Unix: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 11:25, 18 February 2025

Unix[edit]

Unix (officially trademarked as UNIX) is a family of multitasking, multiuser computer operating systems that derive from the original AT&T Unix developed in the 1970s at the Bell Labs research center by Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, and others. Initially intended for use inside Bell Labs, Unix was later licensed to outside parties, leading to a wide variety of both academic and commercial versions.

History[edit]

Unix was first developed in the 1960s and 1970s at AT&T's Bell Labs research center. The initial version was written in assembly language, but by 1973, it was rewritten in the C programming language, which was also developed at Bell Labs. This made Unix portable across different machines, a significant advantage at the time.

In 1974, Unix was licensed to academic institutions, and the University of California, Berkeley became a significant contributor to its development, leading to the Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD) versions of Unix.

Features[edit]

Unix is known for its simplicity, portability, and powerful command-line interface. It supports multitasking and multiuser capabilities, allowing multiple users to access the system simultaneously. Unix systems are characterized by a modular design that includes small, simple utilities that can be combined in scripts to perform complex tasks.

Variants[edit]

Over the years, many different versions of Unix have been developed. Some of the most notable include:

Influence and Legacy[edit]

Unix has had a profound influence on the development of many other operating systems, including Linux, which is a Unix-like system. The POSIX standard was developed to ensure compatibility between Unix systems and Unix-like systems.

Modern Unix Systems[edit]

Today, Unix systems are used in a variety of environments, from servers to workstations. Some modern Unix systems include:

macOS, developed by Apple Inc.
AIX, developed by IBM
HP-UX, developed by Hewlett-Packard

Related pages[edit]

References[edit]

Salus, Peter H. (1994). "A Quarter Century of UNIX". Addison-Wesley. ISBN 0-201-54777-5.
Ritchie, Dennis M. (1984). "The Evolution of the Unix Time-sharing System". AT&T Bell Laboratories Technical Journal.

