Overview Flashcards
Source code availability of Linux vs Windows
Linux is Open Source Software, Windows is proprietary closed source
Cost of Linux vs Windows
Linux is free (RHEL support is not free but OS is), Windows is licensed per installation
User interface of Linux vs Windows
Linux is customisable (GNOME/KDE/XFCE), Windows has a standard GUI that ships with the OS
Software management on Linux vs Windows
Linux uses package managers (APT/YUM/Pacman) which handle dependencies, Windows users standalone executables (.exe/.msi) which often won’t install dependencies
Security of Linux vs Windows
Linux OSS model makes it generally more secure than Windows. Windows has strong tools e.g. Windows Defender but has many known and undiscovered vulnerabilities
File systems of Linux vs Windows
Linux uses EXT2/3/4, Btrfs/XFS/ZFS (hierarchical, everything is a file), Windows uses NTFS/exFAT/FAT32 (uses drive letters for file system separation)
What is Ubuntu?
User friendly distro for everyday computing and servers, based on Debian and owned by Canonical
What is Fedora?
Distro know for cutting edge features, Workstation for desktops and Server for servers, owned by Red Hat
What is Debian?
Known for it’s stability it is the foundation for many other distros
What is Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)?
Corporate level Linux distro provided by Red Hat, provides enterprise features, paid support, and strong stability
What is CentOS?
Free and open source clone of RHEL, owned by Red Hat
What is Arch?
Highly customisable distro focused on allowing the user to build and configure the system from the bare Linux essentials
What is Manjaro?
A wrapper distro for Arch to make it easier to manage configuration
What is OpenSUSE?
Distro that provides Linux build and test tools, used by sysadmins, devs, and desktop users. 2 versions are Tumbleweed (rolling release) and Leap (stable release)
What is Mint?
User friendly desktop distro with a strong focus of media drivers for video/audio/gaming experiences
What is Gentoo?
Source-based distro where users compile their software from source code. Optimised specifically for the hardware it’s running on
What is Slakware?
One of the oldest distros known for it’s simplicity and minimalism
What is Alpine?
Very secure and lightweight distro known for it’s resource efficiency and optimisations making it ideal for containerised applications
What is Kali?
Distro designed for digital forensics and penetration testing. Loaded with security tools and based on Debian
What was the clone model for RHEL/CentOS pre Feb 2021?
Fedora -> RHEL -> CentOS
What was the clone model for RHEL/CentOS post Feb 2021?
Fedora -> CentOS Stream -> RHEL
Why is CentOS know as as an upstream OS?
Features are pulled from CentOS Stream down to RHEL, currently on CentOS 9 but started with CentOS 8
What is the name of the Linux super-user account?
Root
Is the Linux file system case-sensitive?
Yes. File ‘abc’ is not the same as file ‘ABC’
Are spaces appropriate in file and directory names?
No. Hyphens/dashes/underscores are preferred
How to list file/directories in chronological order
ls -ltr (oldest to newest) ls -lt (newest to oldest)
How can you install the ‘locate’ command?
Install package ‘mlocate’ and run ‘updatedb’ to update the file system index
