The Blackangel Posted August 30, 2022 Share Posted August 30, 2022 I've always used systems that run on DOS. I've never used a Linux or Unix system. I was aware of them when I took electronics for a couple of years, but don't know the first thing about them. So like the title says, what's the difference between them. Remember I'm not all that tech savvy, so you're probably going to have to dumb it down quite a bit for me to understand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lamarr the strelok Posted August 31, 2022 Share Posted August 31, 2022 VERY generally: UNIX was invented in 1969. Linux was invented and was partially based on UNIX. DOS was (pre windows 95) windows.Parts of UNIX were free but Linux is fully free. You used to have to pay for Windows. I'd suggest going to wikipedia and check out UNIX, Linux, and DOS. Even if you're not tech savvy you can learn some stuff by reading the articles on them. You'll probably learn some stuff you hadn't known before. There are and were some seriously smart people in all 3.Some parts of that tech are still in use from that time,albeit they're updated to modern specs. If you're a tech geek like me this stuff is awesome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grungie Posted August 31, 2022 Share Posted August 31, 2022 (edited) To super dumb it down, they’re different operating systems. At face value, seeing a command line interface makes it all look the same to the untrained eye, but not all commands and functions are universal. DOS was largely tied to Microsoft operating systems, and has largely faded out of use. Windows pre-XP was essentially just a skin running on top of DOS, hence why Windows OS’s like Windows 95 had you run in MS-DOS mode to run games in DOS mode. Unix is a different operating system, but you’ll almost never run into “pure” Unix. I’m not familiar with the terminology, but there’s different variations of it. The most famous or widely used variation of Unix (too lazy to fact check) is MacOS. Like different variations of Windows, Unix based operating systems all have a similar core underneath, but have different “skins” for the user interface. Linux is another operating system. It’s a Unix-like operating system where it’s an operating system that has similarities to Unix, but isn’t. Like Unix, you’ll rarely run into “pure” Linux. The variations of Linux are called distributions or distros. Some common distros are Ubuntu, Arch, Fedora, Mint, elementary, Debian, Gentoo. They’re essentially like different skins, and some are built on top of each other. Some of it can be convoluted where you have a distro that’s built off of one distro that’s built off of another one. Linux is usually open source and free to download. There are exceptions to this. Linux is pretty popular with computer nerds, because some distros like Gentoo are really popular with tinkerers. It’s also less locked down than Windows and MacOS where if you know terminal commands (Unix and Linux’s term for the command line), you can really have full control over the operating system. I can go deeper, as I do IT for a living. Edited August 31, 2022 by Grungie Ajibusu 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Blackangel Posted August 31, 2022 Author Share Posted August 31, 2022 killamch89 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grungie Posted August 31, 2022 Share Posted August 31, 2022 1 hour ago, The Blackangel said: What part are you lost at? To hella sum it up: DOS = old Microsoft (pre-2001) And Linux and Unix are two separate “families” of different operating systems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Blackangel Posted August 31, 2022 Author Share Posted August 31, 2022 Let's put it this way: I'm sorry I asked. killamch89 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kane99 Posted September 1, 2022 Share Posted September 1, 2022 It's essentially another type of operating system, similar to Windows and Mac. The key difference being that it's usually open source and free. That's why there are so many different distros of Linux operating systems out there, because of its open source licensing, where anyone can edit/alter the code and make their own. Ubuntu is a distro of Linux I'm familiar with. Ubuntu is one of the most user friendly Linux distros you can go for. There's also Kubuntu, which is a smaller version of Ubuntu that you can install on older machines. And I think they even go smaller with Xubuntu. Linux is great for bringing new life to older PCs. There are also Linux distros that are only text based, kinda like how earlier PCs were and some of what DOS was like. I don't know much about the Unix side of it, just Linux and a few distros. But I have used stuff like Pupply Linux on a really old PC to get some life out of it. It's kinda fun to install linux distros on old PCs. I currently have a tablet/laptop combo that a friend of mine gave to me. He installed Ubuntu on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grungie Posted September 1, 2022 Share Posted September 1, 2022 46 minutes ago, Kane99 said: It's essentially another type of operating system, similar to Windows and Mac. The key difference being that it's usually open source and free. That's why there are so many different distros of Linux operating systems out there, because of its open source licensing, where anyone can edit/alter the code and make their own. Ubuntu is a distro of Linux I'm familiar with. Ubuntu is one of the most user friendly Linux distros you can go for. There's also Kubuntu, which is a smaller version of Ubuntu that you can install on older machines. And I think they even go smaller with Xubuntu. Linux is great for bringing new life to older PCs. There are also Linux distros that are only text based, kinda like how earlier PCs were and some of what DOS was like. I don't know much about the Unix side of it, just Linux