Module 3 Stuffs.

Hello my 2 and 1/2 viewer audience! It's time for me to answer some more questions for this weeks Linux module.



1. What is an argument?  Give several examples. 

 An argument is something that I recall originated from my parents divorce and bitter custody battles in the late 1980's where.... Wait.. wrong class..

In the case of  Linux terminology (and the book), An argument is considered a number, letter, file name, etc. that gives some information to a command and is passed to the command when it is called. The command line argument is anything on a command line following the command name that is passed to the command.  So basically any option (AKA a "switch", AKA  a"flag") would be considered a type of argument as well.
Examples - Any script values or variables that a user throws at a command line in an attempt to execute/ view a favorable action..
echo $1 $2 $3 # argument1 #blah
wc -w1 "argument2".html
etc..

2. Use the man pages to tell me two options for the ls command and what they do. 
"ls" is basically a very important two letter command that lists what contents are available in a particular area/directory you're in (AKA. the window to everything for core UNIX'ers). The "man" or manual page through "ls" follows certain rules that give you names of numerous commands and descriptions of how to use them.  Two examples given are "more" and "less" commands (ie. cmd "man more" or "less") ..or even "man man" which describes the manual on the manual page which is awkward but effective..

3. Use the internet to look up "The Cathedral and the Bazaar" and tell me what it is and why it is important.

Well, according to internets, The Cathedral and the Bazaar is an essay in book form originally created by Eric S. Raymond in the early 1990's and published by O'Reilly media in 1999 that discusses vital engineering methods and techniques around the Linux kernel. The book talks about 2 distinctive methods of  developing open source software, the Cathedral model - (source code released only to devs), and the Bazaar model - (source code released to public). 

The importance of this book was based on being able to see both sides and critique each model accordingly. This essay/book let people see the importance of having source codes for free software open to the public rather than having them solely for developers.

Wat is Linux Kernal?

In this post, I will leave a very brief explanation of what I believe a Linux kernel is, what it does, and how it can dramatically change your life for the better and save you money on car insurance..


Alright, so from what I've read, the average Linux kernel architecture currently consists of around 6 million carefully coded lines that form the base of the operating system itself. In short, it's the core or brains of the OS.

..Actually, that's too simple of an explanation (even though it's right..) Let me go into a little more detail for the sake of it being a graded assignment..


Ok, since we all know by now the kernel is the core of the OS, but there are many functions that the kernel works with behind the scenes for it to work. A Linux kernel is centered around the GNUC Library (GLIB-C), the system call interface (SCI), the users crap (Applications), and of course, the hardware. The User and it's applications are at the top of the chain reaction as all data is initially sent from you for the CPU to sort out. From here, the GLIB-C links to the SCI where it then ask for the kernels permission for whatever is asked of by the user (this includes both hardware and software access/services). To put more simply, the kernel works between the hardware and the operating system to get processes moving according to the user and hardware/software it works with.

Might not be the best brief explanation or save money.. but it's as close as I can get for now as a newbie Linux student.