Introduction to Unix and Linux

Unix

UNICS (UNiplexed Information and Computing System) is a very popular operating system. It was developed at Bell Labs, based on an earlier system, Multics (Multiplexed Information and Computing Service).

The developers at the Bell Labs started working on software-related problems, to address compatibility issues, and finally, this new operating system was developed. 

This operating system is written in the C language instead of assembly-level code. Before this, the system programs were written for a specific system, which did not run on other systems. 

The UNIX system is built based on a piece of code known as a kernel. Al the functions and the operating system were built on this kernel. 

The UNIX system became compatible with different systems and more hardware and software vendors started supporting UNIX for their products.

Initially, UNIX was used in large environments like mainframes and minicomputers. Later on, it was accepted in personal computers, though it was very slow compared to MS-DOS and Windows. 

Linus Torvalds started to develop an academic version of UNIX (to make it freely available), which was completely compliant with UNIX. So, Linux is basically a clone of UNIX.

Linux

Most people misunderstand Linux as an entire software suite, containing a graphical user interface (GUI), developer's tools, networking tools, etc. But actually, this collection of software is known as a distribution or distro. Hence, a distro is the entire software suite that makes Linux useful.

I Hope, you have heard of the different types of Linux distributions, such as Red Hat Enterprise Linux, Fedora, Debian, Mandrake, Ubuntu, Kubuntu, openSuSE, goBuntu, and so on. 

Basically, Linux is the core component of the operating system, known as the kernel. 

Linux is the program acting as the chief of operations. Linux manages memory, network, application programs, etc.

Though there are many distros, all the distributions use essentially the same kernel, keeping the same fundamental behavior of different distros.

These distributions are mainly categorized into two groups.

• Commercial distros: Generally, commercial distros offer support for their distribution - at a cost. Generally, the life cycle of commercial distros is longer than the non-commercial one. RHEL, SuSE Linux Enterprise (SLE), etc. are examples of commercial distros.
• Non-commercial distros: The non-commercial distros are mostly community-supported (consisting of the users and developers) and maintained, as free and open-source software.

Happy Exploring!