Linux, the development environment par excellence

 Why do all administrations, governments, and sensitive institutions use Linux distributions, not Windows or Mac? Because they are much more secure, much more configurable, and much more efficient. And it's not over; with the arrival of autonomous cars and mass-connected objects, Linux has a bright future ahead of it!

What is Linux?

Most often, Linux means an operating system. It is an improper shortcut that serves to democratize it for neophytes.

In fact, Linux is just a kernel. A kernel ( kernel ) is the part that manages all the resources of a machine and allows the components to communicate with each other. The term kernel actually comes from a metaphor for a nut with the kernel (kernel) and the shell (shell). The shell is an operating system program that allows you to interact with the kernel. It will parse, translate and execute them by sending instructions to the kernel.

The kernel is the heart of the operating system, allowing all physical components (CPU, RAM, graphics card, etc.) or software (GUI, drivers, programs, etc.) to communicate. It also allows one to manage multi-tasking (several programs running simultaneously). If you want to learn linux howto commands, you can learn them online.

You must know that chmod, cp, ls, mkdir, mv, rm, and all the commands you know are linux commands from this library.

Linux's most popular distributions

As of 2020, there were over 300 active GNU/Linux distributions (the development continues). A distribution comes from software distribution and means a collection of software.

The three most used distributions are Ubuntu (about 45% of servers), CentOS (about 18%), and Debian (also about 18%). The most used paid distribution is Red Hat Enterprise Linux (REHL) which would represent approximately 2% of the servers.

The Debiandistrolinux commands

Debian is the main project with over 500 million lines of code. Yes, you read correctly; it represents a titanic human effort to arrive at a stable, efficient, and secure system. The Debian distribution is non-commercial because a non-profit organization publishes it, and committees of voluntary contributors, therefore, make the choices.

You can use several libraries from this distribution (via Ubuntu), such as the famous package manager APT ( advanced packaging tool ).

The current Debian distribution contains about 60,000 software with, for example, Linux, apt, python, nginx proxy, GNOME, and LibreOffice.

The Ubuntu distro

The Ubuntu distribution, like the Linux Mint distribution, are sub-distributions of Debian. This is the most widely used distribution for both servers and desktops.

It is a so-called commercial distribution because it is distributed by the Canonical company, which sells licenses for business versions and, above all, support.

Its development began in 2006 and is still very active today. Ubuntu comes from African culture (Canonical is a company from South Africa). It is a term that means humanity or generosity.

Ubuntu is said to be simpler and easier for beginners, and Debian is said to be more secure and capable. It is one of the most used enterprise distributions, along with CentOS and Fedora.

Conclusion

Now you have a clear vision of the environment: when you use ubuntu in the desktop version, you actually use several thousand free projects (or at least open source) comprising more than a billion lines of code.