UNIX TUTORIAL PART-2: BASIC COMPONENTS OF UNIX

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BASIC COMPONENTS OF UNIX

The UNIX operating system comprises three parts: The kernel, the standard utility programs, and the system configuration files.

The kernel is the core of the UNIX operating system. Basically, the kernel is a large program that is loaded into memory when the machine is turned on, and it controls the allocation of hardware resources from that point forward. The kernel knows what hardware resources are available (like the processor(s), the on-board memory, the disk drives, network interfaces, etc.), and it has the necessary programs to talk to all the devices connected to it.

The standard utility programs
These programs include simple utilities like cp, which copies files, and complex utilities, like the shell that allows you to issue commands to the operating system.

The system configuration files
The system configuration files are read by the kernel, and some of the standard utilities. The UNIX kernel and the utilities are flexible programs, and certain aspects of their behavior can be controlled by changing the standard configuration files. One example of a system configuration file is the filesystem table "fstab" , which tells the kernel where to find all the files on the disk drives. Another example is the system log configuration file "syslog.conf", which tells the kernel how to record the various kinds of events and errors it may encounter. [