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-'''Unix''' (''Uniplexed Information and Computing Service'') is a [[family of multitasking]], [[multiuser]] [[computer operating systems]] that derive from the original [[AT&T]] Unix, development starting in the 1970s at the [[Bell Labs]] research center by [[Ken Thompson]], [[Dennis Ritchie]], and others.
+== Unix ==
+[[File:UNIX_logo.svg|thumb|The UNIX logo]]
+'''Unix''' (officially trademarked as '''UNIX''') is a family of [[multitasking]], [[multiuser]] [[computer operating system]]s that derive from the original [[AT&T]] [[Unix]] developed in the 1970s at the [[Bell Labs]] research center by [[Ken Thompson]], [[Dennis Ritchie]], and others. Initially intended for use inside Bell Labs, Unix was later licensed to outside parties, leading to a wide variety of both academic and commercial versions.
 == History ==
-Unix was originally written in [[assembly language]]. Ken Thompson wrote B, mainly based on BCPL, to write Unix's [[operating system]] code. Later, in 1973, Unix was re-written in the [[C programming language]] by [[Dennis Ritchie]]. The availability of a high-level language implementation of Unix made its [[porting]] to different computer platforms easier.
+[[File:Ken_Thompson_and_Dennis_Ritchie.jpg|thumb|Ken Thompson (left) and Dennis Ritchie (right), creators of Unix]]
-== Design ==
+Unix was first developed in the 1960s and 1970s at [[AT&T]]'s [[Bell Labs]] research center. The initial version was written in [[assembly language]], but by 1973, it was rewritten in the [[C programming language]], which was also developed at Bell Labs. This made Unix portable across different machines, a significant advantage at the time.
-The Unix operating system is made up of three parts; the [[kernel]], the [[shell]] and the [[programs]].
+In 1974, Unix was licensed to academic institutions, and the [[University of California, Berkeley]] became a significant contributor to its development, leading to the [[Berkeley Software Distribution]] (BSD) versions of Unix.
-The kernel is the heart of the operating system. It interacts with the hardware and most of the tasks like memory management, task scheduling and file management.
+== Features ==
-The shell is an interface to the kernel. The shell interprets the commands given by the user and converts them into a language that is understood by the kernel.
+Unix is known for its simplicity, portability, and powerful [[command-line interface]]. It supports [[multitasking]] and [[multiuser]] capabilities, allowing multiple users to access the system simultaneously. Unix systems are characterized by a modular design that includes small, simple utilities that can be combined in scripts to perform complex tasks.
-Unix was one of the first systems to store each user's files in a separate directory, an innovation which has been followed by most other systems.
+== Variants ==
-== Impact ==
+Over the years, many different versions of Unix have been developed. Some of the most notable include:
-Unix has been influential, establishing computing concepts and principles that have been widely adopted.
+* [[System V]]
+* [[BSD]]
+* [[AIX]]
+* [[HP-UX]]
+* [[Solaris (operating system)|Solaris]]
-In 1983, [[Richard Stallman]] started the [[GNU]] project with the goal of creating a free Unix-like operating system. As part of this work, he wrote the [[GNU General Public License]] (GPL).
+[[File:Version_7_Unix_SIMH_PDP11_Emulation_DMR.png|thumb|Version 7 Unix running on a PDP-11 emulator]]
-Unix and Unix-like operating systems have been in active use for decades. They have been used in all sorts of systems including servers, desktops, and embedded systems.
+== Influence and Legacy ==
+Unix has had a profound influence on the development of many other operating systems, including [[Linux]], which is a Unix-like system. The [[POSIX]] standard was developed to ensure compatibility between Unix systems and Unix-like systems.
+[[File:Debian_6.0_Console_Login.png|thumb|Debian, a popular Unix-like operating system]]
+== Modern Unix Systems ==
+Today, Unix systems are used in a variety of environments, from servers to workstations. Some modern Unix systems include:
+* [[macOS]], developed by [[Apple Inc.]]
+* [[AIX]], developed by [[IBM]]
+* [[HP-UX]], developed by [[Hewlett-Packard]]
+[[File:HP-HP9000-C110-Workstation_10.jpg|thumb|HP 9000 C110 workstation running HP-UX]]
+== Related pages ==
-== See also ==
 * [[Linux]]
-* [[BSD]]
+* [[POSIX]]
-* [[Solaris (operating system)|Solaris]]
+* [[Berkeley Software Distribution]]
-* [[AIX]]
+* [[C programming language]]
-* [[HP-UX]]
-* [[macOS]]
 == References ==
-<references />
+* Salus, Peter H. (1994). "A Quarter Century of UNIX". Addison-Wesley. ISBN 0-201-54777-5.
+* Ritchie, Dennis M. (1984). "The Evolution of the Unix Time-sharing System". AT&T Bell Laboratories Technical Journal.
+== External links ==
+* [https://www.unix.org/ The Open Group's Unix page]
+* [https://www.bell-labs.com/ Bell Labs website]
 [[Category:Unix]]
-[[Category:Operating systems]]
+<gallery>
-[[Category:Software]]
+File:UNIX_logo.svg|UNIX Logo
+File:Version_7_Unix_SIMH_PDP11_Emulation_DMR.png|Version 7 Unix SIMH PDP-11 Emulation
-{{stub}}
+File:CDE_2012_on_Linux.png|CDE 2012 on Linux
+File:Ken_Thompson_and_Dennis_Ritchie.jpg|Ken Thompson and Dennis Ritchie
+File:Usenix84_1.jpg|Usenix 1984
+File:Debian_6.0_Console_Login.png|Debian 6.0 Console Login
+File:FreeBSD_9.1_Console_Login.png|FreeBSD 9.1 Console Login
+File:UNIX-Licence-Plate.JPG|UNIX License Plate
+File:HP-HP9000-C110-Workstation_10.jpg|HP 9000 C110 Workstation
+</gallery>