Question about the kernel

[Dadvw]

Newbie here - Does the Linux kernel only address hardware when it loads and has no internal commands like DOS? Thanks!.....

[hazel]

Newbie here - Does the Linux kernel only address hardware when it loads and has no internal commands like DOS? Thanks!.....

The kernel as such only manages hardware and does supervisory tasks like scheduling, memory management and starting and stopping processes. There are plenty of DOS-like commands in Linux but they are handled by a different program: the shell. Actually that's true of DOS as well: it has a kernel called io.sys and a command processor called command.com. The two work together to give you the DOS experience.

In Linux, you have a choice of shells and even the most primitive (the Bourne shell) is far, far more powerful than command.com! The default shell is a derivative of Bourne called bash and it's quite rewarding to learn to use it. It's often much faster and more efficient than using a graphical interface. If you like working at a command line, you'll love Linux.

[Dadvw]

Thanks Hazel! Like command.com for DOS which gives you "internal" commands, how do I find out about the shell "internal" commands?....

[oz]

Here's a good place to learn about the shell and command line in Linux:

LinuxCommand.org: Learn the Linux command line. Write shell scripts.