Difference between Linux and UNIX

Posted by Vivek Gite [Last updated: January 12, 2007]

Q. What is the difference between Linux and UNIX?
A. UNIX is copyrighted name Only big companies are allowed to use the UNIX copyright and
name, so IBM AIX and Sun Solaris and HP-UX all are UNIX. The Open Group holds the
UNIX trademark in trust for the industry, and manages the UNIX trademark licensing
program.
Linux is UNIX clone
But if you consider Portable Operating System Interface (POSIX) standards then Linux can
be considered as UNIX. To quote from Official Linux kernel README file:
Linux is a Unix clone written from scratch by Linus Torvalds with assistance from a looselyknit team of hackers across the Net. It aims towards POSIX compliance.
Linux is just kernel
Linux is just kernel. Linux distribution includes GUI system, installation and management
tools, compilers, editors etc. Linux distribution makes it
Most UNIX oses considered as compete operating system.
As I said earlier Linux is just kernel with Linux distribution makes it complete usable os.
Most UNIX oses comes with A-Z programs such as editor, compilers etc. For example
FreeBSD comes with A-Z programs.
License and cost
Linux is Free (as in beer [freedom]). You will see best community support around. Many
UNIX oses are not free (but this is changing fast, for example OpenSolaris/Solaris UNIX).
User-friendly
Linux is considered as most user friendly UNIX like os. It makes easy to install sound card,
flash players, and other desktop goodies.
End user perspective
The differences are not that big for the average end user.
System administrator perspective
Again, the differences are not that big for the system administrator. However, you may
notice difference while performing following operations:
1.
Installation procedure
2.
Hardware Device names
3.
Admin commands or utilities

What is the difference between Linux and Unix?

In: Linux

[Edit]

[Edi
t]

Linux and Unix

UNIX is popular operating system, developed by AT&T in 1969 and it has been very
important to the development of the Internet. It is a multi-processing, multi-user, family of
operating systems that run on a variety of architectures. UNIX allows more than one user to
access a computer system at the same time.
It is a widely used Open Source Unix-like operating system kernel. Linux was first released
by its inventor Linus Torvalds in 1991. Combining the Linux kernel with the GNU software
forms the basis of the operating system family generally known as 'Linux'. There are
distributions of GNU/Linux for almost every available type of computer hardware from
desktop machines to IBM mainframes. The inner workings of GNU/Linux are open and
available for anyone to examine and change as long as they make their changes available to
the public, as set out in the terms of the GNU General Public License. Because of its
robustness and availability, Linux has won popularity in the Open Source community as well
as among commercial application developers.
Here is more input:

UNIX requires a more powerful hardware configuration. It will work in large

mainframe computers but will not work in an x86 based personal computer. Linux
however, (which is built on the concept of Unix) has small hardware requirements and it
will work on both a large mainframe computer and an x86 based personal computer.

Unix is an Operating System developed in olden days in which the kernel, the heart
of the OS, interacts directly with the hardware. (note: this is the definition of what a
kernel is). Because UNIX treats everything as a file, it provides greater security for users.
An example of a UNIX distribution is posix. (note: actually POSIX is a set of standards for
interoperability of applications between UNIX and UNIX-like systems). Linux uses a the
UNIX architecture as its basis and provides more facilities and applications. Linux could be
considered to be a GUI to the UNIX core. (note: this is plain wrong. GNU/ Linux was
rewritten from scratch using UNIX as a guide. GNOME and KDE are GUIs for GNU/Linux).
Examples of Linux distributions are Redhat, Fedora, Susee, Mandriva, and Ubuntu. Solaris
OS also uses the UNIX kernal almost all UNIX commands will work on solaris in addition to
500 Solaris specific commands. (note: Solaris is also a rewrite of UNIX for x86, and does
not use any original UNIX code). Both UNIX and LINUX are Open source. (note: UNIX is
proprietary, Linux is open source)

Unix is the foundation for a number of operating systems, with Linux being the most
popular one. Novell and Free BSD are 2 other commonly used Unix varients.(note: Again,
the BSD family are based on another rewrite of UNIX for x86, UNIX is not their foundation
in the sense implied here)

