Accessing RTC via arduino code

Hello,

I want to gain more understanding on accessing the Galileo's RTC. Currently all I have seen is the system command being used to access the Linux OS and set and retrieve the time. This uses the following commands in Arduino:

char buf[9];

void setup() {

  Serial.begin(115200);

  system("date 010112002013"); //sets the date & time to 12:00 1st Jan 2013

}

void loop() {

  system("date '+%H:%M:%S' > /home/root/time.txt");  //get current time in the format- hours:minutes:secs

                                                     //and save in text file time.txt located in /home/root

  FILE *fp;

  fp = fopen("/home/root/time.txt", "r");

  fgets(buf, 9, fp);

  fclose(fp);

  Serial.print("The current time is ");

  Serial.println(buf);

  delay(1000);

}

I am unfamiliar with Linux and asuch do not really understand what is happening here. I need to establish a timer between two points in time. What resources are suggested for me to understand what is going on and how to make the RTC accessible to me?

Thanks!