Summary

You have learned about the structure and components of UNIX. You will find this background information useful as you move on to Chapters 2, 3, and 4, where you will learn how to use the basic features and capabilities of UNIX, such as files and directories, basic commands, and the shell. This chapter has described the birth, history, and evolution of UNIX. In particular, you learned about the evolution of UNIX System V, the Berkeley Software Distribution, GNU, and Linux. Then you became acquainted with the modern history of UNIX, including descriptions of the important standards in the UNIX world. This chapter then covered the origins and features of many important UNIX variants, including Linux, Solaris, FreeBSD, AIX, Mac OS X, HP-UX, and others. The chapter also compared and contrasted the UNIX System and Windows NT. (Chapter 18 will tell you how to use UNIX and Windows together.) Finally, this chapter briefly explored the possible future of UNIX and proffered advice on selecting a UNIX variant that can meet your needs.