UNIX is an operating system created in the early days of computers. More recently,
Linux was created as an open-source, freeware operating system. (note: Linux is free
software, not freeware. Free software is open source that insists any developer reusing
code releases their own work as free software. Freeware is proprietary software distributed
at no cost [gratis]) It is "UNIX-LIKE", meaning that it uses many UNIX constructs but also
departs from traditional UNIX in many ways. Like UNIX, Linux is faster than many of the
other commercially available operating systems. (note: This is a sweeping generalization
and depends on the hardware used, and what servers and applications are running) It

appears to also be far more robust than any of the Microsoft products. Linux is being used
in many time critical applications because of it's speed. It is also used in many applications
that need to maintain uptime because Linux, like UNIX, can run for months at a time
without rebooting. While the typical method of solving Microsoft problems is to "reboot",
that particular requirement does not seem to be appropriate in a Linux/Unix environment.
While UNIX has created a windows-like work environment, Linux has improved greatly on
that concept. Linux has become a real player in the consumer operating system market...
and it's free. While you may want to pay for a Linux distribution, the actual code is free
and you are allowed to load it on as many machines as you want. You can get Linux for
free if you wish to load it across the internet.
Answer
Unix :
A Operating System developed in olden days in which kernel interacts directly with the
hardware.kernal is consider to be heart of this os.
In this Operating system everything is considered as a file,provides greater security.
Ex: posix
Linux :
Linux is an Operating system which use unix as its base and gives further more facilities and
applications.
Merely speaking GUI is made in Linux having Unix as its core.
Ex: Redhat, Fedora, Susee, Mandrake . . .
Solaris OS also using the same unix kernal all the unix commands will work on solaris and
have 500 more solaris specific commands. Differnent organizations used the UNIX kernal
and added their own essence to form their own version of linux.
Both UNIX and LINUX are Open source by
dba.karthik@gmail.com
Answer
yes, Unix most certainly can run on a "smaller" computer! BSD, a Unix, runs OK on a 486
(w/o graphical managers!) BSD is not Linux.(note: BSD is not UNIX either. Sorry)
Unix is portable: it can be on a Mainframe all the way to a cheap Wintelceleron-designed
machine that you picked up at Walmart for under $200. (Just remove Windows). note: (if
you mean unix-like, fine. UNIX itself can only run on mainframes and possibly
minicomputers, not microcomputers (PCs))

What are the differences between Windows and Linux?

In: Linux, Windows

Answer
Click on the web link on the right for the answer.
Answer
That is a question that has many different answers, depending on what aspect of
Windows or Linux you want to know about. Both are what are known as Operating Systems,
and in this case, both are designed to work on the same type of hardware -- PCs, otherwise
known as IBM Compatibles. There are enormous differences in the way that they behave at
a technical level, but I suspect what you really want to know is how they differ from the
perspective of an end user. This makes any answer I give somewhat subjective (users have
different preferences and expectations of their computers), but I will do my best to give an
answer that is generally accepted by the IT community.
Windows was introduced by Microsoft in 1983, and has been the dominant Operating
System available for the PC since the early-nineties. As such, Microsoft has enjoyed great
financial success, and Windows has had many years and incredible fiscal resources to evolve
to meet the demands of the mass-market. There is a staggeringly rich set of features here,
from very explicit, step-by-step user interfaces for the first time computer user, to powerful
interfaces for the computer professional, and everything in between. By contrast, Linux
achieved notoriety a bit later, in the mid-nineties, with a distribution known as Redhat, and
although Linux was built on more mature, stable underpinnings (Unix), it did not enjoy
nearly the same marketing or development budget that Microsoft threw behind Windows. In
fact, the developers of Linux are commonly credited as founding the Open Source Software
movement, which is the idea that software can be made better through the free sharing of
its source code. In this philosophy, programmers often volunteer their time to develop
software for free, as was done with Linux, and Linux is still available for free in its more
basic forms. Companies like Redhat only make money by "packaging" Linux with printed
documentation, extra software utilities, and setup wizards designed to make the installation
of Linux and its subsequent software packages easier. Even so, the amount of money they
are able to generate this way is paltry compared to the wealth of Microsoft (which makes
most company's financials look paltry). Because of this, the marketing behind Linux has
been miniscule compared to that of Windows, and its lack of acceptance among less
technical users reflects this. A large reason is because Windows has established a very
deeply-ingrained (and some have argued unfairly controlling) relationship with PC hardware
manufacturers, ensuring that almost every new PC ships with Windows installed from day
one. Given that they must satisfy the demands (though perhaps less than perfectly) of the
majority of novice computer users, and add to that the amount of time and money that
Windows has enjoyed to make itself accessible to these users, and it is easy to see why
Windows is generally regarded as superior to Linux in the area of accessibility to novices.
There are graphic user interfaces (abbreviated as GUI) present for almost everything you
could want to do, and there is almost always more than one way to do it. In fact, one

