New to UNIX

[sirlance]

Hello group,
I'm a beginner in the UNIX world, and was wondering if someone can tell me what's the difference between all these versions beside the name. I was told the main differnce is in the file structures. Is that true? Is there anything else.

Is there a good resource on the net? I'd like to get a solid understanding before jumpning in.

Thanks
Lance

 

[rycamor]

Well, it's more correct to say the main difference is in filesystem layout, meaning in which standardized directories are the main programs, configuration files, and utilities kept. Actually, the structure the system configuration files is one of the main areas that differs from Unix to Unix (startup/shutdown/services/networking). Fortunately the similarities are greater than the differences.

http://www.ugu.com/

has links to just about everything else that matters in Unix. Try

http://www.freebsd.org

for an excellent free way to learn Unix. It's more closely related to commercial (proper) Unix than Linux is, especially in system layout. (Serious players only, though ;-)). -------------------------------------------

Big Brother: "War is Peace" -- Big Business: "Trust is Suspicion"
(

http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~rja14/tcpa-faq.html)

 

[edfair]

And of course "Unix for Dummies". Ed Fair
unixstuff@juno.com
Any advice I give is my best judgement based on my interpretation of the facts you supply. Help increase my knowledge by providing some feedback, good or bad, on any advice I have given.

 

[biker1]

sirlance,

There are two main branches of the UNIX operating system. One is the Berkeley Software Distribution (or BSD for short), and the other is the System V (read "system five&quot branch. Both of these branches originate from the birth of the UNIX operating system at AT&T's Bell Labs in the 1960s. Most commercial versions of UNIX are derived from the source code of one of these two branches, but have been modified to support the vendors' proprietary hardware products.

In addition to UNIX, you have Linux. Linux is not UNIX, but is often called a UNIX-like operating system. Linus Torvald, while an undergraduate college student attending the University of Helsinki in Finland, created Linux in the early 1990s. He developed the kernel for Linux, and many others have contributed to its continued development by downloading the source code from the Internet. Many companies (e.g. RedHat, Mandrake, etc) take the Linux kernel and package it with other utilities/programs to form a Linux operating system distribution.

The file system structure can be different across versions, but you will typically see similarities of the top-level system directories across versions. You may also see differences in other areas such as command names, command options, internal operations of the operating system, etc.

Hope this helps!


Biker
Systems/Network Administrator
LiveFire Labs - Hands-On Technical e-Learning

http://www.LiveFireLabs.com

 

[olded]

Hi:

This link:

http://www.bell-labs.com/history/unix/

presents a quick history of unix - non-technical, but interesting.

Regards,

Ed

 

[biker1]

sirlance,

This FAQ is the best that I've seen regarding specific differences between the UNIX variants...

http://www.bsd.org/faqs.html

Good luck!


Biker
Systems/Network Administrator
LiveFire Labs - Hands-On Technical e-Learning

http://www.LiveFireLabs.com

 

[sirlance]

Thanks all! This really helps.

 

[ydata777]

plz advse me the best site for operting systems -uinx based

 

[KenCunningham]

See above!