Operating system

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Operating system placement.svg.png

An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware and software resources and provides common services for computer programs. All computer programs, excluding firmware, require an operating system to function.[1]

An operating system manages:


The OS manages Linux tools you can use to understand what is going on
Memory top, htop, free, vmstat
Processes top
Files File system, df, du, mount, lsof
Security fstab
CPU Scheduling perf
Devices, Device I/O iotop, iostat
Interrupts perf
The user interface, most often a GUI but also a CLI we dont really monitor this
Networks netstat, top, tcpdump, iptraf, iftop, nmon


An operating system also provides tools for managing the operating system. These are often called utilities or system tools. Click here for a brilliant graphic showing the different types of tools you can use to view inside the Linux operating system

Different operating systems[edit]

  1. Linux
  2. OS X
  3. WIndows
  4. iOS
  5. Android OS
  6. Google chrome OS (Based on Linux)

A good video about operating systems[edit]


another good video[edit]

Do you understand this topic?[edit]

  • Describe the main functions of an operating system.

Do you have an advanced understanding about this topic?[edit]

  • Describe how an operating system manages the functions you have just described above.

References[edit]