Is Linux Unix?

Part 1

In the first part of the history of the relationship between Linux and Unix, you will learn about the rich history of Unix, which determines what it is and to whom it belongs.

Linux is Unix?

If you are asking this question, then you are on a par with numerous Linux and Unix developers, administrators and users. What is the verdict? The court cannot make a final decision. In appearance this is a simple question, but ask 10 people and you will get 10 different answers. The essence of the problem is how each person presents these concepts in different ways. Some people think that these are sets of standards, others that they are communities, and others that are generally trademarks. Frankly, Linux and Unix are all these things at the same time.

Many try to use the old “duck test” when searching for the answer - “If an object looks like a duck, swims like a duck and quacks, like a duck, then this is most likely a duck.” Despite the fact that the duck example is hardly comparable with complex systems, the reasoning is generally in tune somewhere. Linux really resembles Unix in almost every aspect. In fact, the original Linux kernel was modeled after Unix, and even its creator (!) Once linked the kernel with Unix.

Does this mean that Linux is Unix? Not necessary. If you were cloned, would your clone be you? Many would argue that what defines an object is not only its composition, but also history. In the case of the clone, he would not have your memory, so he would not really be you.

A Brief History of Unix

The development of Unix really began in the 1960s with a project called Multics, which did not bring much profit and was abandoned by one of the largest companies that made the main contribution to its development. Nevertheless, the work on the project was continued by enthusiasts, which ultimately led to the birth of UNICS (a game of sounds from “Multics”, later renamed to UNIX) in the 1970s.

In 1980, AT&T developed a commercial license package for all UNIX distributions, and consolidated all versions into one: UNIX System V. University of California, Berkeley continued to develop its own version of Unix called BSD. Many of the most important UNIX developments came from BSD, for example, the inclusion of TCP / IP in the main UNIX version.

During the 80s and 90s, many companies acquired and licensed their own versions of UNIX, including Sun Microsystems, Microsoft, and SCO. Around the same time, groups of developers and companies made a breakthrough towards the “open” Unix, creating a separate branch of its development. In the early 90s, AT&T sold all of its rights to UNIX to Novell. In 1995, Novell already sold part of its rights to Unix, including the right to further development, to System V and SCO.

All these purchases, sales, licensing, delicensing and independent development in the 90s led to numerous lawsuits, disputes, as well as dramas about ownership of Unix parts. Linux also appeared in the SCO lawsuit as containing the Unix code that belonged to them. When all went quiet, Novell won the case for SCO, and forced SCO to withdraw claims against IBM and Sequent, as well as Linux. They even went so far as to say, "We do not believe that Linux has anything from Unix."

Today, Sun Microsystems Solaris is the largest Unix operating system. BSD continues its development and spawned free versions such as FreeBSD. In 2005, Sun published most of the OpenSolaris code, leading to even more Unix-based open source versions.

Part 2 - The Linux Story

In the second part of this series, you will learn about Linux's path from humble beginnings to fame and fortune!

A brief history of Linux

In 1991, in Helsinki, Finland, Linus Torvalds began work on a project that was, he said, “just for fun.” This project eventually became the kernel of Linux. It was never intended for anything special, just a tool that would allow a student to access UNIX servers at a nearby university. He wrote it specifically for the hardware on which he was working at that time, and it did not depend on the operating system. After some time, Linus realized that what he accidentally created was the very core of the operating system.

Torvalds modeled it based on a UNIX variant called Minix. The Minix code was open, but changes and further distribution were not permitted, so the Torvalds kernel was not protected by copyright. Although it was modeled after Unix, it was not Unix. After he realized what he had created, he wrote on Usenet:

“Hello to everyone who uses MINIX - I make an (free) operating system (just a hobby, it will not be a big and professional system like GNU) for 386 (486) AT models. I have been doing this since April, and am now completing the work. I would like to receive any feedback about the things that you like and dislike in MINIX, since my system is somewhat reminiscent of it (the same physical location of the file system (for practical reasons) among everything else). „

Obviously, at that time, Torvalds did not understand how important its core was for the open software movement, which was gradually beginning to spread its influence by then. The Free Software Foundation, best known for its GNU project, which began development in 1983, was looking for a kernel to fulfill its dream of “enough free software to do without any software that’s not free ". Yes, the goal was a full-fledged operating system plus additional open source software tools and protected GPLs. In 1992, they discovered Linux, and GNU / Linux began its journey that led it to where “there is enough free software that you can do without any software,

In custody ...

Is Linux a Unix? You still don’t know? Me too, but at least now you have the facts. From now on, the choice of position is solely your personal decision.
On the one hand, unlike all versions of UNIX, Linux does not contain code from any UNIX development cycle. However, if something looks like a duck ... Well, you know the rest.