UNIX
Introduction
An operating system helps the user and the user's programs to use computer resources. Each
computer has an operating system in order to communicate with the user, software and hardware.
There are many different types of operating systems, but many experts believe that UNIX is the
best operating system for both novice and expert users. UNIX is a trademark of UNIX System
Laboratories Inc, a subsidiary of AT&T. By 'Unix' is meant a computer operating system which
is either UNIX or an extension or variation of it. Many propriety operating systems, covering a
wide variety of computer hardware, are UNIX based. The main strength of the UNIX operating
system is its portability and availability on almost any platform. It provides a multi-user and
multi-tasking environment and is a highly portable and reliable operating system. In the past,
UNIX was recognized as an operating system for minicomputers, but today it is available on all
different hardware platforms such as mainframe, supercomputer and PC.
What is UNIX?
UNIX is a multitasking computer operating system typically written in C, and designed for multi-
user environments by AT&T.
Much of the success of UNIX may be attributed to the rapid pace of its development (a
development to which all of its users have been able to contribute) its efficiency at running
programs and the many powerful tools which have been written for it over the years, such as the
C programming language, make, shell, lex and yacc and many others. UNIX was written by
programmers for programmers. It is popular in situations where a lot of computing power is
required and for database applications, where timesharing is critical. UNIX is the best known
open operating system. It was developed as a public collaboration by some universities. In
addition, it is available from many different manufactures such as IBM, Digital and SUN. UNIX
is designed to interface with other systems. This feature makes UNIX a strong choice for a
network environment. The Internet uses the native networking protocol of UNIX. UNIX also is a
natural environment for the implementation of a client/server system around the world.
UNIX's Features
Because UNIX grew out of a research environment, some of its many features are not relevant to
business applications. The UNIX operating system has many features that help make it popular.
Some of these UNIX features are:
1. Portability UNIX is written in the 'C' programming language, which makes UNIX machine
independent and portable. The portability of UNIX means that it can run on many computers
from different manufacturers such as IBM, Hewlett-Packard, Digital, Sun and many other
manufacturers.
2. Ownerships and Permissions Every data file stored on a UNIX system belongs to one of
the users of the system, and that user gets to decide who else may have access to it. This is
done through a system of permissions, whereby each file carries a code indicating whether
access is granted to the owner alone, members of a group (such as department or a task
force), or all uses. Separate permission codes govern reading the file, writing to the file, and
executing it, if it is an executable file.
3. Shared Facilities In a UNIX system, all devices--hard disks, floppy disks, tape drives,
printers, and modems--belong to the system as a whole, rather than to individual users. It is
the responsibility of UNIX to make sure that the needs of the users are met in a fair, timely,
and efficient manner.
