Linux Principles

• Everything is a file (including hardware)

  - in linux everything is a file including the hardware. There are three types of files

  text file

  Binary file
  

  Device file - hardware representatives
  

  
  

• Small, single-purpose programs

  - small is beautifull concept

  
  

• Ability to chain programs together to perform complex tasks

  - in other word.. its called piping. "|"

  
  

  example
  

  cat /etc/passwd | cut -f1 -d :
  

  this will read the file /etc/passwd and the content is cut with the delemeter ":" and the 1st part is shown

  
  

• Avoid captive user interfaces

  - the basic work in linux is done in command. The GUI is the graphical representative of the command line execution.

  
  

• Configuration data stored in text

  - all configurations are stored in plain text files

  
  

  example

  cat /etc/resolve.conf
  

  this will show the DNS database stored in linux. The name list is stored in plain text in the file /etc/resolve.conf