Linux vs. Unix

Linux is an open source, free to use operating system widely used for computer hardware and software, game development, tablet PCS, mainframes etc. Unix is an operating system commonly used in internet servers, workstations and PCs by Solaris, Intel, HP etc.

Comparison Chart

	Linux	Unix
Cost	Linux can be freely distributed, downloaded freely, distributed through magazines, Books etc. There are priced versions for Linux also, but they are normally cheaper than Windows.	Different flavors of Unix have different cost structures according to vendors
Development and Distribution	Linux is developed by Open Source development i.e. through sharing and collaboration of code and features through forums etc and it is distributed by various vendors.	Unix systems are divided into various other flavors, mostly developed by AT&T as well as various commercial vendors and non-profit organizations.
Manufacturer	Linux kernel is developed by the community. Linus Torvalds oversees things.	Three bigest distributions are Solaris (Oracle), AIX (IBM) & HP-UX Hewlett Packard. And Apple Makes OSX, an unix based os.
User	Everyone. From home users to developers and computer enthusiasts alike.	Unix operating systems were developed mainly for mainframes, servers and workstations except OSX, Which is designed for everyone. The Unix environment and the client-server program model were essential elements in the development of the Internet
Usage	Linux can be installed on a wide variety of computer hardware, ranging from mobile phones, tablet computers and video game consoles, to mainframes and supercomputers.	The UNIX operating system is used in internet servers, workstations & PCs. Backbone of the majority of finance infastructure and many 24x365 high availability solutions.
File system support	Ext2, Ext3, Ext4, Jfs, ReiserFS, Xfs, Btrfs, FAT, FAT32, NTFS	jfs, gpfs, hfs, hfs+, ufs, xfs, zfs format
Text mode interface	BASH (Bourne Again SHell) is the Linux default shell. It can support multiple command interpreters.	Originally the Bourne Shell. Now it's compatible with many others including BASH, Korn & C.
What is it?	Linux is an example of Open Source software development and Free Operating System (OS).	Unix is an operating system that is very popular in universities, companies, big enterprises etc.
GUI	Linux typically provides two GUIs, KDE and Gnome. But there are millions of alternatives such as LXDE, Xfce, Unity, Mate, twm, ect.	Initially Unix was a command based OS, but later a GUI was created called Common Desktop Environment. Most distributions now ship with Gnome.
Price	Free but support is available for a price.	Some free for development use (Solaris) but support is available for a price.
Security	Linux has had about 60-100 viruses listed till date. None of them actively spreading nowadays.	A rough estimate of UNIX viruses is between 85 -120 viruses reported till date.
Threat detection and solution	In case of Linux, threat detection and solution is very fast, as Linux is mainly community driven and whenever any Linux user posts any kind of threat, several developers start working on it from different parts of the world	Because of the proprietary nature of the original Unix, users have to wait for a while, to get the proper bug fixing patch. But these are not as common.
Processors	Dozens of different kinds.	x86/x64, Sparc, Power, Itanium, PA-RISC, PowerPC and many others.
Examples	Ubuntu, Fedora, Red Hat, Debian, Archlinux, Android etc.	OS X, Solaris, All Linux
Architectures	Originally developed for Intel's x86 hardware, ports available for over two dozen CPU types including ARM	is available on PA-RISC and Itanium machines. Solaris also available for x86/x64 based systems.OSX is PowerPC(10.0-10.5)/x86(10.4)/x64(10.5-10.8)
Inception	Inspired by MINIX (a Unix-like system) and eventually after adding many features of GUI, Drivers etc, Linus Torvalds developed the framework of the OS that became LINUX in 1992. The LINUX kernel was released on 17th September, 1991	In 1969, it was developed by a group of AT&T employees at Bell Labs and Dennis Ritchie. It was written in “C” language and was designed to be a portable, multi-tasking and multi-user system in a time-sharing configuration.