Memory??”Linux tries to keep processes with the most immediate need in RAM, while
managing how processes that exceed the available memory are moved to swap space.
Swap space is a defined area on your hard disk that??™s used to handle the overflow of
running processes and data. When RAM is full, processes are placed in swap space.
When swap space is full (something that you don??™t want to happen), new processes
can??™t start up.
Devices??”Linux supports thousands of hardware devices, yet keeps the kernel a manageable
size by including only a small set of drivers in the active kernel. Using loadable
modules, the kernel can add support for other hardware as needed. Modules can be
loaded and unloaded on demand, as hardware is added and removed. (The kernel,
described in detail a bit later on, is the heart of a Linux operating system.)
File systems??”File systems provide the structure in which files are stored on hard disk,
CD, DVD, floppy disks, or other media. Linux knows about different file system types
(such as Linux ext3 and reiserfs file systems, or VFAT and NTFS from Windows systems)
and how to manage them.
Security??”Like UNIX, Linux was built from the ground up to enable multiple users to
access the system simultaneously. To protect each user??™s resources, every file, directory,
and application is assigned sets of read, write, and execute permissions that define who
can access them.
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