what the hell is a kernel?
 

hey guys, im really sorry, im a stupid noob. how do i know what kernel am i using? or what distro? because all i can see is the terminal and i dont know if the x windows is installed? thanks....

a kernel is the nucleus of an operating system, the part that talks directly to the hardware...

http://www.pcwebopedia.com/TERM/k/kernel.html


you can see your linux kernel version with this command:

uname -r


this is the official website for the linux kernel:

http://www.kernel.org

i just found out the kernel...its
2.4.20-8smp
just not paying attention i guess...

but what exactly is a kernel? is it like a version of linux>? can i compare it to lets say,
msdos 6.2 to 6.22??

thanks again..

thanks man....

linux is the name given to the kernel that Linus Torvalds pioneered in the early 90s... it's not an operating system...

the operating system is "technically" called gnu/linux... which is, the gnu tools (free software foundation) blended with the linux kernel...

check-out this link (it'll explain this clearly):

http://www.gnu.org/gnu/linux-and-gnu.html

Think of linux like DOS and win 3.1 if you like. Linux is just the kernel and bash makes it like DOS (only far more powerful due to the kernel and the apps available.

XWindows and the window manger on that could be likened to win 3.1, only the windowing system in linux (and nix's in general) is they are layered and network oriented.

Linux OS as a whole is the result of many contributions from many sources like the FSF and BSD and MIT - stuff like qt, gtk, xfree, etc... Even the kernel is the work of a great many people these days...

hey guys, thanks for the inputs, i really learned a lot today regarding linux.
Im really interested exploring Linux, and it is a good thing this forum was built.

I just hope they develop more games for Linux, so that linux can be anybody's desktop OS.
=)

There are a few native OSS games, then there are some binaries ported (mostly ID and UT titles) and then you can run a lot with Winex (jediknight 2/academy - halflife - CS)...

Hopefully many more in the future... You can also run MS Office and such in linux, but IMO Open Office in better anyway...

Winex? whats that? it runs windows based games? that damn cooL!

yeah, check-it-out:

http://www.transgaming.com/

=)

It's a $15 subscription to get the easy downloads, but well worth it, and winex/cedega runs a fair selection of games - luckily some of the ones I like - like half-life, CS and some jedi knight ones... There is a compatibility list on the web site.