and a few distros. But I have used stuff like Pupply Linux on a really old PC to get some life out of it. It's kinda fun to install linux distros on old PCs. I currently have a tablet/laptop combo that a friend of mine gave to me. He installed Ubuntu on it. Tbh a lot of Linux distros can be run in only terminal only form, it's common on the server editions of the same distros. You can save on resources when you don't have to run a GUI. It's common when you're running a server that only runs a single piece of software. In the enterprise world, you also run into closed source distros of Linux, but Chrome OS is a desktop distro that's closed, but has an open source variant called Chromium. Unix is an older family of OS's that Linux got inspiration from (hence why it's categorized as a Unix-Like OS). The most common home desktop OS that's in the Unix family is MacOS. There are a lot of terminal commands that work on Linux, so on that end, you can get by on Unix if you know a lot of Linux commands. The OS's in game consoles are also usually based off of either Unix or Linux, as is a ton of the OS's that enterprise hardware run off of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kane99 Posted September 1, 2022 Share Posted September 1, 2022 26 minutes ago, Grungie said: Tbh a lot of Linux distros can be run in only terminal only form, it's common on the server editions of the same distros. You can save on resources when you don't have to run a GUI. It's common when you're running a server that only runs a single piece of software. In the enterprise world, you also run into closed source distros of Linux, but Chrome OS is a desktop distro that's closed, but has an open source variant called Chromium. Unix is an older family of OS's that Linux got inspiration from (hence why it's categorized as a Unix-Like OS). The most common home desktop OS that's in the Unix family is MacOS. There are a lot of terminal commands that work on Linux, so on that end, you can get by on Unix if you know a lot of Linux commands. The OS's in game consoles are also usually based off of either Unix or Linux, as is a ton of the OS's that enterprise hardware run off of. Oh yeah I know. Linux can do a lot that's for sure. Isn't Android heavily inspired by Linux or Unix? I actually use the Chromium browser sometimes. Have thought about adding chromium on an old PC, but I feel it's way more limited than most linux distros out there. I'd Just use it for surfing the web and all that anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grungie Posted September 1, 2022 Share Posted September 1, 2022 6 hours ago, Kane99 said: Oh yeah I know. Linux can do a lot that's for sure. Isn't Android heavily inspired by Linux or Unix? I actually use the Chromium browser sometimes. Have thought about adding chromium on an old PC, but I feel it's way more limited than most linux distros out there. I'd Just use it for surfing the web and all that anyway. Iirc Android is built off the Linux kernel. I have a Chromebook, it does what it needs to do. I’ve never used Chromium OS, but I think you have to compile it yourself. I’m far too lazy for that… I also don’t know if Chromium supports Android apps, but those can be hit and miss. My Chromebook has an ARM processor, so compatibility isn’t an issue, but the user experience can be lacking. It can be worse than Android tablets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Blackangel Posted September 1, 2022 Author Share Posted September 1, 2022 Um.... What the hell is a distro? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kane99 Posted September 1, 2022 Share Posted September 1, 2022 27 minutes ago, The Blackangel said: Um.... What the hell is a distro? A distro or distribution is just a different version of Linux. Since Linux is free & open source, anyone can make their code and alter it into their own version of Linux and call it whatever they want, that's essentially a distro. There are many different Linux distros from; Ubuntu, Debian, CentOS, Arch Linux, Red Hat, OpenSuse, Gentoo, Fedora and more. A lot of them do much of the same, as they replicate how Windows machines work with their GUI (guided user interface). But it's much different when it comes to installing apps and all that. I think of it like having different flavors of Linux. With Windows for example, they are closed source I believe, where only MS and certain licenced companies can put out their version of the OS, and very little can modify it. With Linux, you can modify pretty much anything you want with it. I like to also think of it as anyone being able to make their own operating system. I really like Linux, because it allows you to get away some from Windows and it's horrible update options and other problems. The only downside with Linux is that it's kinda tough to get games to work proper. It can be done, but it's not always easy. Thankfully Steam and other marketplaces are starting to support Linux gaming. Lamarr the strelok 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
killamch89 Posted September 2, 2022 Share Posted September 2, 2022 To be honest, if I didn't know what you guys were talking about, I'd be as confused as @The Blackangel. The Blackangel 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grungie Posted September 5, 2022 Share Posted September 5, 2022 Funny how I explained distribution in the first post, but it clearly got ignored. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Empire Posted October 19, 2022 Share Posted October 19, 2022 Unix was an operating system originally developed by AT&T back in the 70s. Through the 80s and early 90s, Unix and operating systems derived from it became the dominant operating systems for servers and high-end workstations. In the mid-late 90s, x86 CPUs and Windows took over. Linus is just better though 😛 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