common criticism of Windows is that so many features have been layered on top of one
another over the years, that it has become an overly-complicated, almost labyrinthine user
experience. By contrast, some may find Linux to be more streamlined; however, there are
still many equivalent features in Windows for which Linux does not provide a GUI, and the
user is forced to type textual instructions into a command-line interface, or shell. While
many power users consider this a plus, it is unrealistic to demand this of novice computer
users, and novice users should bear this strongly in mind. All this being said, Linux still
shines brilliantly in some areas that Windows seems to consistently flounder. Because the
underlying architecture of Linux is more mature, stable, and secure than Windows, Linux
"crashes" and "freezes" significantly less often, and can run continuously without problems
for months or even years without being "rebooted". In addition, Linux does not suffer from
the same security flaws as Windows, and your chances of contracting a virus, a worm, or
some other form of predatory software is much lower. On an more subjective note, I suspect
that given the same time and monetary advantages as Windows, Linux might have easily
developed into a superior operating system in every regard.
As it stands today, they each have pros and cons. Windows is widely accepted everywhere,
boasts an enormous plethora of GUIs, and has millions of software packages that run under
it. But it is buggier, less secure, and sometimes feels cavernous. Linux is solid and smooth
running, and feels more stream-lined to many. But what technical users call stream-lined,
novices may interpret as spare, and sometimes barren or just plain missin. There are also
fewer software packages available for it currently, though many of those that are available
are free. As time goes by, and the Open Software Community develops more for Linux,
these differences will shrink, but until there is financially powerful, unifying force (company)
behind Linux, this author thinks it is doubtful they will go away all together.
Answer
Linux is open source, free under GNU, Windows is Lincesed os. Windows is developed by
Microsoft. Whereas linux has many distributors such as redhat, mandrake etc. Linux is more
secure, windows is less secure than linux in case of virus, worms.
== Answer ==
Linux has many distributors like Radhat, mandrake, Corel etc whereas windows has only
Micrsoft. One more major difference is Linux works on both GUI & Console mode but
windows only GUI. LINUX have multiuser, multitasking, multiprocessing, multiprogramming
features
Answer
there are many differences, one being that all versions of linux are not the same, with the
many distributions about, they all look the same but run a little differencetly, such as the
way that the software is installed, one some, they use RPM packages which, with a package
manager, install them selves when u ask them, others you would have to unpack the souce
code, build the program and then install it... i personally use Gentoo (kinda new to it but
loving it) its install system is called portage, with simple commands.. it has an online
package database that stores all of the current applications and plugins that the portage
people know of (mostly notified by the developers that it exists). To install something, say
you wanted to have an mp3 player, you could type in the console emerge -S mp3.... this
would search the database for mp3 in the package description and tell u a list of packages
that the string was found in, you could tell it to pretend to install it and so on.... there is

more information about this on www.gentoo.com I personally swapped to Linux because of

