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Linux System Unix

The Development of Linux is one of the most surprising Events in the UNIX area.
Linux is a new UNIX version derived from work of Linus Torvalds, who wrote the basics of the operating system himself. His work was picked up by people around the world who, in a remarkable cooperative effort, wrote a complete UNIX system from scratch. Early versions of Linux were primitive and unstable, but current versions (version 2+) are powerful and efficient. They also have an amazing range of features, mainly because whenever Web users want a new feature, they write it. From the system administrator's point of view, Linux is very much like System V UNIX. It offers the full range of facilities, and the administrative structure is similar to the other commercial UNIX versions. For someone trying to learn UNIX, it has some striking advantages:
  1. Linux is free (although if you do not have fast Internet access, buying an inexpensive CD release may be worthwhile).
  2. Linux runs well on Intel architectures. Most of the other UNIX versions are intended for RISC workstations, though Solaris, for example, does have an Intel version.
  3. Linux coexists with other PC operating systems in dual-boot configurations.

Exploring Linux History

comp.os.minix newsgroup on August 25, 1991:

Linux History

Hello everybody out there using minix:
I am doing a (free) operating system (just a hobby, will not be big and professional like gnu) for 386(486) AT clones. This has been brewing since April, and is starting to get ready. I would like any feedback on things people like/dislike in minix, as my OS resembles it somewhat (same physical layout of the filesystem (due to practical reasons) among other things)
Any suggestions are welcome, but I will not promise I will implement them :-) Linus ([email protected]) PS. Yes, it is free of any minix code, and it has a multi-threaded fs.
It is NOT protable[sic] (uses 386 task switching etc), and it probably never will support anything other than AT-harddisks, as that is all I have :-(.
Minix was a UNIX-like operating system that ran on PCs in the early 1990s. Like Minix, Linux was also a clone of the UNIX operating system. To truly appreciate how a free operating system could have been modeled after a proprietary system from AT&T Bell Laboratories, it helps to understand the culture in which UNIX was created and the chain of events that made the essence of UNIX possible to reproduce freely.

Unix System Administration