Before understanding Linux, I realized I first needed to understand Unix.
In my previous article, I shared how installing Ubuntu completely changed the way I thought about operating systems.
As I started learning Linux, one word kept appearing everywhere:
Unix.
People would say things like:
"Linux is Unix-like."
or
"macOS is based on Unix."
That made me wonder:
If Unix already existed, why was Linux created?
To answer that question, I had to go back more than 50 years.
Computing Before Unix
In the 1960s, computers were very different from what we use today.
A computer was a huge machine shared by many users, and every manufacturer had its own operating system.
Programs written for one computer often wouldn't run on another.
There was no common way to interact with computers.
The Birth of Unix
In 1969, researchers at Bell Labs, including Ken Thompson and later Dennis Ritchie, started building a new operating system.
Their goal wasn't to create something complicated.
They wanted an operating system that was:
Simple
Reliable
Portable
Easy for programmers to use
That operating system became Unix.
Many ideas introduced by Unix are still part of modern operating systems today.
Ideas That Changed Computing
Unix wasn't just another operating system.
It introduced ideas that have survived for decades.
For example:
Everything is treated like a file.
Programs should do one job well.
Programs should work together using pipes (|).
Multi-user systems.
Multi-tasking.
A command-line shell.
When I learned Linux commands like grep, sort, cat, and pipes, I realized these ideas actually came from Unix.
Then Why Didn't Everyone Use Unix?
This was my next question.
If Unix was so good, why do we have Linux today?
The answer is licensing.
Unix was owned by AT&T.
Over time, using Unix became expensive because companies had to purchase licenses.
Many universities and developers wanted an operating system they could study, modify, and share freely.
That problem eventually inspired the creation of projects like GNU and later Linux.
We'll talk about those in the next articles.
What I Learned
Before writing this article, I thought Unix was simply an old operating system.
Now I understand something much more important.
Unix wasn't just software.
It introduced ideas that still influence Linux, macOS, Android, and many other operating systems today.
Learning Linux without understanding Unix felt like reading Chapter 2 without reading Chapter 1.
I'm glad I went back to learn the history first.
What's Next?
In the next article, we'll answer one of the questions that confused me the most:
Is Linux an operating system, or is it just a kernel?
See you in Linux from Scratch #2.
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