all the problems i had with windows, even with a fresh install i was having different
problems to what i had in a previous install. Another thing to point out is that the linux
developers develop linux not for money but as a hobby, making the code great is what they
enjoy, creating usefull items wanted by the public. There is a vast network of forums and irc
channels dedicated to linux and you can find the solution to almost any problem there. I will
say that it takes longer to set linux up than windows, but if you look at the time spent
maintaining the two OS, you will see that that time is swiftly made up. :D
Answer
Linux is more secured when compared to windows by giving the accessing rights.where as
in windows we have just password security.
Answer
FYI regarding viruses. There's an old joke that asks "why do people rob banks,..ans: that's
where the money is!"....the reason why Microsoft gets dinged so much is that windows is
probably running on >95% of all consumer desktop computers. Many feel that if Linux ever
competes, it will garner the attention of virus hackers, and also be plagued by viruses,
worms, trojans, etc. Even now, there are websites (albeit not well known) that track the
development of Linux viruses...aka www.viruslibrary.com for instance.
Another reason WHY linux is not affected by viruses, is that its code has been open source
for more than a decade, tested by people all around the world, and not by a single
development team like in the case of Windows. I mean to say that, probability of finding
(and thus fixing) exploitable holes in Linux is very high. So there is extremely enhanced
security and lesser chances of exploits.
Again, theres one more good reason. Linux was originally meant to be a multi-user OS.
Windows was meant for the end-user. After a few years, Microsoft realised the fact and tried
to change their primary design goal. After building two floors, if you try to replace bricks,
you would end up with high instability. This is what Windows is experiencing.
Answer
An easy and fun way to try linux is to go to shipit.ubuntu.com ...just that way, no www. You
can order a free, two disk set of Ubuntu linux. One is a live CD that runs over windows, in
RAM, and doesn't change your system at all..the other is an install disk. I've used the live
CD on two XP machines and they both ran flawlessly. When you want to quit, just go to
logout under system tools, and shut down. Ubuntu will turn itself off, eject the disk, and
turn of your PC. Remove the disk, boot up, and you're running your Windows again. Details
at www.ubuntulinux.org. Note: They even pay the shipping.
Answer
Windows and Linux are two different operating systems. The purpose of an operating
system is to: 1. control all the hardware components that are part of your computer. 2.
manage a computer's ability to do several things at once 3. provide a base set of services to
programs to keep software manufacturers from have to reinvent the wheel a million times
for the same thing.

The Linux operating system was developed from a base of Unix (another operating system)
after the Unix systems stopped being free. The Linux people believe in free and open
software, and so they "reinvented" Unix, and improved it slightly to make Linux.
Windows is a proprietary operating system owned by Microsoft. It was developed
independently from Unix, and its internal details are much different. They should perform
the same tasks, however at the deepest levels, details differ, and so a program written to
run on Windows will not run on Linux, and vice versa.
Widows comes in several "flavors", like Windows NT, Windows 2000, and Windows XP, all of
which are slightly different, but share enough in common that programs written for one
flavor will run on the others 99.9% of the time.
Answer
Linux is a open-source OS. It's build by "amateurs". people can change code and add
programs which will help to use your computer better. It's designed as a reaction on the
monopoly position of windows. you can't change any thing in windows. you can't even see
which processes do what and build your onw extension. Linux wants the programmers to
extend and redesign it's OS time after time, so it beats Windows or at least is as good as
windows, but whit open-source, so you can see what happens and you can edit the OS
Answer
Difference Between Linux and Windows 1) Linux is a open-source OS.People can change
code and add programs which will help to use your computer better. It's designed as a
reaction on the monopoly position of windows. you can't change any thing in windows. you
can't even see which processes do what and build your onw extension. Linux wants the
programmers to extend and redesign it's OS time after time, so it beats Windows or at least
is as good as windows, but whit open-source, so you can see what happens and you can
edit the OS
2) All the flavors of Windows come from Microsoft, the various distributions of Linux come
from different companies (i.e LIndows , Lycoris, Red Hat, SuSe, Mandrake, Knopping,
Slackware).
3) Linux is customizable in a way that Windows is not. For example,NASlite is a version of
Linux that runs off a single floppy disk and converts an old computer into a file server. This
ultra small edition of Linux is capable of networking, file sharing and being a web server.
4) For desktop or home use, Linux is very cheap or free, Windows is expensive. For server
use, Linux is very cheap compared to Windows. Microsoft allows a single copy of Windows to
be used on only one computer. Starting with Windows XP, they use software to enforce this
rule (activation). In contrast, once you have purchased Linux, you can run it on any number
of computers for no additional charge. 5) You have to log on to Linux with a userid and
password. This is not true of Windows. Typically Windows 9x does not ask for a
userid/password at boot time and, even if it does, this can be easily bypassed. In general,
Windows NT, 2000 and XP do require a userid/password to log on. However Windows 2000
and XP can be configured with a default userid and password so they boot directly to the
Windows desktop. Windows XP, 2000 and Linux all support different types of users.
Windows XP Home Edition supports Administrator class users that have full and total access

