how can 'init' and 'service' command can cross normal-user life?

Question

i'm just moved to linux world in ubuntu 10.10. i'm using it for normal life, internet and social networks, multimedia enterainement like musics and movie, a bit of coding with c and python..

i've just learned something about run levels and about init and service command line tools. i understand they are powerful tools and contribute to set up the architecture and a solid base of the entire system. (is this an antiquate model? possible evolutions? alternative models?)

but i don't undesrtand how they can cross my normal life and where i can use it, if i have to learn about it in a deep way or if a can only know that they exists but probabilly i will never touch them.

Answer 1

They are used to start (initialize) the system and bring up servers. As a normal user you shouldn't have to worry about them. If you want to also turn you machine into, say, an HTTP (web) server you would have to deal with it. Different distros do that differently, however. Many at least have a service command to start and stop them.