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Sunil Varma
Sunil Varma

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Kernel Chronicles – From Unix -> Linux -> Android 


UNIX (Bell Labs, 1969)
│
├── BSD (Berkeley Software Distribution, 1978)
│     ├── FreeBSD
│     ├── NetBSD
│     └── OpenBSD
│
├── System V (AT&T UNIX, 1983)
│     ├── SVR1/2/3
│     │      ├── Xenix
│     │      └── SCO UNIX
│     └── SVR4 (merged BSD + System V features)
│            ├── Solaris (SunOS → Solaris)
│            ├── HP-UX
│            ├── AIX (IBM)
│            ├── SCO UnixWare
│            └── Others
│
├── Linux Kernel (1991, written from scratch by Linux Torvalds)
│     │
│     ├── Debian
│     │      ├── Ubuntu
│     │      │      ├── Linux Mint
│     │      │      ├── Pop!_OS
│     │      │      ├── Elementary OS
│     │      │      └── Zorin OS
│     │      └── Kali Linux
│     │
│     ├── Red Hat
│     │      ├── Fedora
│     │      ├── RHEL
│     │      ├── CentOS Stream
│     │      ├── Rocky Linux
│     │      └── AlmaLinux
│     │
│     ├── Arch
│     │      ├── Arch Linux
│     │      ├── Manjaro
│     │      └── EndeavourOS
│     │
│     └── Android (Linux kernel + Google framework)
│
└── Mach microkernel (CMU)
       │
       └── NeXTSTEP (1988, Steve Jobs’ NeXT)
             │
             └── Darwin (Apple’s OS core: Mach + BSD)
                   │
                   ├── XNU Kernel (Mach + BSD + I/O Kit)
                   │
                   ├── macOS
                   ├── iOS
                   ├── iPadOS
                   ├── watchOS
                   └── tvOS
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A Brief Introduction to Unix

Unix, developed in the 1970s, laid the foundation for modern operating systems. It introduced concepts like multi-user support, hierarchical file systems, and a modular kernel design — ideas that inspired many OSes that followed.

BSD – Unix Reimagined

The Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD) took Unix’s core ideas and created a free, open-source family of operating systems. FreeBSD, OpenBSD, and NetBSD emerged from BSD, each focusing on performance, security, or portability.

Linux – Inspired by Unix

Linux, starting in 1991 with Linus Torvalds’ kernel, is a Unix-like system built from scratch. Unlike BSD, Linux is just a kernel — distributions combine it with software, desktop environments, and package managers to create complete OSes.

macOS – BSD Meets Apple

Apple’s macOS has roots in BSD through NeXTSTEP. It combines a Unix-based kernel with Apple’s proprietary software and graphical interface, giving users a polished, Unix-compliant experience.

Linux Distros and Their Families

Linux distributions (distros) are grouped into families based on their base system:

Debian Family: Debian → Ubuntu → Pop!_OS, Linux Mint

Red Hat Family: Red Hat → Fedora → CentOS / Rocky Linux / AlmaLinux

Arch Family: Arch → Manjaro → EndeavourOS

Independent / Others: Slackware, Gentoo

Linux Distributions – From Kernel to Complete OS

Linux itself is just a kernel — a core that manages hardware, memory, processes, and basic system operations. By itself, it’s not a complete operating system you can directly use.

To turn the kernel into a full OS, developers package it with software, libraries, desktop environments, and utilities. These complete systems are what we call Linux distributions (distros).

Families, Flavors, and Derivatives:

  1. Debian Family

  • Base: Debian

  • Package Manager: apt / .deb packages

  • Derived Distributions:

  • Debian based distros: Ubuntu, Kali

  • Ubuntu-based distros: Linux Mint, Pop!_OS, Elementary OS

  1. Red Hat Family

  • Base: Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)

  • Package Manager: dnf / yum / .rpm packages

  • Derived Distributions:

  • Fedora

  • CentOS

  • Rocky Linux

  • AlmaLinux

  1. Arch Family

  • Base: Arch Linux

  • Package Manager: pacman

  • Derived Distributions:

  • Manjaro

  • EndeavourOS

I have covered only the major 3 Linux families in use today. There are many more and that itself can be made as a very long book. So, just keep in mind that the world of Linux Distributions is very very very huge and is not just limited to above three.

Each distro inherits traits from its parent but adds its own tools, philosophies, and user experience, giving users a wide range of choices depending on their needs and preferences.

All this content was put up according to my understanding of the evolution of unix and distro's of linux. If you think something is incorrect, please feel free to share your view in the comments. Thanks!

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