The biggest difference between Linux and UNIX is that the former is free software that develops source code, while the latter is traditional commercial software that implements intellectual property protection on source code. This should be their biggest difference, which is reflected in the users have a high autonomy of the former, but can only passively adapt to the latter; The difference is also reflected in the development of the former in a completely open environment, while the development of the latter in a completely black box, only the relevant developers can access the prototype of the product.

Linux traces its roots back to the oldest UNIX. In 1969, Ken Thompson of Bell LABS began developing a multi-user, multi-task operating system using a spare PDP-7 computer. Soon, Dennis Richie joined the project, and together they produced the first UNIX. Richie named this operating system Unix, inspired by an earlier project, MULTICS. Early UNIX was written in assembly language, but its third version was redesigned with a brand new programming language, C. C is the programming language designed by Richie and used to write the operating system. With this rewrite, Unix was ported to run on more powerful DEC PDP-11/45 and 11/70 computers. What happened afterwards, as they say, is history. Unix came out of the lab and became a mainstream operating system, and now almost every major computer vendor has its own version of Unix.

Linux began as a simple student need. When Linus Torvalds, the author and main maintainer of Linux, was in college, the only software he could afford was Minix. Minix is a unix-like, simple operating system that is widely used as an educational aid. Linus wasn’t happy with Minix, so he decided to write his own software. He began his work on an Intel 386 PC, based on the Unix he knew as a student. He made rapid progress and, encouraged by his work, shared the results with other students through the Internet, mainly in the academic field. Someone saw the software and started distributing it. Every time a new problem arose, someone immediately found a solution and jumped in, and soon Linux became an operating system. It is worth noting that Linux does not include Unix source code. It has been rewritten to public POSIX standards. Linux makes extensive use of GNU software from the Cambridge, Massachusetts free Software Foundation, and Linux itself is built from it.

Two other big differences:

1) UNIX systems mostly come with hardware, while Linux runs on a variety of hardware platforms.

2) UNIX is commercial software, while Linux is free software, free and open source.

UNIX($50,000) and Linux for free

[history]

Unix has a longer history than Linux. The idea of Linux comes from Unix.

[product]

  • Unix and Linux are both names for operating systems. But the Unix letters, in addition to being the name of the operating system, are also owned by SCO as trademarks
  • Commercial Linux includes RedHat Linux, SuSe Linux, slakeware Linux, red flag in China, and Turbo Linux
  • Unix includes Sun Solaris, IBM AIX,HP HP-UX, and SCO Unix/Unixware on the x86 platform

[Other differences]

  • The core of Linux is free, freely available, and the core source code is open. The core of Unix is not public;
  • In terms of hardware requirements, Linux is less demanding than Unix. Linux is easier to learn to install than Unix.
  • Linux is relatively less complex to use than Unix.

Unix is mostly the operating system of hardware manufacturers for their own hardware platforms, which is mainly related to CPU. For example, Sun’s Solaris is used commercially on workstations and servers using SPARC/SPARCII CPU. Of course, Solaris also has x86 versions. Linux also has its own version for RISC. But really, it’s not appropriate to compare Unix on RISC to Linux on x86. As for the price, Linux for personal use is essentially free, and different Linux distributors optimize the basic system for Enterprise applications, such as RedHat Enterprise products, which can be more expensive including support services. Like IBM/HP/SUN Unix, the operating system is usually included in the price of the device because it is primarily targeted at its hardware platform. (No one buys a Unix operating system alone.)

  • Linux isn’t as comprehensive as Unix in terms of features, but it’s generally more than adequate for individual users and small applications.

In general, if you have access to a Unix environment, such as banking or telecommunications, it is usually fixed Unix. For example, SUN is the majority in telecommunications, HP is the majority in civil aviation, and IBM is the majority in banking. Be aware that different Unix command sets are somewhat different. As for learning, I see or Linux is a bit more studious, and now like and tinker with Linux more and more people, all kinds of information about Linux is also a lot of. If you want to learn on your own, Linux or BSD is a good choice. An x86 machine will do.

  • For applications, except for large websites, businesses or individuals, use Linux.

UNIX is a powerful, comprehensive performance of multi-user, multi-task operating system, can be applied from the huge computer to ordinary PC and other different platforms, is the most widely used, the most influential operating system.

Linux is an operating system that looks and performs as well as or better than UNIX, but Linux does not originate from the source code of any version of UNIX. It is not UNIX, but a Unix-like product. Linux products successfully imitate the UNIX System and functions. Specifically, Linux is an operating System compatible with System V and BSD UNIX. For System V, the software program source code can be run after recompiling under Linux. BSD UNIX, on the other hand, has executables that run directly on Linux.

Generally speaking, Linux is a set of compliance with POSIX (portable operating system environment) specifications of an operating system, it can achieve all UNIX features on ordinary PC computers, with multi-task, multi-user capabilities. Another major reason Linux is popular among computer enthusiasts is that it has all the features of UNIX, and anyone who uses or wants to learn the UNIX operating system can benefit from Linux.

  • Anyone who has used Linux will agree that Linux is similar to UNIX in terms of network management capabilities and security.

UNIX system has been used as a high-end application or server system, so it has a set of perfect network management mechanism and rules, Linux uses these excellent rules, so that the network can be configured very strong, provides great flexibility for system management.

From: Linux. Cn/article – 315…