to the system and restricted users that, among other restrictions, can't install software.
Windows XP Pro and Windows 2000 support additional levels of users and there are groups
of system privileges that can be assigned to a particular user. In Linux, the user with full
and total access is called root, everyone else is a normal user. The options for Linux security
privileges don't seem to me to be as robust as in Windows 2000 and XP Pro, they are
focused on files and directories (can you read, update and execute files). Linux has a
concept of a group of users that Windows does not, but again the privileges associated with
a group are all file/directory related. 6) Linux has a reputation for fewer bugs than Windows
7) Windows must boot from a primary partition. Linux can boot from either a primary
partition or a logical partition inside an extended partition. Windows must boot from the first
hard disk. Linux can boot from any hard disk in the computer. 8) Windows uses a hidden file
for its swap file. Typically this file resides in the same partition as the OS (advanced users
can opt to put the file in another partition). Linux uses a dedicated partition for its swap file
(advanced users can opt to implement the swap file as a file in the same partition as the
OS). 9) Windows uses FAT12, FAT16, FAT32 and/or NTFS with NTFS almost always being the
best choice. Linux also has a number of its own native file systems. The default file systeAll
the file systems use directories and subdirectories. Windows separates directories with a
back slash, Linux uses a normal forward slash. Windows file names are not case sensitive.
Linux file names are. For example "abc" and "aBC" are different files in Linux, whereas in
Windows it would refer to the same file. Case sensitivity has been a problem for this very
web page, the name of which is "Linux.vs.Windows.html". At times, people have tried to get
to this page using "linux.vs.windows.html" (all lower case) which resulted in a Page Not
Found error. Eventually, I created a new web page with the name in all lower case and this
new page simply re-directs you to the real page, the one you are reading now (with a
capital L and W). m for Linux used to be ext2, now it is typically ext3. 10) Windows and
Linux use different concepts for their file hierarchy. Windows uses a volume-based file
hierarchy, Linux uses a unified scheme. Windows uses letters of the alphabet to represent
different devices and different hard disk partitions. Under Windows, you need to know what
volume (C:, D:,...) a file resides on to select it, the file's physical location is part of it's
name. In Linux all directories are attached to the root directory, which is identified by a
forward-slash, "/". For example, below are some second-level directories: /bin/ ---- system
binaries, user programs with normal user permissions /sbin --- executables that need root
permission /data/ --- a user defined directory /dev/ ---- system device tree /etc/ ---system configuration /home/ --- users' subdirectories /home/{username} akin to the
Windows My Documents folder /tmp/ ---- system temporary files /usr/ ---- applications
software /usr/bin - executables for programs with user permission /var/ ---- system
variables /lib --- libraries needed for installed programs to run 11) Both support the concept
of hidden files, which are files that, by default, are not shown to the user when listing files
in a directory. Linux implements this with a filename that starts with a period. Windows
tracks this as a file attribute in the file metadata (along with things like the last update
date). In both OSs the user can over-ride the default behavior and force the system to list
hidden files. 12) Windows started with BAT files (a combination of OS commands and
optionally its own language) and then progressed to Windows Scripting Host (WSH) which
supports two languages, JavaScript and VB Script. Linux, like all Unix variants, provides
multiple scripting languages, referred to as shell scripts. In general, the Linux scripting
languages are older and cruder than WSH but much more powerful than BAT files. They
tend to use special characters instead of English commands and don't support objects (this
only matters to programmers). One scripting language that can run on both Linux and
Windows is PHP. It always has to be installed under Windows, it may have to be installed
under Linux. PHP is typically found running on Linux based web servers in combination with
Apache, but it is capable of running "client side" (on your computer). 13) Every computer
printer ships with drivers for last last few versions of Windows (at the time it was
manufactured). Running the printer on a very old or too new version of Windows may or

