Linux Interview Questions and Answers
Question - 11 : - What is the importance of the GNU project?
Answer - 11 : - This so-called Free software movement allows several advantages, such as the freedom to run programs for any purpose and freedom to study and modify a program to your needs. It also allows you to redistribute copies of software to other people, as well as the freedom to improve software and have it released for the public.
Question - 12 : - Describe the root account.
Answer - 12 : - The root account is like a systems administrator account and allows you full control of the system. Here you can create and maintain user accounts, assigning different permissions for each account. It is the default account every time you install Linux.
Question - 13 : - What is CLI?
Answer - 13 : - CLI is short for Command Line Interface. This interface allows the user to type declarative commands to instruct the computer to perform operations. CLI offers greater flexibility. However, other users who are already accustomed to using GUI find it difficult to remember commands including attributes that come with it.
Question - 14 : - What is GUI?
Answer - 14 : - GUI, or Graphical User Interface, make use of images and icons that users click and manipulate as a way of communicating with the computer. Instead of having to remember and type commands, the use of graphical elements makes it easier to interact with the system, as well as adding more attraction through images, icons, and colors.
Question - 15 : - How do you open a command prompt when issuing a command?
Answer - 15 : - To open the default shell (which is where the command prompt can be found), press Ctrl-Alt-F1. This will provide a command line interface (CLI) from which you can run commands as needed.
Question - 16 : - What is a typical size for a swap partition under a Linux system?
Answer - 16 : - The preferred size for a swap partition is twice the amount of physical memory available on the system. If this is not possible, then the minimum size should be the same as the amount of memory installed.
Question - 17 : - What are symbolic links?
Answer - 17 : - Symbolic links act similarly to shortcuts in Windows. Such links point to programs, files or directories. It also allows you instant access to it without having to go directly to the entire pathname.
Question - 18 : - Does the Ctrl+Alt+Del key combination work on Linux?
Answer - 18 : - Yes, it does. Just like Windows, you can use this key combination to perform a system restart. One difference is that you won't be getting any confirmation message and therefore, a reboot is immediate.
Question - 19 : - How do you refer to the parallel port where devices such as printers are connected?
Answer - 19 : - Whereas under Windows you refer to the parallel port as the LPT port, under Linux you refer to it as /dev/lp . LPT1, LPT2 and LPT3 would therefore be referred to as /dev/lp0, /dev/lp1, or /dev/lp2 under Linux.
Question - 20 : - Are drives such as hard drive and floppy drives represented with drive letters?
Answer - 20 : - No. In Linux, each drive and device have different designations. For example, floppy drives are referred to as /dev/fd0 and /dev/fd1. IDE/EIDE hard drives are referred to as /dev/hda, /dev/hdb, /dev/hdc, and so forth.