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Date:      13 Jun 2004 11:58:59 +0100
From:      Richard Caley <rjc@caley.org.uk>
To:        "Grauwmans Steven" <steven@grauwmans.be>
Cc:        freebsd-questions@freebsd.org
Subject:   Re: What's the big difference between Linux and Unix??
Message-ID:  <87isdv911o.fsf@pele.r.caley.org.uk>
In-Reply-To: <000001c45054$39e06a20$5f7fa551@gezin>
References:  <000001c45054$39e06a20$5f7fa551@gezin>

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In article <000001c45054$39e06a20$5f7fa551@gezin>, Grauwmans Steven (gs) writes:

gs> If U could please help me, I'm getting confused.
 
Linux is a kernel, ie the bit of the OS which needs to be there, but
you should never be aware of in normal use if it works properly.

Unix is a trademark. There used to be an OS caled Unix, but it is so
long since it's descendents diverged that the name is pretty useless
now. If you see it in use it is probably historical, marketing or
someone who is confused.  It's like looking for a modern human
population to label as homo-erectus. 

So, basicly you are looking at a large number of Unix-like operating
systems, some of which use Linux as their kernel, some of which
don't. 

To add another dodgy metaphor, Volkswaggon once created a car called
the Golf which was so sucessful that lots of cars now are visibly
descendents of that design. Some of them share the same kind of
engine. However none of those cars is a golf, and certainly the engine
isn't.

-- 
Mail me as MYFIRSTNAME@MYLASTNAME.org.uk        _O_
                                                 |<



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