Unix/Linux Fundamentals

What is the difference between Unix and Linux?

What is UNIX?

The UNIX OS was born in the late 1960s. AT&T Bell Labs released an operating system called Unix written in C, which allows quicker modification, acceptance, and portability.

It began as a one-man project under the leadership of Ken Thompson of Bell Labs. It went on to become the most widely used operating system. Unix is a proprietary operating system.

The Unix OS works on CLI (Command Line Interface), but recently, there have been developments for GUI on Unix systems. Unix is an OS that is popular in companies, universities big enterprises, etc.

What is LINUX?

Linux is an operating system built by Linus Torvalds at the University of Helsinki in 1991. The name “Linux” comes from the Linux kernel. It is the software on a computer that enables applications and the users to access the devices on the computer to perform some specific function.

The Linux OS relays instructions from an application from the computer’s processor and sends the results back to the application via the Linux OS. It can be installed on different types of computers mobile phones, tablets video game consoles, etc.

The development of Linux is one of the most prominent examples of free and open-source software collaboration. Today many companies and similar numbers of individuals have released their own version of OS based on the Linux Kernel.

KEY DIFFERENCE

• Comparing Unix vs Linux, Linux source code is available to the general public whereas, in Unix, the source code is proprietary.
• UNIX OS was created in the late 1960s at AT&T Bell Labs whereas Linux is an operating system built by Linus Torvalds at the University of Helsinki in 1991.
• The main difference between Linux and Unix is Linux is a clone of Unix
• When we compare Unix to Linux, Linux's default shell is BASH while the Unix shell is Bourne Shell.
• One key Unix and Linux difference are that Linux threat detection and solution are very fast while Unix users require longer wait times to get the proper bug fixing patch.
• Important versions of Linux are Redhat, Ubuntu, OpenSuse, Solaris, whereas important versions of Unix are HP-UX, AIS, BSD, etc.

Features of Unix OS

• When compare Unix to Linux, Unix is a Multi-user, multitasking operating system
• It can be used as the master control program in workstations and servers.
• Hundreds of commercial applications are available
• In its heydays, UNIX was rapidly adopted and became the standard OS in universities.

Features of Linux Operating System

• Support multitasking
• Programs consist of one or more processes, and each process have one or more threads
• It can easily co-exists along with other Operating systems.
• Comparing features of Linux and Unix, Linux can run multiple user programs
• Individual accounts are protected because of appropriate authorization
• When comparing Unix vs Linux, Linux is a replica of UNIX but does not use its code.