Linux Boot Process & Python List Deduplication: Key Interview Questions

First Question

Topic: Linux

Question: Briefly describe the boot process of a Linux system on a target board?

Answer

1. User powers on the PC, BIOS performs POST and boots from the device set in BIOS (usually the hard disk).

2. The bootloader (LILO or GRUB) on the boot device starts Linux.

3. The kernel is loaded, then init runs, which calls rc.sysinit and other rc scripts.

4. After system initialization and services start, control returns to init.

5. Init starts mingetty, opening a terminal for user login.

6. After successful login, the user reaches the shell, completing the boot process.

Second Question

Topic: Python

Question: Remove duplicate elements from a list without using the set() method.

Answer

Use a loop to build a new list, adding each element only if it is not already present, for example:

result = []
for item in original_list:
    if item not in result:
        result.append(item)