Disk storage is accessed through a page cache which is unified with the virtual memory systems. It also supports networked, device-oriented and virtual file systems. Interprocess communication is supported by both of mechanisms such as message queue, shared memory and semaphore.Īn abstract layer is used in Linux to govern the different file systems, but to users, the file system looks like a hierarchical directory tree. Linux protects processes and is a multiuser system. The traditional monolithic kernel is employed in Linux kernel for performance purpose, but its modular feature allows most drivers to dynamically loaded and unloaded at runtime. A Linux system also contains many separately developed elements, resulting in Unix system which is fully compatible and free from proprietary code. It provides programming interface as well as user interface compatible with Unix based systems and provides large variety applications. Linux is a free and open source operating system based on Unix standards.
