Chapter 1: What Is Linux? History, Kernel, and Distributions
In this chapter, you'll learn what the Linux kernel does, how GNU tools complete the system, what a distribution is, and which one to start with.
Linux is everywhere.
It runs web servers, cloud platforms, smartphones, supercomputers, networking devices, security tools, containers, and many of the online services you use every day.
In fact, you may already be using Linux without knowing it such as Android uses the Linux kernel, most public cloud platforms provide Linux servers, and a large part of the internet runs on Linux.
So, what exactly is Linux?
Is it a kernel, a complete operating system, or a collection of distributions such as Ubuntu and Rocky Linux?
The answer depends on how technically precise we want to be. In this chapter, we will clear up that confusion and give you a solid foundation before you start working at the command line.