Who does Linux ask when you perform a whois?

When you do: $ whois stackoverflow.com does your Linux first do a DNS query, find the IP of stackoverflow.com, and then ask the information directly there? Or does it ask a "root" whois server (is the IP of the "root whois server" hardcoded in a Linux distribution, in a similar fashion to /etc/bind/db.root?), which then delegates to another whois server who gives the information? What is the connection flow? my computer doing whois ... ---> root whois server ---> another whois server ---> information or my computer doing whois ... ---> DNS server (?) ---> ... ?