MaximumNumber of Processors:
Number of bits: 32 or64 (depending on the processor used)
Kernel: LINUX
“The Linux kernel was originally written by LinusTorvalds (hence the name “Linux”), and it maintained by a team of developers.The kernel itself is released under the GPL (GNU Public License).” —RichSteiner (See also: http://www.linuxhq.org
Someversions of LINUX use the MACH kernel. These include: MkLinux (PowerPC), IntelMkLinux, and HP/PA MkLinux.
POSIX:compatible
Peripherals: “mostPC hardware” —Kristian Elof Sørensen
John Kirch: “Ease of configuration and beingable to configure a server without causing downtime is yet another aspect offunctionality: ‘Some versions of UNIX (Linux, for example) support loadabledevice modules. This means you can boot Linux and reconfigure its support forhardware and software on the fly. For example, you can boot Linux withoutsupport for the SCSI card you have installed. You simply load support for thatSCSI card when you need to access one or more of the SCSI-connected devices,such as an optical disk for backup. You can unload the SCSI driver when you’refinished. You can also freely load and unload support for sound cards, networkcards — even file systems such as HPFS, FAT, VFAT, and others (an NTFS driveris in the works).“—Nicholas Petreley, The new UNIX alters NT’s orbit: There-emergence of UNIX threatens to modify the future direction of NT, NC World,April 1998.”
FileSystems Supported:
- preferred file system: ext2fs
- file systems can read/write/format: ext2fs, extfs, FAT
- file systems can read/write: FAT32, VFAT, FFS, coda, NFS, Minix, Xenix, UMSDOS, xiaf, SMB
- file systems read only: NTFS, UFS, HPFS-2, HPFS, sysvfs, adfs, ROMFS
- file systems read only and can write through optional software: ISO 9660, Commodore 1541/1581 (shareware at
http://www.npsnet.com/danf/software/
- file systems can read/write/format through third party or optional software: HFS
OtherSystems Emulated:
Graphics Engine: XWindow
Text Command Shell: UNIXshells (default shell is bash)
“The properties of the command-line interface depend tosome extend on the shell involved. Linux uses shells which tend to be close of(or derived from) UNIX shells. Typical shells are bash, tcsh, and zsh.” —RichSteiner
User Interface (graphic): XWindows
“Linux uses the X windows system (usually) as a graphicalinterface, which gives it the capability to distribute displays over a network,and which allows for windowing on the desktop. The X window managers orenvironments each have their own names (like AfterStep, fvwm, twm, olvwm,Enlightenment, KDE, etc). The X server which is normally used in Linux isXFree86.” —Rich Steiner (See also: http://www.xfree86.org