Unix Vs. Linux: What’s 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 most widely used operating systems. 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 which 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 which 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 a different type 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 default shell is BASH while the Unix shell is Bourne Shell.

◉ One key Unix and Linux difference is 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.

Difference between Unix and Linux

Now, we will see what is the difference between unix and linux:

Unix Vs Linux

Key Differences	Linux	Unix
Cost	Linux is freely distributed, downloaded through magazines, Books, website, etc. There are paid versions also available for Linux.	Different flavors of Unix have different pricing depending upon the type of vendor.
Development	Linux is Open Source, and thousands of programmer collaborate online and contribute to its development.	Unix systems have different versions. These versions are primarily developed by AT&T as well as other commercial vendors.
User	Everyone. From home users to developers and computer enthusiasts alike.	The UNIX can be used in internet servers, workstations, and PCs.
Text made interface	BASH is the Linux default shell. It offers support for multiple command interpreters.	Originally made to work in Bourne Shell. However, it is now compatible with many others software.
GUI	Linux provides two GUIs,viz., KDE and Gnome. Though there are many alternatives such as Mate, LXDE, Xfce, etc.	Common Desktop Environment and also has Gnome.
Viruses	Linux has had about 60-100 viruses listed to date which are currently not spreading.	There are between 80 to 120 viruses reported till date in Unix.
Threat detection	Threat detection and solution is very fast because Linux is mainly community driven. So, if any Linux user posts any kind of threat, a team of qualified developers starts working to resolve this threat.	Unix users require longer wait time, to get the proper bug fixing patch.
Architectures	Initially developed for Intel's x86 hardware processors. It is available for over twenty different types of CPU which also includes an ARM.	It is available on PA-RISC and Itanium machines.
Usage	Linux OS can be installed on various types of devices like mobile, tablet computers.	The UNIX operating system is used for internet servers, workstations & PCs.
Best feature	Kernel update without reboot	Feta ZFS - next generation filesystem DTrace - dynamic Kernel Tracing
Versions	Different Versions of Linux are Redhat, Ubuntu, OpenSuse, etc.	Different Versions of Unix are HP-UX, AIS, BSD, etc.
Supported file type	The Filesystems supported by file type like xfs, nfs, cramfsm ext 1 to 4, ufs, devpts, NTFS.	The Filesystems supported by file types are zfs, hfx, GPS, xfs, vxfs.
Portability	Linux is portable and is booted from a USB Stick	Unix is not portable
Source Code	The source is available to the general public	The source code is not available to anyone.

Limitation of Linux

◉ For Linux vs Unix, There's no standard edition of Linux

◉ Linux has patchier support for drivers which may result in misfunctioning of the entire system.

◉ Linux is, for new users at least, not as easy to use as Windows.

◉ Many of the programs we are using for Windows will only run on Linux only with the help of a complicated emulator. For example. Microsoft Office.

◉ Linux is best suitable for a corporate user. It's much harder to introduce in a home setting.

Limitations of Unix

◉ The unfriendly, terse, inconsistent, and non-mnemonic user interface

◉ Comparing limitation of Linux vs Unix, Unix OS is designed for a slow computer system, so you can't expect fast performance.

◉ Shell interface can be treacherous because typing mistake can destroy files.

◉ Versions on various machines are slightly different, so it lacks consistency.

◉ One of the Unix and Linux difference is, Unix does not provide any assured hardware interrupt response time, so it does not support real time response time systems.

Linux Market share compared to other OS

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Pros of using Linux based Operating Systems for Programming

The best thing about Linux is that it comes in-built with most of the compilers and interpreters, because of this there is no need for the user to download them. While on the other hand, Many other non-Linux Operating Systems don’t come with compilers or interpreters pre-installed. If the software that you require doesn’t have what you need then with just one line of the command

apt install <package-name>

OR 

pacman -S <package-name>

OR 

yum install <package-name>

Example:

apt install sublime-text

Benefits of Linux for programmers

Just because a developer needs to write code and sublime-text provides what is required for the developer. You will get what you need with just that line of command and isn’t this awesome, also this saves us a lot of time and effort as a lot of functions that we may perform in Linux with single command are not present in many other Operating Systems.

◉ Another reason why Linux is preferred by programmers is due to its versatility, power that comes with it, also speed, and security. Linux OS has arguably the biggest community and also welcomes all newcomers.

◉ Linux also comes with many flavors and programmers can decide which they want to get ahead with.

◉ It is Open Source and you may write your own commands and their functions the way you want them to work.

◉ You may even make changes to Linux Kernel in your local machine as that too is open source while many other Operating Systems don’t have their Kernels’ code Open Source.

There is a meme popular in the programming community

An Error Message prompts! (Like sublime-text is not installed)

Windows: Umm ok :/

OSX: Upgrade to newest version 

Linux: Here's a hint to solve 

do 'apt install sublime-text' before  launching sublime-text

It is much easier to solve any issue related to Linux with just one or two lines of code rather than going through some video tutorials. A problem in Linux can be solved with one or two commands.

