The video tutorial explains the basic Linux commands 'head' and 'tail'. The 'head' command is used to display the top lines of a text file, while the 'tail' command shows the last lines. Users can specify the number of lines or characters to display. The tutorial also covers piping outputs from other commands to 'head' or 'tail' to view specific data, such as the most recently updated files in a directory.

Explain how you can use the head and tail commands together with piping.

What is the difference between displaying lines and characters using the head and tail commands?