You can find detailed information about LiV Pi on its website: www.livpi.com
LiV's main component is a sensor breakout board that sits on top of a Raspberry Pi. It runs Raspbian OS, which is a Linux variant called Debian. LiV Pi software application is written in Python. Now let's see what all this means.
Hardware, software, operating systems
Computers have two parts: hardware and software.
The three major hardware parts are CPU (Central Processing Unit), RAM (Random Access Memory), and Persistent Storage (e.g. hard disk, SD card, flash). A widely used analogy goes like this: CPU is the brains, RAM is temporary memory, and disk is persistent memory.
To be useful, a computer needs to get data or control signals in, do some processing and send out the results of said processing. This means that one needs I/O devices (Input/Output) to be connected to the computer. Examples of input devices: keyboard, mouse, scanner. Examples of output devices: printer, video monitor, audio amplifier.
Generally speaking, software is divided into two categories: system software that keeps everything working, and application software (programs) that allows a user to accomplish some specific task.
An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware resources, controls how all programs run in the system, and provides common services for user and application software.
Kernel
The kernel is at the core of an operating system. It is the piece of software that controls all other programs on the computer. The kernel provides services so programs can request the use of the network card, the disk or other piece of hardware (the kernel forwards the request to special programs called device drivers which control the hardware). The kernel manages the file system. An important part of the kernel is the scheduler. The scheduler decides which programs/processes/tasks will run and when.
Linux and Unix
Unix is a computer operating system that derive from the original AT&T Unix, developed in the 1970s at the Bell Labs by Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, and others. Unix systems are defined by a modular design that is sometimes called the "Unix philosophy". This concept entails that the operating system provides a set of simple tools that each performs a limited, well-defined function, with a unified filesystem (the Unix filesystem) as the main means of communication, and a shell scripting and command language (the Unix shell) to combine the tools to perform complex workflows. Source: wikipedia
Linux is a free, open-source Unix clone written from scratch by Linus Torvalds. Actually Linux is just a kernel. Linux distribution are complete, full grown operating systems built by adding various applications to the Linux kernel.
Linux distributions
A Linux distribution is an operating system made from a software collection, which is based upon the Linux kernel and, often, a package management system.
A typical Linux distribution comprises a Linux kernel, GNU tools and libraries, additional software, documentation, a window system (the most common being X Window System), a window manager, and a desktop environment.
Almost six hundred Linux distributions exist today. Distributions have taken a wide variety of forms, including those suitable for use on desktops, servers, laptops, netbooks, mobile phones and tablets, as well as minimal environments typically for use in embedded systems. Today one can use commercial distributions, such as Fedora (Red Hat), openSUSE (SUSE) and Ubuntu (Canonical Ltd.), and entirely free, community-driven distributions, such as Debian, Slackware, Gentoo and Arch Linux. Source: wikipedia
Python
A programming language is a language used to write computer programs. A program directs the computer to perform some kind of computation or algorithm and possibly control external devices such as printers, disk drives, and so on. To name a few programming languages: C, C++, Java, JavaScript, Pearl, html. Python is a high-level programming language for general-purpose programming.
Raspberry Pi
Raspberry Pi is a small single-board computer developed in the United Kingdom by the Raspberry Pi Foundation to promote the teaching of basic computer science in schools and in developing countries. According to the Raspberry Pi Foundation, more than 19 million Raspberry Pis were sold by March 2018. Raspbian OS is Linux Debian distribution that runs on Raspberry Pi. Source: Raspberry Pi
LiV Pi
So let's put everything together:
LiV Pi is an open source indoor air quality monitor that measures CO2, temperature, humidity and air pressure. LiV Pi's main component is a sensor breakout board that sits on top of a Raspberry Pi. LiV Pi runs Raspbian OS. LiV Pi software application is written in Python.
You can use LiV Pi to learn Linux.