Linux

[Shivkumar]

Dear Sirs,

I had read somewhere that Linux is not pure unix but it is similar to unix.

Can someone shed some light on this ?

Thanks,
Shiv

[Arunvijai_4]

Hi Shiv,

Yes, Linux is a kernel developed by Linus Torvalds and GNU application sits on top it. But, Unix is entirely different and vendors like HP, Sun, IBM build their own kernel and applications on top of it.

-Arun

[Arunvijai_4]

Shiv, a very good link to read

http://searchopensource.techtarget.com/ateQuestionNResponse/0,289625,sid39_gci1106111_tax297856,00.html

[> Are there security differences between Unix and Linux? Which one is more secure? ]

-Arun

[Mel Burslan]

The question is : what is pure unix ? In my opinion, there is no such ONE SINGLE thing called pure unix. It all depends from whose the point of view of one looks at unix. To some, BSD is the pure unix as it is closest to the Bell Labs' original unix, whereas some (most) say, System V Release 4 variety is the pure unix as it is the latest and to most, greatest, unix there is. So, in the same train of thought, you can imagine, Linux can be called the best/pure/greatest unix by the open source devotees.

In my opinion, Linux is UNIX ENOUGH for me to be able to work on without re-learning everything. Yes, the startup of the system is different, yes the log files are in different places, yes the kernel might be different, but the underlying principle for Linux is the same one as any other unix derivative, which is AT&T Labs' multix system.

There is awhole lot of reading material, if you google the necessary combinations of words.

[Ranjith_5 · Accepted solution]

Hi Shiva,

Now a days no one use pure UNIX. UNIX when it was developed was in a very raw form it was modified by different people with additional functionalities and commands. Now there are different forms of UNIX like HPUX, AIX Solaris, Tru64, IRIX etc etc.

Linux is a A version of UNIX / UNIX like OS that runs on a variety of hardware platforms including x86 PCs, Alpha, PowerPC and IBM's product line. Linux is open source software, which is freely available; however, the full distribution of Linux along with technical support and training are available for a fee from vendors such as Red Hat Software and Caldera. Due to its stability, Linux has gained popularity with ISPs as the OS for hosting Web servers.

Attached the comparision matrix ( EXCEL SHEET )of different forms of UNIX available.


Regards,
Syam

[Devender Khatana]

Hi Shiv,

There are many ways in which linux is similar to other unix flavours.

For that matter if you take all other unix flavours have some differences within themselves.So in my opinion it can not be neglected that linux is the latest/most updated version of unix.

HTH,
Devender

[Yogeeraj_1]

hi shiv,

see also:
http://groups.google.com.au/group/comp.os.linux.misc/browse_thread/thread/bd5c041b96782bc7/a01d6fd8fefc0d40?lnk=st&q=Linux+is+not+pure+unix&rnum=1&hl=en#a01d6fd8fefc0d40

kind regards
yogeeraj

[Kryno Bosman]

Hello Shivkumar,

As mentioned before Linux is indeed not pure UNIX. On the other side what is pure UNIX? There is a variety of UNIX- and Linux operating systems and there is lot in common. They all have a kernel and they all use common commands like ps, ls, etc.

For a UNIX-specification, check: http://www.opengroup.org/bookstore/catalog/un.htm

With regards,

[dirk dierickx]

yeah, linux is not unix, if you really want to play it that way, it is not official a unix. but it was modeled the same way and works very similar. in fact linux precedes unix in the way that you will find that all unix versions are recently trying to mimick linux.

[Raj D.]

Hi Shiv,

Linux is linux , and its foundation based on c and therefore unix platform.

Check this link for : understanding unix to linux.

http://www.computerhope.com/history/unix.htm.

Also check the attached file to understand the unix - linux.

Hope this will help ,

Cheers,
Raj.