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What are the differences?
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MARINEOSX
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Nov 16, 2004, 11:23 PM
 
I have heard about linux, unix, and dos, but what I don't know is what are the differences? I know there is a difference but I am curious to the exact differences? Any links or enlightenment would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.
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D'Espice
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Nov 17, 2004, 04:32 AM
 
Well.... what are the differences between a Dodge, a BMW and a Porsche? They're all cars, aren't they?

Same with Linux, BSD and DOS. Microsoft bought DOS in the 80s and renamed it Microsoft Disk Operating System. Linux is a free OS based on a free Unix port by Linus Torvalds and BSD is a free Unix port as well.
The important thing is not to get things confused. When talking about DOS one is always talking about the OS itself. When talking about Linux or BSD, nowadays people usually mean Linux or BSD distributions such as FreeBSD, OpenBSD or RedHat Linux, Debian Linux, etc. Technically speaking, Linux and BSD are just names for OS Kernels based on Unix - that's all. Linux is NOT an OS in terms of an entire package like Windows or Mac OS and neither is BSD. Mac OS X for example is based on the Darwin-Kernel which in turn is a free BSD-derivative kernel. RedHat is based on the Linux Kernel, OpenBSD is based on an OpenBSD kernel, etc.
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Spheric Harlot
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Nov 17, 2004, 02:17 PM
 
Um. If you had no clue of what exactly you were asking, D'Espice's posts would probably be a bunch of Bohemian villages to you.

I suggest you read In the Beginning Was the Command Line, by Neal Stephenson.
(This is required reading for anyone developing a casual interest in what you're asking about.)

You can get it in paperback, but the entire text is available for free download on his webpage: http://www.cryptonomicon.com/beginning.html

It's a great and entertaining introduction to the general history behind the most important operating systems, and computer development in general. It is also a fast read.

The only downside from a Mac user's perspective is that, Mac-wise it talks of the "Classic" Macintosh only. Apple switched to OS X a couple of years ago, which is the original Mac concept built on top of an open-source BSD Unix operating system (Jobs's former NeXTSTEP operating system), with all the benefits that entails - as detailed in the book.
     
paully dub
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Nov 17, 2004, 08:31 PM
 
Originally posted by Spheric Harlot:
I suggest you read In the Beginning Was the Command Line, by Neal Stephenson.
(This is required reading for anyone developing a casual interest in what you're asking about.)

You can get it in paperback, but the entire text is available for free download on his webpage: http://www.cryptonomicon.com/beginning.html

It's a great and entertaining introduction to the general history behind the most important operating systems, and computer development in general. It is also a fast read.
Seconded.

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MARINEOSX  (op)
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Nov 17, 2004, 08:40 PM
 
Thank you for all the info I apreciate it. I had a general idea of the differences but it has never been explained to me, thanks again. I realy appreciate the link to the reading it is going to help me understand it alot more. If anyone knows of any more good reading that will continue to educate me on these things please let me know.
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CaptainHaddock
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Nov 17, 2004, 09:45 PM
 
That link is good but here's a rundown anyway:

Unless you're quite young, you must remember what DOS is, right? Back in the eighties and early nineties, before Windows 95 came along, IBM-PCs ran the Disk Operating System - that simple black screen with white text, and to run a program or move a file you had to type in the right commands.

At the same time, Macintosh users and Amiga users were experiencing the wonders of icons, windows, and the mouse.

In the corporate world, mainframes and other "big iron" computers ran something called Unix, which looked like DOS (text-driven interface) but was 1000 times better and more powerful. Unix could run on many other kinds of computers, but IBM-PC users were stuck with DOS.

Some people wanted something like Unix that could run on PCs, so the University of California Berkley started modifying Unix to run on PCs. They called it the Berkley Software Distribution (BSD).

Meanwhile, a Finnish university student named Linus Torvalds decided to write, from scratch, his own version of Unix for his PC. He called it Linux. And while Microsoft was selling DOS for money, Linus was making Linux for free, just because he wanted it to be useful to other people.

Fast-forward to the present day. Microsoft has abandoned DOS and now makes an operating system called Windows, which is modelled after the visual interface that Macs have always had.

Linux and BSD also now have interfaces that look much like Windows, with some features that are unique and some that are more like Macs.

BSD is so stable and secure that Apple recently chose to rebuild Mac OS on top of it. Mac OS X is basically an attractive, functional GUI (called Aqua) on top of Apple's customized version of BSD.

On a PC, Linux and normal BSD are nearly the same, functionally, but Linux is more advanced in some ways. Some of the differences between Windows and Linux are:

1. Windows is more common, although Linux is catching up.
2. Windows has more software and is somewhat easier to use.
3. Linux is more versatile, it can do almost anything.
4. Linux has no viruses, adware, or spyware.
5. Windows costs money, Linux is generally free.
6. Linux is open-source, so anyone can make improvements.
7. Windows is only published by Microsoft, but anyone can publish Linux. Many companies have their own "distributions" of Linux, with names like Red Hat, Mandrake, Suse, Gentoo, etc.
8. Linux now runs on many types of computers, including Macs. Windows only works on PCs.

If you want to try Linux on a PC and see what the fuss is about, download and burn the latest version of Knoppix to disc, and then boot from the CD. Nothing on your PC's hard drive will be modified. Or, if you don't mind doing a hard-disk installation, download Mandrake Linux. It's quite user-friendly.
     
   
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