UNIX, Linux and the Key Differences
What is Unix?

All Unix, Linux and other Unix-like operating systems are families of computer operating systems derived from the original Unix System from Bell Telephone Laboratories. Today, the largest Unix descendent directly certified as "UNIX" is macOS by Apple. The original commercial Unix derivatives included HP-UX, AIX and SunOS, to name a few. The diversity and perceived incompatibility between various Unix systems led to the creation of interoperability standards including the Portable Operating System Interface (POSIX).
Unix is the original and most powerful and popular multi-user and multi-tasking Operating System. The basic concepts of Unix were originated in the Multics project of 1969. The Multics system was intended as a time-sharing system that would allow multiple users to simultaneously access a mainframe computer. Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, and others developed the basic building blocks of Unix including a hierarchical file system and a command line interpreter for the PDP-7. Multiple generations of Unix systems were developed for myriad computers.
As mentioned, historical perceived incompatibility between the various early Unix systems led to the creation of POSIX and the Single Unix Specification. Historically, the rigid "standardization" approach led to the creation of various open source approaches to Unix including the Free Software Foundation (FSF), GNU and Linux. Unix programs were originally created around core design philosophies that included requirements like single purpose, interoperable, and working with a simple standardized text interface. Unix systems are built around a core kernel that manages the system and the other processes. Kernel subsystems may include process management, file management, memory management, network management and others.
Key Features:
  1. Unix is a multi-user system where the resources can be shared by various system users.
  2. Unix provides multi-tasking. Users can execute many processes at the same time (practically speaking).
  3. Unix was the first computer operating system that was written in a high-level language (C Language).
  4. Unix provides a hierarchical file structure which facilitated fast data access.
  5. Unix has built-in networking functions so that computers can easily exchange information.
  6. Unix functionality can be extended through user programs built on a standard programming interface.
  7. UNIX certifies compliance with a full set of interoperability standard, managed and maintained by the Open Group, which includes, not only the kernel, but the entire operating system.
What is Linux?

Linux is a Unix-like operating system created by Linus Torvalds at the University of Helsinki in 1991. The name Linux refers to the Linux kernel, the software on a computer which permits applications and users to access the devices on the computer to perform specific functions. The development of Linux was a landmark example of global, free and open source software collaboration. Many companies and similar numbers of individuals have released their own version of Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux Kernel.
Similar to Unix kernels, the Linux kernel relays instructions from an application from the computer's processor and sends the results back to the application.
Broader in scope than commercial Unix products, Linux has been installed on a variety of platforms including mobile phones, tablets, video game consoles, NAS storage arrays, routers and small embedded controllers.
Currently the world's largest and most powerful data centers and scientific research centers use some "flavor" of Linux.
The development of Linux is a stellar example of the power of free and open source software development and global human collaboration.
A Linux "distribution" is a release of a Unix-like operating system based on the specifications of the Linux kernel.
Key Features:
  1. Linux, like Unix, is a multi-user system where the resources can be shared by various system users.
  2. Linux, like Unix, provides multi-tasking. Users can execute many processes at the same time (practically speaking).
  3. Linux, like Unix, was written in C.
  4. Linux, like Unix, provides a hierarchical file structure which facilitated fast data access.
  5. Linux, like Unix, has built-in networking functions so that computers can easily exchange information.
  6. Linux, unlike UNIX, specifies only the kernel but not the entire operating system.
Login or Register to Ask a Question

Forever Free UNIX and Linux Technical Support - View Today's Discussions

HELLO WORLD
Status All Forums Threads Posts
Toggle Forum Collapse Top Forums
Learn UNIX, UNIX commands, Linux, Operating Systems, System Administration, Programming, Shell, Shell Scripts, Solaris, Linux, HP-UX, AIX, OS X, BSD.
2,768 15,306
72,071 389,896
8,900 37,304
Sub-Forums: Open Source
6,731 29,807
610 2,448
29,883 131,950
Toggle Forum Collapse Operating Systems
Learn Solaris, HP-UX, AIX, OS X, BSD, Linux and more operating system commands, system administration, and more!
11,968 56,894
7,940 31,045
AIX
6,001 25,487
2,483 10,451
SCO
953 4,113
590 2,459
BSD
347 1,156
Toggle Forum Collapse Homework and Emergencies
Homework and emergency / urgent technical support requests. Special forum rules apply when posting homework.
788 3,385
363 2,678
Toggle Forum Collapse Special Forums
Read the latest UNIX and Linux news, discuss special topics like disks, file systems web servers, network security, applications and more.
1,274 3,757
662 2,365
1,761 6,178
1,015 3,537
591 2,197
659 2,680
219 517
Toggle Forum Collapse The Lounge
Discuss just about any off topic you like, view the Members Only area, browse the job board and more.
1,243 8,439
31 226
Toggle Forum Collapse UNIX Standards and Benchmarks
Learn about UNIX standards and find UNIX and Linux benchmark software here.
69 167
1 1
Toggle Forum Collapse Contact Us
Contact the administrators and moderators of The UNIX and Linux Forums here.
729 2,973
253 617
.
Please Contact Us in the "Contact Us" Forums if You Have Any Questions or Comments.
An Interest Fact about the History of Unix and Linux
grep

grep is a command-line utility originally written by Ken Thompson in November 1974 for searching plain-text data sets for lines that match a regular expression. The name "grep" comes from the ed command g/re/p (globally search a regular expression and print). This translates to (1) doing a global search (2) with the regular expression and (3) printing all matching lines. Grep was originally developed for the Unix operating system but later available on all Unix-like systems.
Before grep was named grep, grep was a private utility written by Ken Thompson to search files. Doug McIlroy, speaking with Ken Thompson, said "it would be great if we could look for things in files". Ken said "he would think about it overnight", but the "overnight think" was actually fixing bugs and doing things he had planned to do with grep, about an hour's work. The next day Ken presented Doug with grep and the rest is history.
Please enjoy and help our forum community by "showing your work" and posting your code, even when your code is not working as expected. To help others help you, please wrap your code blocks, sample input, sample output, error messages, and other data in CODE tags and wrap your short commands and short data objects in ICODE tags. We were all beginners in the beginning. If you have any questions about how to register or how to post, please contact us in our forum for unregistered user support.. Thank you and enjoy this "forever free" technical support community for UNIX, Linux and computer information technology in general.
Login or Register to Ask a Question
What's Up? @ 1730936767 UNIX Time
Active Users Currently Active Users: 6148
Most users ever online was 38,897, 10-01-2024 at 09:51 AM.
Login for Details of Members Online Now
Stats UNIX and Linux Forums by the Numbers
Threads: 237,827, Posts: 883,893 , Unix & Linux Forum Members: 138,394
Login for Details of Active Members