Section 1.9. Standards


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1.9. Standards

In "the old days," a computer ran an operating system that was designed and developed to run only on that specific computer. Another computer built by another company ran a different operating system, so not only was it difficult to move application software to another system, it was difficult to even use the other system if you didn't already know the operating system.

When UNIX, the predecessor and inspiration for Linux, was created, the authors wrote a great deal of the code in the C programming language. This made it relatively easy to port UNIX to different hardware platforms. This is an important benefit and has contributed a great deal to the proliferation and success of UNIX.

Over time, this portability led to the definition of a standard for the interfaces and behavior of a "portable operating system." Today, POSIX 1003.1 is the standard for UNIX and UNIX-like operating systems and is maintained by IEEE and The Open Group. Because Linux implements this POSIX standard, it "looks and feels" like a UNIX system even though no code[1] from any UNIX implementation is used in Linux. For more information about UNIX standards, visit the following web sites:

[1] A pending lawsuit by SCO against IBM disputes this. SCO alleges that IBM has used some original UNIX code in their distribution(s) of Linux. Should this turn out to be true, the code will most certainly be removed, so even if this is an issue, it is only a temporary one.

http://www.ieee.org

http://www.opengroup.org

http://www.unix.org




Linux for Programmers and Users
Linux for Programmers and Users
ISBN: 0131857487
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2007
Pages: 339

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