may not work. Still, this a far better situation than with Linux which does not support as
many printers as Windows. In an environment with many Linux users, shared network
printers a tech support staff, this should not be an issue as you can limit yourself to well
supported printers. Home users of Linux however, will no doubt suffer from the relatively
poor support for printers. 14) Windows allows programs to store user information (files and
settings) anywhere. This makes it impossibly hard to backup user data files and settings and
to switch to a new computer. In contrast, Linux stores all user data in the home directory
making it much easier to migrate from an old computer to a new one. If home directories
are segregated in their own partition, you can even upgrade from one version of Linux to
another without having to migrate user data and settings. 15)
Answer
Difference Between Linux and Windows 1) Linux is a open-source OS.People can change
code and add programs which will help to use your computer better. It's designed as a
reaction on the monopoly position of windows. you can't change any thing in windows. you
can't even see which processes do what and build your onw extension. Linux wants the
programmers to extend and redesign it's OS time after time, so it beats Windows or at least
is as good as windows, but whit open-source, so you can see what happens and you can
edit the OS
2) All the flavors of Windows come from Microsoft, the various distributions of Linux come
from different companies (i.e LIndows , Lycoris, Red Hat, SuSe, Mandrake, Knopping,
Slackware).
3) Linux is customizable in a way that Windows is not. For example,NASlite is a version of
Linux that runs off a single floppy disk and converts an old computer into a file server. This
ultra small edition of Linux is capable of networking, file sharing and being a web server.
4) For desktop or home use, Linux is very cheap or free, Windows is expensive. For server
use, Linux is very cheap compared to Windows. Microsoft allows a single copy of Windows to
be used on only one computer. Starting with Windows XP, they use software to enforce this
rule (activation). In contrast, once you have purchased Linux, you can run it on any number
of computers for no additional charge. 5) You have to log on to Linux with a userid and
password. This is not true of Windows. Typically Windows 9x does not ask for a
userid/password at boot time and, even if it does, this can be easily bypassed. In general,
Windows NT, 2000 and XP do require a userid/password to log on. However Windows 2000
and XP can be configured with a default userid and password so they boot directly to the
Windows desktop. Windows XP, 2000 and Linux all support different types of users.
Windows XP Home Edition supports Administrator class users that have full and total access
to the system and restricted users that, among other restrictions, can't install software.
Windows XP Pro and Windows 2000 support additional levels of users and there are groups
of system privileges that can be assigned to a particular user. In Linux, the user with full
and total access is called root, everyone else is a normal user. The options for Linux security
privileges don't seem to me to be as robust as in Windows 2000 and XP Pro, they are
focused on files and directories (can you read, update and execute files). Linux has a
concept of a group of users that Windows does not, but again the privileges associated with
a group are all file/directory related. 6) Linux has a reputation for fewer bugs than Windows
7) Windows must boot from a primary partition. Linux can boot from either a primary
partition or a logical partition inside an extended partition. Windows must boot from the first
hard disk. Linux can boot from any hard disk in the computer. 8) Windows uses a hidden file
for its swap file. Typically this file resides in the same partition as the OS (advanced users

can opt to put the file in another partition). Linux uses a dedicated partition for its swap file
(advanced users can opt to implement the swap file as a file in the same partition as the
OS). 9) Windows uses FAT12, FAT16, FAT32 and/or NTFS with NTFS almost always being the
best choice. Linux also has a number of its own native file systems. The default file systeAll
the file systems use directories and subdirectories. Windows separates directories with a
back slash, Linux uses a normal forward slash. Windows file names are not case sensitive.
Linux file names are. For example "abc" and "aBC" are different files in Linux, whereas in
Windows it would refer to the same file. Case sensitivity has been a problem for this very
web page, the name of which is "Linux.vs.Windows.html". At times, people have tried to get
to this page using "linux.vs.windows.html" (all lower case) which resulted in a Page Not
Found error. Eventually, I created a new web page with the name in all lower case and this
new page simply re-directs you to the real page, the one you are reading now (with a
capital L and W). m for Linux used to be ext2, now it is typically ext3. 10) Windows and
Linux use different concepts for their file hierarchy. Windows uses a volume-based file
hierarchy, Linux uses a unified scheme. Windows uses letters of the alphabet to represent
different devices and different hard disk partitions. Under Windows, you need to know what
volume (C:, D:,...) a file resides on to select it, the file's physical location is part of it's
name. In Linux all directories are attached to the root directory, which is identified by a
forward-slash, "/". For example, below are some second-level directories: /bin/ ---- system
binaries, user programs with normal user permissions /sbin --- executables that need root
permission /data/ --- a user defined directory /dev/ ---- system device tree /etc/ ---system configuration /home/ --- users' subdirectories /home/{username} akin to the
Windows My Documents folder /tmp/ ---- system temporary files /usr/ ---- applications
software /usr/bin - executables for programs with user permission /var/ ---- system
variables /lib --- libraries needed for installed programs to run 11) Both support the concept
of hidden files, which are files that, by default, are not shown to the user when listing files
in a directory. Linux implements this with a filename that starts with a period. Windows
tracks this as a file attribute in the file metadata (along with things like the last update
date). In both OSs the user can over-ride the default behavior and force the system to list
hidden files. 12) Windows started with BAT files (a combination of OS commands and
optionally its own language) and then progressed to Windows Scripting Host (WSH) which
supports two languages, JavaScript and VB Script. Linux, like all Unix variants, provides
multiple scripting languages, referred to as shell scripts. In general, the Linux scripting
languages are older and cruder than WSH but much more powerful than BAT files. They
tend to use special characters instead of English commands and don't support objects (this
only matters to programmers). One scripting language that can run on both Linux and
Windows is PHP. It always has to be installed under Windows, it may have to be installed
under Linux. PHP is typically found running on Linux based web servers in combination with
Apache, but it is capable of running "client side" (on your computer). 13) Every computer
printer ships with drivers for last last few versions of Windows (at the time it was
manufactured). Running the printer on a very old or too new version of Windows may or
may not work. Still, this a far better situation than with Linux which does not support as
many printers as Windows. In an environment with many Linux users, shared network
printers a tech support staff, this should not be an issue as you can limit yourself to well
supported printers. Home users of Linux however, will no doubt suffer from the relatively
poor support for printers. 14) Windows allows programs to store user information (files and
settings) anywhere. This makes it impossibly hard to backup user data files and settings and
to switch to a new computer. In contrast, Linux stores all user data in the home directory
making it much easier to migrate from an old computer to a new one. If home directories
are segregated in their own partition, you can even upgrade from one version of Linux to
another without having to migrate user data and settings.

