Workstation topics · Gentle Linux and the command line
What Linux is, and where you'll meet it
🏠The everyday picture
Cars from many companies share the same kind of engine design, wrapped in different bodies and dashboards. Linux is like a shared engine: one free core used inside thousands of different systems, from web servers to phones to the ticket machine at a railway station.
📘What it really is
-
Linux is a free operating system core (a kernel) first written by Linus Torvalds in 1991, and now improved by thousands of people and companies.
-
A distribution (or "distro") wraps that core with tools and apps into a complete system. Well-known ones are Ubuntu, Debian and Fedora. Most commands in this course work the same on all of them.
-
Linux runs most web servers, most of the cloud, and many routers and smart TVs. Android is built on the Linux kernel too.
-
Servers usually have no screen or mouse. You control them with the command line, also called the terminal or shell: you type a command, press Enter, and read the reply.
Where you'll meet it as a builder: a VPS (your own small server, from Lesson 6 of Choosing Your Tools), the terminal of a cloud platform, or the terminal panel in a code editor such as VS Code.
🖱️Try it
Open a terminal on the computer you have. Nothing here changes or deletes anything.
- Mac: open the Terminal app (Cmd+Space, type Terminal). It isn't Linux, but the basic commands are the same.
-
Windows 10 or 11: the most Linux-like choice is WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux). Open PowerShell as administrator, type
wsl --install, restart when asked, then open Ubuntu from the Start menu. If you'd rather not install anything yet, read along and try the commands later. -
Linux: open Terminal from your apps.
- Android: the free Termux app (the Termux team recommends installing it from F-Droid) gives you a small Linux-style terminal.
Type whoami and press Enter. The terminal replies with your user name. You've just run your first command.
✅Quick check
Is Ubuntu a different operating system from Linux?
Show the answer
Ubuntu is one distribution of Linux: the Linux kernel plus a chosen set of tools and apps. Debian and Fedora are other distributions.
Why do servers use typed commands instead of a mouse?
Show the answer
Servers usually have no screen at all, and typed commands are small, exact and easy to repeat or write into a script.
🧩Check yourself
Tap an answer to see why every option is right or wrong. There's no score and nothing is saved, so try as often as you like.