FOSS Resources

Technology Basics

Plain-language FOSShub guides to version control, Git, package managers, APIs, compilers, containers, virtual machines, and Linux distributions.

What Is Version Control?

Understand version control, repositories, commits, branches, merges, remotes, and when Git or simpler file history fits the job.

Learn what Git does, how repositories, commits, branches, remotes, clone, pull, and push fit together, and how Git differs from GitHub.

Understand package managers, repositories, registries, dependencies, manifests, lockfiles, updates, and how they differ from installers.

Learn the difference between source code, binaries, executables, installers, packages, checksums, and when each download type fits.

Understand how compilers turn source into outputs, why warnings and errors happen, and how toolchains, linkers, and build systems fit.

Learn what APIs are, how requests, responses, methods, parameters, authentication, errors, SDKs, REST, and OpenAPI fit together.

Understand containers, images, registries, runtimes, layers, volumes, host kernels, portability, and how containers differ from VMs.

Learn what virtual machines are, how hosts, guests, hypervisors, virtual disks, snapshots, resources, and VM isolation work.

Understand Linux distributions, kernels, package repositories, installers, desktop environments, release models, and support lifecycles.

Understand software packages, package formats, installers, archives, metadata, dependencies, update paths, and trust checks.

Learn what 32-bit and 64-bit software mean, which download to choose, and why compatibility matters more than the label.

Learn what portable software means, when to choose a portable app, and when an installer or package manager is the better path.

Learn what a command-line interface is, how terminals and shells differ, and how commands, options, pipes, and output work.

Learn what stable, beta, release candidate, canary, nightly, and daily software builds mean and which release channel to choose.

Learn what software plugins and extensions do, how host apps expose APIs, and what to check before installing add-ons.