Get started with Red Hat Enterprise Linux

Get started with Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)

In this post, I will explore the exam requirement: Describe and define open source, Linux, Linux distributions, and Red Hat Enterprise Linux.

Describe and define Open Source, Linux and Linux distributions

Open Source Software (OSS)

Software whose source code is made available publically to all, allowing anyone to view, modify, or distribute the code, is considered Open Source software. The creators of the open-source software grant users the ability to run the program, view, modify, or compile, and redistribute it to others royalty-free.

OSS promotes:

• Collaboration: encourages developers to work together to solve bugs and to add and improve features.

• Knowledge Sharing: OSS projects attract developers with diverse backgrounds and expertise. Developers share their knowledge and experiences by collaborating on projects, leading to personal growth.

• Transparency: The development process and decision-making with OSS are typically transparent, with discussions, decisions and code changes often documented and accessible to the public.

• Accelerated Innovation: OSS encourages experimentation and innovation by providing a platform for developers to explore new ideas and approaches.

There are several types of OSS licences available:

• MIT Licence
• Apache Licence
• BSD Licence
• Mozilla Public Licence (MPL)
• GNU Lesser General Public Licence (LGPL)
• GNU General Public Licence

I won’t go into each detail but have provided links to their respective pages for review.

The order above is significant in that those listed first are more permissive licences, i.e., they allow the user the most freedom to use the software without restriction; the further down the list you go, the less permissive they become, i.e., more restrictions are applied regarding what modifications to the software must be shared.

Linux

What is Linux?

Linux is an open-source operating system created by Linus Torvalds while studying computer science at the University of Helsinki in 1991. He wrote it Just for fun, as he wanted to play with the hardware he had at the time! He never expected it to become what it is today, one of the world’s most popular Operating Systems. According to Wikipedia¹, the Linux desktop market is approximately 1.4% of the overall market. However, based on the Linux kernel, Android has 38% of the overall market. These statistics are based on web usage.

Linux is known for its stability, security, and flexibility, and it is widely used in various computing environments, from personal computers and servers to embedded systems and supercomputers. Linux has become the dominant operating system within Cloud computing. In 2019, a Microsoft engineer revealed that Linux usage on our cloud has surpassed Windows².

Linux Distributions

A Linux distribution, often abbreviated as “distro,” is a complete operating system package that includes the Linux kernel, system utilities, libraries, and application software. While the Linux kernel is the core component of all distributions, each distribution typically includes additional components and software packages tailored to specific purposes, user preferences, or target environments.

Some popular Linux distributions include Red Hat, Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora, CentOS, Arch Linux, Linux Mint, and openSUSE. Each distribution has its own community, support channels, and documentation to assist users in getting started and troubleshooting issues.

Overall, Linux distributions are crucial in making Linux accessible to a wide range of users and fulfilling diverse computing needs by providing a complete and customizable operating system package.

Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)

Red Hat is a leading provider of open source software solutions, best known for its enterprise Linux distribution, Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL). Founded in 1993, Red Hat has played a pivotal role in advancing open-source technologies and has become synonymous with reliability, security, and innovation in the enterprise software industry. In addition to RHEL, Red Hat offers a wide range of products and services, including middleware, cloud computing solutions (such as Open Shift), virtualization technologies, and management tools. As a strong advocate for the open-source community, Red Hat contributes to numerous open-source projects and collaborates with partners and customers worldwide to drive technological advancements and empower businesses to succeed in the digital age.

Professionally, we’re embarking on our Red Hat Open Shift journey this year, which is why I’m undertaking my personal journey with Red Hat certification. One that I’m enjoying as I expand my horizon beyond the Microsoft ecosystem.

1. Wikipedia ↩

2. Openwall ↩