Today Linux is in great demand. You can see the use of Linux everywhere. It’s dominating on our servers, desktop, smartphones and is even used in some electrical devices like refrigerators.
Some people think Unix and Linux as synonyms, but that’s not true. Many operating systems were developed to be like Unix but none of them got the popularity as Linux. Linux is the clone of Unix. It has several features similar to Unix, still has some key differences. Before Linux and Windows, the computer world was dominated by Unix. Unix is a copyrighted name and IBM AIX, HP-UX, and Sun Solaris are the only Unix operating systems that remained to date.
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Difference between Linux and Unix
| Comparison | Linux | Unix |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | It is an open-source operating system that is freely available to everyone. | It is an operating system that can be only used by its copyrighters. |
| Examples | It has different distros like Ubuntu, Redhat, Fedora, etc | IBM AIX, HP-UX and Sun Solaris. |
| Users | Nowadays, Linux is in great demand. Anyone can use Linux whether a home user, developer, or student. | It was developed mainly for servers, workstations, and mainframes. |
| Usage | Linux is used everywhere from servers, PC, smartphones, tablets to mainframes and supercomputers. | It is used in servers, workstations, and PCs. |
| Cost | Linux is freely distributed, downloaded, and distributed through magazines also. And priced distros of Linux are also cheaper than Windows. | Unix copyright vendors decide on different costs for their respective Unix Operating systems. |
| Development | As it is open-source, it is developed by sharing and collaboration of codes by worldwide developers. | Unix was developed by AT&T Labs, various commercial vendors, and non-profit organizations. |
| Manufacturer | Linux kernel is developed by a community of developers from different parts of the world. Although the father of Linux, Linus Torvalds oversees things. | Unix has three distributions IBM AIX, HP-UX, and Sun Solaris. Apple also uses Unix to make OSX operating system. |
| GUI | Linux is command based but some distros provide GUI-based Linux. Gnome and KDE are mostly used GUI. | Initially, it was a command-based OS, but later Common Desktop Environment was created. Most Unix distributions use Gnome. |
| Interface | The default interface is BASH (Bourne Again Shell). But some distros have developed their own interfaces. | It originally used a Bourne shell. But is also compatible with other GUIs. |
| File system support | Linux supports more file systems than Unix. | It also supports a file system but is lesser than Linux. |
| Coding | Linux is a Unix clone, behaves like Unix but doesn’t contain its code. | Unix contains a completely different coding developed by AT&T Labs. |
| Operating system | Linux is just the kernel. | Unix is a complete package of Operating systems. |
| Security | It provides higher security. Linux has about 60-100 viruses listed to date. | Unix is also highly secured. It has about 85-120 viruses listed to date |
| Error detection and solution | As Linux is open-source, whenever a user posts any kind of threat, developers from all over the world start working on it. And hence, it provides a faster solution. | In Unix, users have to wait for some time for the problem to be resolved. |
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