Linux for Dummies
the GNU Project. You get to know these GNU utilities only if you use your
Linux system through a text terminal -- a basic command-line interface that
puts nothing much on-screen but a prompt at which you type in your com-
mands. (Or you could use a graphical window that mimics a text terminal
and still have use of GNU utilities.) The GNU software is one of the basic
parts of any Linux distribution.
tions rely on GNU software. Nearly all the tasks you perform in a Linux
system involve one or more GNU software packages. For example, the
GNOME graphical user interface (GUI) and the command interpreter (that
is, the bash) are both GNU software programs. By the way, the shell is the
command-interpreter application that accepts the commands you type
and then runs programs in response to those commands. If you rebuild
the kernel or develop software, you do so with the GNU C and C++ compiler
(which is part of the GNU software that accompanies Linux). If you edit text
files with the ed or emacs editor, you're again using a GNU software package.
The list goes on and on.
with most Linux distributions. I show this table only to give you a feel for all
the different kinds of things you can do with GNU software. Depending on
your interests, you may never need to use many of these packages, but
knowing they are there in case you ever need them is good.
packages