Spring Into Linux®

Chapter 10. Applications and Programs

All information on Linux is organized into files. Programs and applications are no exception. Programs are files that contain instructions that Linux follows to perform tasks. Applications are one or more programs that perform work. The word processing document that you create is stored in a file. The word processing application that you use to create and store the file is also stored in a file—a program. Or more likely, many programs working together.

A program can be quite simple, with one instruction that tells Linux to display “Hello World” on the screen. An application may be quite complex, such as a word processing application. The word processing application programs contain the instructions that tell ...