In this post I am sharing Interview Questions and Answers for Linux beginners and intermediate users. Before going interview just go through the following questions and it will help you to understand the Linux concepts very well. So, without wasting much time, we’ll start learning.

1] What is Linux?

Ans: Linux is an Operating System based on UNIX and was first introduced by Linus Torvalds. It is based on the Linux Kernel and can run on different hardware platforms manufactured by Intel, HP, DELL, IBM, Motorola, MIPS and SPARC.

2] What is difference between UNIX and LINUX?

Ans: Unix originally began as a proprietary Operating System from Bell Laboratories, which later on spawned (meaning released) into different commercial versions. On the other hand, Linux is free, open source and intended as a non-proprietary operating system for the community.

3] What is BASH?

Ans: BASH is short form for Bourne Again SHell. It was written by Steve Bourne as a replacement to the original Bourne Shell (which is represented by /bin/sh). It combines all the features from the original version of Bourne Shell, plus additional functions to make it easier and more convenient to use. It has since been adapted as the default shell for most systems running Linux.

4] What is Linux Kernel?

Ans: The Linux Kernel is low-level systems software whose main role is to manage hardware resources for the user. It is also used to provide an interface for user-level interaction.

5] What is LILO?

Ans: LILO is a boot loader for Linux. It is mainly used to load the Linux Operating System into main memory so that it can begin its operations.

6] What is SWAP Space?

Ans: A SWAP Space is a certain amount of space used by Linux OS to temporarily hold some programs that are running concurrently. This happens when RAM does not have enough memory to hold all the programs that are executing.

7] What is the advantage of open source?

Ans: Open source allows you to distribute your software, including source codes freely to anyone who is interested. People would then be able to add features and even debug and correct errors that are in source code. They can even make it run better, and then redistribute these enhanced source code freely again. This eventually benefits everyone in the community.

8] What are the basic components of Linux?

Ans: Just like any other Operating System, Linux has all these components: kernel, shells and GUIs, system utilities, and application programs. What make Linux advantageous over the other operating systems is that every aspect comes with additional features and all codes for these are free to download.

9] Describe the root account.

Ans: The root account is like system administrator account and allows you full control of the system. Here you can create and maintain user accounts, assigning different permissions for each user/account. It is the default account every time you install Linux.