was created.

An operating system is a software system that must be installed on your computer before it can start helping you to use the machine. In the next chapter, we show you how to install the Solaris 10 flavor of UNIX operating system.