◉ Being open-source we can have control over everything like for example all the codes are open to its users and this gives the power to the users to literally changes anything, being as robust as it is Linux is capable of running for some months without crashing, so no need to shut down.

◉ There are very popular programming tools like awk, grep which help in the daily life of programmers for being productive.

◉ Some important features that make Linux special are being able to run interpreted languages like Python, R, Ruby, and many more by just typing one word at any time, quickly connecting to repository Github’s or bitbuckets or even remote networks with SSH and SVN, file management, being able to write scripts to make all types of tasks in a more efficient and optimal fashion all from the terminal

◉ The ability to changes your entire interface in Linux to look and feel like windows or OSX is ONE OF THE SMALL FEATURES that it provides, it also comes with tons of software packages available, quick and easy to download and install.

◉ Bash scripting is available to the users to use in-built for the users. You may by now get the idea of how much power does Linux holds.

◉ As a matter of assumption but the fact in my case Linux can give like 2x or even more times the performance in terms of programming and usage.

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Virtualization In Cloud Computing and Types

Virtualization is a technique of how to separate a service from the underlying physical delivery of that service. It is the process of creating a virtual version of something like computer hardware. It was initially developed during the mainframe era. It involves using specialized software to create a virtual or software-created version of a computing resource rather than the actual version of the same resource. With the help of Virtualization, multiple operating systems and applications can run on same machine and its same hardware at the same time, increasing the utilization and flexibility of hardware.

Read More: LPIC-3 304: Virtualization and High Availability

In other words, one of the main cost effective, hardware reducing, and energy saving techniques used by cloud providers is virtualization. Virtualization allows to share a single physical instance of a resource or an application among multiple customers and organizations at one time. It does this by assigning a logical name to a physical storage and providing a pointer to that physical resource on demand. The term virtualization is often synonymous with hardware virtualization, which plays a fundamental role in efficiently delivering Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) solutions for cloud computing. Moreover, virtualization technologies provide a virtual environment for not only executing applications but also for storage, memory, and networking.

The machine on which the virtual machine is going to be build is known as Host Machine and that virtual machine is referred as a Guest Machine.

BENEFITS OF VIRTUALIZATION

1.More flexible and efficient allocation of resources.

2.Enhance development productivity.

3.It lowers the cost of IT infrastructure.

4.Remote access and rapid scalibility.

5.High availability and disaster recovery.

6.Pay per use of the IT infrastructure on demand.

7.Enables running multiple operating system.

Types of Virtualization:

1.Application Virtualization.

2.Network Virtualization.

3.Desktop Virtualization.

4.Storage Virtualization.

1. Application Virtualization:

Application virtualization helps a user to have a remote access of an application from a server. The server stores all personal information and other characteristics of the application but can still run on a local workstation through internet. Example of this would be a user who needs to run two different versions of the same software. Technologies that use application virtualization are hosted applications and packaged applications.

2. Network Virtualization:

The ability to run multiple virtual networks with each has a separate control and data plan. It co-exists together on top of one physical network. It can be managed by individual parties that potentially confidential to each other.

Network virtualization provides a facility to create and provision virtual networks—logical switches, routers, firewalls, load balancer, Virtual Private Network (VPN), and workload security within days or even in weeks.

3. Desktop Virtualization:

Desktop virtualization allows the users’ OS to be remotely stored on a server in the data center. It allows the user to access their desktop virtually, from any location by different machine. Users who wants specific operating systems other than Windows Server will need to have a virtual desktop. Main benefits of desktop virtualization are user mobility, portability, easy management of software installation, updates and patches.

4. Storage Virtualization:

Storage virtualization is an array of servers that are managed by a virtual storage system. The servers aren’t aware of exactly where their data is stored, and instead function more like worker bees in a hive. It makes managing storage from multiple sources to be managed and utilized as a single repository. storage virtualization software maintains smooth operations, consistent performance and a continuous suite of advanced functions despite changes, break down and differences in the underlying equipment.

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Celebrating Open Anniversary 2021

In 2021, the open source movement will be celebrating several important milestones, including the 30th Anniversary of Linux and the World Wide Web.

This is a great opportunity to reflect about the impact the open source movement has had on your business and society as a whole. 

The 2021 Open Anniversary celebrations will revolve around 12 themes, one for each month of the year. A major milestone was selected to represent each theme. 

