Software

Computer Literacy Operating system

On and off

When we talked about software, we said that computers come with some basic functions, for example playing music or viewing photos, and apps just add more. These basic functions of the computer are called operating system. The password prompt and desktop you have seen before are also part of the operating system.

The operating system is the first thing you see on the screen when you turn on the computer. Every operating system looks different. You can tell which operating system is running on the computer just by looking on the screen. Some of the most common operating systems are below.

• Linux
• Windows
• MacOS
• Android
• iOS

To do: Replace the list with screenshots.

Look at computers and devices around you. Can you tell which operating systems are they running? Which operating system is running on your computer?

Choice of operating system We will use Linux as the main operating system in this book for reasons explained in Foreword. Other operating systems are briefly introduced here and later covered in terms of differences from Linux.

Setup operating system Parent/teacher is responsible for installing and setting up the operating system. Children should come to a computer that already works without having to wait for lengthy setup.

We will first learn about Linux and then get back to other operating systems later. Linux has many flavors or distributions that differ only in small details.

To do: Review screenshots of different distributions. If they are diverse enough, add a gallery here.

Can you recognize the flavor of Linux running on your computer?

Choice of Linux distribution We will use latest Debian as our linux distribution, because it is completely free and its slow release cycle (a big plus in education). Examples in this book should nevertheless work smoothly in other distributions. Very recent hardware might require Ubuntu or Fedora.