This is a foundation course in the Linux operating system. Booting a Linux machine is dissected, from BIOS firmware to authenticated user shell. Use of shell commands, editors, programming tools, and GUIs are emphasized. Students learn to write shell script programs and install applications using the open source software distribution model. Unix process creation is detailed and a 20-line tutorial shell is developed. Local administration tasks are covered, including user account management, backup, task scheduling, logging, and clock time synchronization. As time allows recompilation of the kernel from source code will be performed.