Ubuntu

Ubuntu is a UNIX-type operating system but it also has a vary nice Graphical User Interface (GUI) that is simlar to MS-Windows or Mac. Ubuntu is also free which allows us to run it on a virtual machine.

Operating Systems

A computer "Operating System" provides an envrionment for applications to run on. This includes:

• Access to files on hard discs, networks, USB sticks, DVDs, floppy discs
• Access to the Internet
• A chunck of system memory (RAM) to run in
• Access to the screen, mouse, and keyboard

There are only a few operating systems available today and they fall into 2 categories.

• MS-Windows
  • Regular
  • Server
• UNIX-Type
  • UNIX in many variations
  • Mac OS which is based on UNIX
  • Linux in many variations
  • Ubuntu which is Linux with a GUI

Ubuntu

Ubuntu is based on Linux which is based on UNIX. UNIX is a command-line operating system which means you type commands into a window and then hit return to see if the command was successful. THis is a much older form of operating system and tends to be harder to learn. Fortunately, Ubuntu has an easy to use GUI that is similar to MS-Windows. This GUI has windows, menus, and icons and you can do most of the things you'll need to through the GUI. However, there are some things you'll need to do through a command line and we'll cover those in class.