Unix/Linux

  • Thread starter Thread starter Anthony Giorgianni
  • Start date Start date
Err wrong. Linux IS NOT a UNIX. Never was and never will be.
Click to expand...

Actually, Linux is so much like Unix, it might as well be called Unix.

The kernel internals are very different between the two, since the Unix
kernel dates back decades prior to Linux. But the underlying designs are
similar.

Also, the kernel interfaces for Unix and Linux are nearly identical.

The basic user-level utilities in /bin and /usr/bin, and so on are mostly
the same.

They both require (mostly) command-line administration.

They're pretty nearly the same.
 
Linux is not a copy of UNIX, but it IS a work-alike clone much like MS-DOS
was a work-alike clone of CPM (remember CPM?). What this means to the user
is that a UNIX user can comfortably switch between the two with very little
problem (and I assume vice/versa of course). It also means that many
programs that work on one system will work on the other with a recompile.

I doubt that there are many programs that will work without a recompile.
There may be some, and maybe a list of such programs would be useful. As
far as GIMP goes, I suspect you just haven't run into the Linux version. If
you go to a Linux support site with user forums and ask around, I'm sure
you'll find someone who can point you in the right direction.
 
Actually, Linux is so much like Unix, it might as well be called
Unix.
Click to expand...

What you're calling "UNIX" is in fact GNU software that for all practical
purposes replaced the orginal UNIX software for most users.



GNU isn't Unix although UNIX uses a lot of GNU software like the GCC
compilers and libraries these days.
 
Hey Q... is this the definitive UNIX listing? I mean, are they
*all* in here, or most of them, anyhow?
Click to expand...

It aims to be comprehensive, but I can't say how successful it is. I
haven't run across a more comprehensive one, though.
 
»Q« said:
It aims to be comprehensive, but I can't say how successful it is. I
haven't run across a more comprehensive one, though.
Click to expand...

It's not comprehensive, but it's very good.

As it says on <http://www.levenez.com/unix/>: "This is a simplified
diagram of unix history. There are numerous derivative systems not
listed in this chart, maybe 10 times more! In the recent past, many
electronic companies had their own unix releases. This diagram is only
the tip of an iceberg, with a penguin on it ;-)."

I've been using UNIX systems commercially for over 20 years now, and
there are a few I used back in the 1980s that I can't see on it, but I
can't remember the names well enough to be sure!

Cheers,
Gary B-)
 
Back
Top