What is the difference between linux and unix commands?

Question

I am new to linux / unix world .... Are Linux commands similar to unix commands? Perhaps you can answer another question: can I use ubuntu to practice commands on Unix? Thanks!

Answer 1

The basic command line utilities on Linux are very similar to their traditional UNIX versions, albeit with many extensions and occasional incompatibilities. If you just want to understand the philosophy and feel how to use the command line and program in a shell of a Unix-like OS, any Linux distribution, including Ubuntu, will work just fine.

Linux is a Unix-like operating system; it follows many of the basic principles of UNIX, but it is not a certified UNIX derivative. However, specific efforts have been made to be as compatible as possible with the POSIX standard , which describes, among other things, the behavior of command-line utilities on UNIX operating systems.

Most (all?) Linux distributions ship with the GNU user space (e.g. GNU Bash and GNU coreutils ). In most cases, the behavior is similar to the behavior specified by the POSIX standard - setting the POSIXLY_CORRECT environment POSIXLY_CORRECT will cause some tools to more stringently comply with the specification.

In general, GNU utilities are more efficient than those that are closer to tradition on operating systems (such as BSD) because they are extended by POSIX . This means that the script shell created for * BSD sh is more likely to work on Linux than vice versa, although there are no guarantees.

Answer 2

Linux commands come from the GNU operating system, where GNU means "GNU Not Unix." However, GNU commands have been replaced and are often compatible with older Unix commands. Thus, GNU / Linux command line experience should be very similar to using other Unix-like operating systems.

But if you want a more purist experience, perhaps you should try FreeBSD, which is a direct descendant of the old Unix.

Answer 3

They are almost the same, and yes, using Linux (with a Ubuntu distribution or whatever) is a good way to learn about Linux / Unix.

Answer 4

Yes, you can use Ubuntu to use UNIX syntax.

No, they are not exactly the same. But if you need to practice your UNIX skills, it will take you some time to find the noticeable differences. And you can learn some really important things, because (rather subtle) differences begin to arise.

Go for it!