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LINUX vs UNIX | Difference between Linux kernel and UNIX kernel
Today Linux is in great demand. You can see the use of Linux everywhere. It's dominating on our servers, desktop, smartphones and even used in some electrical devices like refrigerators.
Some people think Unix and Linux as synonyms, but that's not true. Many operating systems were developed to be like Unix but none of them got the popularity as Linux. Linux is the clone of Unix. It has several features similar to Unix, still have some key differences. Before Linux and Windows, computer world was dominated by Unix. Unix is a copyrighted name and IBM AIX, HP-UX and Sun Solaris are only Unix operating system remained till date.
Difference between Linux and UNIX
| COMPARISON | LINUX | UNIX |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | It is an open-source operating system which is freely available to everyone. | It is an operating system which can be only used by its copyrighters. |
| Examples | It has different distros like Ubuntu, Redhat, Fedora, etc | IBM AIX, HP-UX and Sun Solaris. |
| Users | Nowadays, Linux is in great demand. Anyone can use Linux whether a home user, developer or a student. | It was developed mainly for servers, workstations and mainframes. |
| Usage | Linux is used everywhere from servers, PC, smartphones, tablets to mainframes and supercomputers. | It is used in servers, workstations and PCs. |
| Cost | Linux is freely distributed,downloaded, and distributed through magazines also. And priced distros of Linux are also cheaper than Windows. | Unix copyright vendors decide different costs for their respective Unix Operating systems. |
| Development | As it is open source, it is developed by sharing and collaboration of codes by world-wide developers. | Unix was developed by AT&T Labs, various commercial vendors and non-profit organizations. |
| Manufacturer | Linux kernel is developed by the community of developers from different parts of the world. Although the father of Linux, Linus Torvalds oversees things. | Unix has three distributions IBM AIX, HP-UX and Sun Solaris. Apple also uses Unix to make OSX operating system. |
| GUI | Linux is command based but some distros provide GUI based Linux. Gnome and KDE are mostly used GUI. | Initially it was command based OS, but later Common Desktop Environment was created. Most Unix distributions use Gnome. |
| Interface | The default interface is BASH (Bourne Again SHell). But some distros have developed their own interfaces. | It originally used Bourne shell. But is also compatible with other GUIs. |
| Supportd File systems | Ext2, Ext3, Ext4, Jfs, ReiserFS, Xfs, Btrfs, FAT, FAT32, NTFS. | fs, gpfs, hfs, hfs+, ufs, xfs, zfs. |
| Security | It provides higher security. Linux has about 60-100 viruses listed till date. | Unix is also highly secured. It has about 85-120 viruses listed till date |
| Error detection and solution | As Linux is open-source,whenever a user post any kind of threat, developers from all over the world start working on it. And hence, it provides faster solution. | In Unix, users have to wait for some time for the problem to be resolved. |