The themes and corresponding milestones are presented below:

◉ Free Culture (January): 20 years of Wikipedia and Creative Commons;

◉ Open Source (February): Open Source Initiative was founded;

◉ Open Business (March): Red Hat celebrates its Anniversary;

◉ Open Government (April): 15 years of the Sunlight Foundation (legacy);

◉ Open Knowledge (May): 25 years of the Internet Archive and 20 years of the Wayback Machine;

◉ Open Hardware (June): Open Source Hardware Association was established;

◉ Open Education (July): Open Educational Resources was presented;

◉ Open Web (August): 30 years of the first website and public announcement of the WWW;

◉ Linux (September): 30 years of Linux, initial release (version 0.0.1);

◉ Free Software (October): Free Software Foundation was founded;

◉ Open Access (November): 35 years of Aaron Swartz (in memory of);

◉ Open Data (December): Open public data was defined.

Each month will focus on an anniversary specific theme, the open source community is encouraged to participate in the activities.

Linux Professional Institute is thrilled to be supporting the Linux Anniversary taking place in the month of September and will also be sharing information and activities on a monthly basis based on the monthly themes as well. CLPI specific content will be generated from LPI partners, members and the overall community.

We look forward to the year ahead! You can find the activities that are taking place on Open Anniversary.

Source: lpi.org

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Free nerdy culture

Although we tend to emphasize the technical aspects of our Free and Open Source Software Community, the truth is that hackers and nerds in general value all kinds of Free Knowledge. Actually, Eric S. Raymond points this out in his text, How to Become a Hacker;

“The hacker mind-set is not confined to this software-hacker culture. There are people who apply the hacker attitude to other things, like electronics or music — actually, you can find it at the highest levels of any science or art. Software hackers recognize these kindred spirits elsewhere and may call them ‘hackers’ too — and some claim that the hacker nature is really independent of the particular medium the hacker works in.”

This said, of course, in modern days all the tools allowing the base for free sharing of knowledge are technical ones, and pretty much of them all based on free and open source software. The biggest example here is Wikipedia, who is based on the free software MidiaWiki, widely used within several communities who want to share their knowledge. Another important component is the Creative Commons licenses who allow all sorts of media (written text, music, movies, drawing and arts) to be developed in a free and collaborative manner, still recognizing the creators of whatever it is -- even software, methodologies, processes and hardware blueprints.

LPI’s mission is to promote the use of open source by supporting the people who work with it. And the people working with open source are big supporters of all kinds of knowledge-openness and freedom. Including freedom of expression. So, other than supporting several initiatives aligned with the LPI worldwide mission, LPI also supports FOSSlife, a community (Drupal based) portal where you will read technical articles, of course, seasoned with a lot of free culture elements.

The idea behind FOSSlife is to provide a voice and open space for all aspects of the culture that surrounds the life of free and open source software professionals. You can read about topics such as mindfulness techniques for dealing with life in tech, what refactoring has to do with roman numerals and who are the drive-thru contributors to open source, among other things. Of course you can expect more technical articles in there too. 

Hackers also love science fiction, so we will end with a quote from StarGate SG1 (episode 11, first season). Daniel is trying to gather information that might give him a whole new perspective on how our civilization started but the world they are in is about to be destroyed and he must join his team and go back to the StarGate. An elder, Ernest, who have been trapped in that world for fifty years tells Daniel, with tears in his eyes;

“No prize is worth attaining if you can never share it! There would be no point! Believe me.”

Source: lpi.org

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Different Ways to Create File in Linux

There are mainly four ways of creating files in LINUX. All of them have their own purpose and benefits. They are as follows:

1. cat command

It is the most universal tool for creating files. We cannot edit a file using cat command. Major operations that can be done using it are as follows:

Creating files and then writing the data 

cat >file1

Note: After writing the text, press ctrl+d.

To view data of a file

cat file1

Concatenate files — adding two files into another a new file

cat >file2

cat file1 file2 > file3

cat file3

To add data at end of a file

cat >> file2

cat file2

Copy file’s data (the content of one file into another) 

cat file1 > file2

cat file2

Reverse the data of the file (tac)

tac file1

2. touch command

We can create an empty file (or multiple empty files) using this command. But its main purpose is to change or update the time-stamp of a file. Major operations that can be done using it are as follows:

Creating a file

touch filea

cat filea

Note: Creating a file and then using the cat command to view the data.

To change the timestamp of the file

stat filea

touch filea

stat filea

Note: We are using stat file_name to check the timestamp of the file. We can see the access, modify, and change is now updated.

Change access time only

Access time is the last time when the file was accessed.

stat filea

touch -a filea

stat filea

Change modify time only

Modify time is the time when a file was modified.

stat filea

touch -m filea

stat filea

3. vi command

Its main function is to edit files. It is commonly used by programmers to edit texts. Major operations that can be done using it are as follows:

Note: To quit vi text editor, press the Escape key and then type:wq and hit enter.

Create a file

vi file_1

Open and edit file

use simple arrow keys to move and character keys to type in the file.

4. nano command

It may/may not be found in all distributions of LINUX. We can create as well as edit files.

Note: To exit nano Text Editor press ctrl + x.

nano file_1

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