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.