Unix?

[Justin26k]

What Is "UNIX" from what I understand it is just another name for linux I am probably wrong though and this is probably a dumb question but gotta learn somehow

[dldz]

Here is a link that will answer all of your Questions
HTH Don

[Justin26k]

I was just wanting a simple answer

[dldz]

UNIX is an operating system.
More than anything else, the operating system gives the computer its recognizable characteristics. It would be difficult to distinguish between two completely different computers, if they were running the same operating system. UNIX was created in the late 1960s, in an effort to provide a multiuser, multitasking system for use by programmers. The philosophy behind the design of UNIX was to provide simple, yet powerful utilities that could be pieced together in a flexible manner to perform a wide variety of tasks.
UNIX operating system comprises three parts:
The kernel, the standard utility programs, and the system configuration files. Better ? Don

[Justin26k]

So there actually is a OS called UNIX where could I buy it?

[Nuclear Krusader]

Linux is based on UNIX and not the other way around.

I'm not sure about it but I think you cannot buy UNIX as a packaged OS like Windows. There are several UNIX distros and each of them have astronomical prices. Your best bet for a UNIX based OS is one of the Linux distros.

Plz, someone correct me if I'm wrong.

[Statica]

check out freebsd.org or openbsd.org

[aym]

The most popular UNIX versions are BSD (free and open) and Sun Solaris.

[Justin26k]

I'm always willing to try new things what do you think freebsd would run like on a 500mhz amd with 192ram? I noticed Mandrake ran a lil slow

[billkey1]

Linux, is a "Open source OS" (meaning that is FREE if you want to download it, but be ready for a long download). Your best bet is to go to www.redhat.com and check the site out. Redhat is probility the best known "Linux" providers.
NOTE!!! Please read as much as you can before buying, "LINUX is known for not being pompatible with some hardware.
Good Luck!!

[billkey1]

pompatible=COMPATIBLE -------Sorry bout that !!!

[Justin26k]

How would RedHat run on my machine though?

[TMAN]

mandrake should have run fast on that system. I put mandy on a compaq with a 450mhz k6-2 w/ 64M and the speed gap was not that huge compared to mandrake on my XP 1700 w/ 256M (well thats an exageration, but it was pretty fast with no real lags compared to windows). Did you install a whole lot of services? what desktop did you use? what FS (ext2, ext3, reisers)? Maybe thats what slowed down your system.

[snow]

linux runs everywhere. They've got it everywhere from palms to severs. It's Open Source so you can do whatever you want to it.

If you've you've got an old 386 that you don't feel like taking to the dump, you can put linux on there and just run Bash and not mess w/ a Gui. That would be like just running Dos on PC, only w/ a heck of a lot more power, flexibility, and stability. I"m pretty new to Linux, but I'm pretty sure you can run tons of stuff (graphical stuff too) from the command prompt, including browsers and stuff.

TO ACTUALLY GET TO YOUR QUESTION THOUGH , on your computer , it would run great. I've got a 500 mhz pc w/ 64 megs of ram running linux right now. As soon as I get my house networked (I just got cable, yay!), that's probably where I'll be doing most of my posting from.

I mean, it's all customizable. My P133 laptop ran it this summer when I was gone. That's with an older version KDE (one GUI that you can use for Linux) running on it. And it ran even better from just a prompt.

I don't know, I'll shut up now, but I'd definately say go for it.

[Justin26k]

Ok Thanks guys I will give it a go so I will probably be back for help soon and what what desktop and filesystem would you all recommend?

[TMAN]

I thoroughly enjoy kde as my desktop and ext3 as my FS

[snow]

use KDE, I personally like it better. You might want to get an older version for your 500 mhz machine. KDE2 is what you'd want. Three is probably insanely large, both in size and the amt of memory it consumes-- haven't tried it though. Red Hat uses a ext2 filesystem... if you're just getting started just let your distro worry about it. So just use whatever the default for Suse is if that's what your choosing or ext2 for RedHat if that's what you want. I mean, if you get into this stuff more you can start having preferences over filesystems, but for now you're just playing around, right?

[Justin26k]

right now yes im just playing around but if Microsoft keeps there **** up I will be moving to linux I also wanna play with Web and FTP server is that included?

[MaXimum SMOKE]

A full serving of RHat or Mandrake (the GPL'd disks) are roughly 2 to 3 cd roms, and they have just about every type of common server, workstation type application, in there. For my opinion, I figure Mandrake will look a little more polished up, for someone crossing from windows, But I've found overall available printed documentation to be far better for Redhat... At least in my corner of the US. It is always a good Idea to grab a book, or read through some info on a Linux website, before your install. It saves a lot of grief in your expectations. A lot of folks figure Linux is going to be some kind of 'clone' to windows, and it is far from that.

[Justin26k]

Thanks I will read up like I should have before I installed Mandrake I couldnt even figure out how to install Yahoo Messenger some good reading links for the pros?

[MaXimum SMOKE]

A lot depends upon the 'style' of info that you want. Just like school teachers... some can teach you a lot, and others can bore you out of wanting to learn the material. Personally, I actually prefer the 'written' books, at least if you have a book dealer near you so you can check them out. The biggest thing to keep in mind, is to make sure you are looking at something current. Linux has evolved so quickly, that there are a lot of old outdated articles and books out there. Check the dates, and the versions of software they are written about. There are often documentation cds out there, like for redhat 7.3 they should be downloadable if you have a fast connection, or available at places like cheapbytes.com or http://www.linuxcentral.com/ or similar places, if your connection is dialup. Some people like the material at linuxnewbie.org , or slashdot.org .