Answer
Linux is based on an adaptation of Unix, started by a Finn named Linus Torvalds when he
was a student. Through the manifestation of the Open Source model, too involved to explain
here, it is continually upgraded by volunteers, and is produced in a wide variety of "flavors"
or distributions. Linux is always free. To get a handle on the Open Source movement, check
out http://www.opensource.org/docs/definition.php . There's a ton of information available,
just google linux once and you'll see. It's reputed to be a very stable, dependable operating
system, generally uses fewer resources to do the same task, and can be had in a form to do
anything from server tasks to compiling code. In addition, many versions come with 1,000
or more open source programs to do anything from word processing to photo editing, all
free. www.theopencd.org is a good place to grab some free programs that are open source,
but written to run on windows. You'll be surprised at how good they are. Windows, on the
other hand, is based on DOS (disk operating system) that was borrowed from IBM, if
memory serves. Windows 3.1 is the last heavy DOS operating system from Microsoft. For
Windows 95 they pile a graphical user interface on top of DOS, the gui we hear about. It
worked, sorta, and folks who didn't like command line stuff ate it up. It is a strictly
commercial program, and includes a minimal amount of free software, like notepad or
wordpad. Microsoft keeps making them bigger and more expensive, and we all keep buying
them. I'm not looking forward to being Longhorned. Both Linux and Microsoft have their
advantages. One difference is that if you obtain or download one linux disk, you can use it
on as many machines as you like, and it's free. With Microsoft, you pay a good chunk of
cash for their operating sytems, and you can use it on one machine and one only. With the
advent of XP, they force you to "reactivate" XP every time you install it. You can only do so a
certain number of times. Each has it's positive and negative attributes. It will be interesting
in the coming years to see if Linux continues to grow as it has. Check out this articla about
XP if you think I'm kidding. http://www.arachnoid.com/boycott/index.html Personally, I'm
really curious about Linux. Free is good. Good luck.
Answer
Linux is an open source operating system that, until fairly recently, was only used on
servers. Now it is used on Mac OS X computers, and more people are starting to use it on
computers that aren't servers. It is very secure, efficient, and flexible.
Microsoft Windows is a closed-source operating system created by Bill Gates, supreme ruler
of the earth. It is gradually losing it's grip on the market because it is insecure, slow, and
wasteful.
Answer
They are totally different operating systems. Linux is open source and as such there is more
than one Linux. Do a Google search on this and you will find your answer. Too complicated
to post here.

What is the difference between Unix and DOS?

[Edi
t]

In: Computers, Computer Software and Applications

[Edit]
Linux is an Operating system which use unix as its base and gives further more facilities and
applications.
Answer
DOS:
A Operating System developed in olden days in which kernel interacts directly with the
hardware. Kernal is consider to be heart of this OS.
In this Operating system everything is considered as a file, provides greater security.
Linux :
Merely speeking GUI is made in linux having unix as its core.
Ex: Redhat, Fedora, Susee, Mandrake . . .

