[Watford] If this a dish, it would be sweet'n'sour......

[Alain Williams]

On Wed, Feb 05, 2014 at 11:16:39AM +0000, M Fernandes wrote:
> I just came across this article, and thought you might be interested.
> Linux is certainly going the quiet route to world domination!  :-)
> 
> http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9244751/As_Unix_fades_away_from_data_centers_it_s_unclear_what_s_next?taxonomyId=122
> 
> The article is quite old, so, apologies if you've already seen this.  AIX
> was where my Unix/Linux affinity was fostered.  It certainly taught me
> discipline!

I think that the whole premise of the article shows that the author does not
really understand the issues and history.

The most important thing that he misses is: Linux is Unix.

He seems to think that Unix is HP-UX, Solaris, AIX. That is true, but they are
part of a family of operating systems that differ from each other, just as Linux
is the same and different from them. At the core they all follow the POSIX
standard, but depart from it (extend it) in their own ways.

By and large code written for one Unix varient will work on another - just recompile.

What he might be trying to say is that there may be a reduction in the
proprietary Unixes, they being replaced by Linux. Yes: there will be a
migration, but so what ? How is that new ?

I remember when to run UNIX you either had to have a PDP-11 or a VAX. Then a few
years later UNIX lots of exciting new hardware was invented and UNIX was ported
to these new toys, so you had UNIX on: motorola 68k, MIPS, Pyramid, Sparc, ...
A few years later Intel processors became popular and we ran UNIX on that
(anyone remember Xenix ?).

All these UNIXes were similar but different.

The code bases were very different: AT&T UNIX, BSD-UNIX (was based on AT&T UNIX,
but is now completely rewritten), Minix (a rewrite), OSF/1 (a rewrite), Linux (a
rewrite), Coherent (a rewrite), GNU Hurd (well, maybe), ...

So, in some respects Linux is nothing special, it is just the latest in a family
of operating systems.

-- 
Alain Williams
Linux/GNU Consultant - Mail systems, Web sites, Networking, Programmer, IT Lecturer.
+44 (0) 787 668 0256  http://www.phcomp.co.uk/
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