18 December 2007
Comprehensive Linux System Services List: Explanation and Recommendation
Posted by Mikhail Esteves under: General .
Linux services are basically programs that start at boot time to provide certain features and services (Apache, the web server for example). After installation, every Linux distribution provides a list of enabled services. However, you might not need some of these services or you might need others that are not enabled by default. Having only the services you need running will make your system faster, more stable and secure. So the first thing you need to do after installing a Linux distribution is to manually edit the list of enabled services. Unfortunately, some services don’t provide a description, others provide a description that’s not understandable so you might end-up disabling a vital system service just because you didn’t know what it did and you thought you didn’t need it.
In this post, I’ll try to explain as good as I can, most services you’ll see on a Linux distribution. However, most services list are based on what programs you have installed on your system so in this list, it’s possible to see services you don’t have or don’t see services your system has.