Unix and Linux are both widely used operating systems, and they are both multi-user, multi-tasking, multi-threaded, and multi-CPU operating systems based on the POSIX standard. They run all major Unix tools, applications, and network protocols. So, what's the difference between them? What are the advantages and disadvantages of each of them and their application scenarios?
We need to understand the historical background of Unix and Linux. Unix is an operating system developed by Ken Thompson and Dennis Ritchie at Bell Labs in the late 60s of the 20th century, and its technology is partly derived from the Multics project, which is characterized by being written in C, which improves portability and development efficiency, while following the Unix philosophy of using small, simple combinations of programs to accomplish complex tasks. Unix later spawned many commercial and academic variants, such as BSD, Solaris, AIX, HP-UX, etc., all of which had their own characteristics and standards, but also led to the division and confusion of Unix.
Linux is an operating system developed by Linus Tovaz at the University of Helsinki in the early 90s of the 20th century, it is inspired by Minix, a Unix-like operating system for teaching, it is characterized by being completely open source and free, anyone can modify and distribute its source code, and at the same time borrows from the design philosophy and functions of Unix, making Linux very similar to Unix in appearance and interaction. Linux has since developed many different distributions, such as Ubuntu, Red Hat, Debian, Arch Linux, etc., all of which have their own package management and user interfaces, but also maintain the consistency and compatibility of the Linux kernel.
From a source code point of view, Unix is a proprietary operating system, its source code is copyrighted, and only through an agreement with the owner, AT&T, or other authorized parties, can it be licensed and used, whereas Linux is an open-source operating system, its source code is public, and anyone can use and modify it for free, and they are also free to create and release their own distribution. From the perspective of user interface, Unix is mainly a command-line based operating system, and its graphical interface is based on the X Window system, while Linux supports both the command line and the graphical interface, and its graphical interface is based on the X Window system or other desktop environments, such as GNOME, KDE, XFCE, etc. From a hardware support perspective, Unix is primarily for specific hardware platforms and has low portability, while Linux can run on multiple hardware platforms and has high portability. From an application software point of view, Unix is mainly aimed at the business and professional domains, and it has fewer applications, whereas Linux is mainly for the personal and general domains, and it has more application software.
From the point of view of advantages, the advantages of Unix are stable, secure, efficient, and mature, and it is suitable for high-end servers, workstations, mainframes, etc., and it has a wide range of applications in science, engineering, education, and other fields. The advantages of Linux are that it is open, free, flexible, and innovative, and it is suitable for servers of all sizes, personal computers, embedded devices, etc