Solaris OS also using the same unix kernal all the unix commands will work on
solaris and have 500 more solaris specific commands.
Differnent organizations used the UNIX kernal and added their own essence to form their
own version of linux.

** Both UNIX and LINUX are Open source

Answer
I think we need to be more sure about the statement " Merely speeking GUI is made in linux
having unix as its core" because what I know unix has also got tis GUI.
Answer
UNIX vs. DOS command syntax
Back in the days before Microsoft Windows dominated the PC market, operating system
were controlled by commands. Prior to MS-Windows, PC users were required to learn these
commands in order to perform routine tasks. During the 1980s, Microsoft DOS dominated
the PC market while the early UNIX command systems were used on larger multi-processing
servers.

The main difference between UNIX and DOS is that DOS was originally designed for singleuser systems, while UNIX was designed for systems with many users.
While PCs have evolved into GUI interfaces such as Windows, UNIX systems have never
evolved into GUI environments. Hence, The Oracle professional must master a bewildering
number of cryptic UNIX commands in order to manage their Oracle databases, both on
Windows NT and UNIX.
One of the most confounding issues for the UNIX neophyte is being confronted with a
complex UNIX command. The cryptic nature of UNIX is such that even the most seasoned
UNIX professional may have trouble deciphering the purpose of the command.
Because UNIX and MS-DOS were developed at the same time they share some common
syntax, and the UNIX neophyte will be happy to find many common commands and
concepts. The list below shows some of the commonality between UNIX and MS-DOS
commands:
Answer
UNIX can have X11 and a graphical user interface like Linux. Linux is like "UNIX, rewritten
open source". OpenSource and UNIX have many many differences.
And about the security: Linux or UNIX or any flavour of them is typically more secure than
Windows, but only if you know how to configure it.
UNIX DOES HAVE GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE.
Answer
All modern operating systems, whether directly like Linux or indirectly like DOS, have
borrowed one concept or another from Unix. This isn't to say that Microsoft copied some
Unix commands to their MS-DOS operating system and renamed it MS-DOS. OS developers
use what Unix has used for 30-40 years.
I've used Windows, Mac, MS-DOS and Unix/Linux.
Mac, Unix and Linux are the only OSes I have adopted
Answer
I agree with the statements above: the answers given so-far could be better. First of all, this
question gives raise to almost religious expressions by people that are pretty biased
because they only know one system well.
UNIX and DOS share more things than most people are happy to accept.
UNIX started its history with large mainframe systems, which where mostly used for
scientific computing. In scientific computing, usability is not an issue, it is important that a
program is correct and efficient. It was written by programmers for programmers, making it
easy to extend and exposes a rich API (application programming interface) to the user
which can access it easily.

As noted above, almost everything is a file in UNIX, which makes it easy to understand (at
least for programmers).
A UNIX program often has one small, specific task and works well together wich other
programs.
UNIX ist mostly text-centric, the CLI (commanrd line interface) is important.
Of course there are prowerful GUI (graphical user interfaces) available - they even have
remote access built in.
DOS (Disk Operating System) on the other hand was built for the IBM PC, a small system
mostly targeted to Buisness Users rather than Science. It mimicks many aspects of UNIX,
but its concepts are less elegant and less compatible.
DOS organizes files under So-called drives (C: D: asf.), whereas a UNIX filesystem is always
a single tree which starts with / and then goes down.
The original DOS Filesystem (FAT) has many shortcomings:
* DOS only supports this filesystem, UNIX from the beginning supported many
* DOS Filenames are must follow the 8.3 rule (8 Chars for the name, 3 for the extension),
filenames are case-insensitive (UNIX is case-sensitive)
* DOS does neither support soft- nor hardlinks (note that Starting with Windows 2000,
Windows does indeed support this!)
* FAT is not a Journaling Filesystem, making it prone to failures.
While many authors above have pointed out that UNIX is safer than UNIX, I do not think
that this is correct. DOS was never built to work in a network (this was all added later),
UNIX from the beginning incorporated a lot of possibilities to connect to it. Coming from a
scientific background, security was not a design goal for Unix.
This kind of thinking is dangerous - just because everybody thinks a system is safe, does
not make it safe.
UNIX is a very broad term - there are Unixes which are 40 years old. Especially when
comparing security, it might be wise to state which versions are considered.