Maximum
Number of Processors:
Number of bits: 32 or
64 (depending on the processor used)
Kernel: LINUX
“The Linux kernel was originally written by Linus
Torvalds (hence the name “Linux”), and it maintained by a team of developers.
The kernel itself is released under the GPL (GNU Public License).” —Rich
Steiner (See also: http://www.linuxhq.org
Some
versions of LINUX use the MACH kernel. These include: MkLinux (PowerPC), Intel
MkLinux, and HP/PA MkLinux.
POSIX:
compatible
Peripherals: “most
PC hardware” —Kristian Elof Sørensen
John Kirch: “Ease of configuration and being
able to configure a server without causing downtime is yet another aspect of
functionality: ‘Some versions of UNIX (Linux, for example) support loadable
device modules. This means you can boot Linux and reconfigure its support for
hardware and software on the fly. For example, you can boot Linux without
support for the SCSI card you have installed. You simply load support for that
SCSI 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’re
finished. You can also freely load and unload support for sound cards, network
cards — even file systems such as HPFS, FAT, VFAT, and others (an NTFS driver
is in the works).“—Nicholas Petreley, The new UNIX alters NT’s orbit: The
re-emergence of UNIX threatens to modify the future direction of NT, NC World,
April 1998.”
File
Systems 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
Other
Systems Emulated:
Graphics Engine: X
Window
Text Command Shell: UNIX
shells (default shell is bash)
“The properties of the command-line interface depend to
some 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.” —Rich
Steiner
User Interface (graphic): XWindows
“Linux uses the X windows system (usually) as a graphical
interface, which gives it the capability to distribute displays over a network,
and which allows for windowing on the desktop. The X window managers or
environments each have their own names (like AfterStep, fvwm, twm, olvwm,
Enlightenment, KDE, etc). The X server which is normally used in Linux is
XFree86.” —Rich Steiner (See also: http://www.xfree86.org