This is probably a real newbie question but I am exactly that so I'll ask it anyways.

Can anyone tell me what the heck the difference is between UNIX and Linux. I am failing to figure it out on my own.

Thanks,

Unix is written in an assembly language so it's designed to work with very specific hardware. Another words it's form fit to the system. But Linux is written in C which is very protable and adaptable so it works just about everywhere.

Unix has been written in C since version 6 (the kernel... most of the apps sans assembler by version 7). That's 1973 for the kernel being ported to C... in case you were wondering.

The fact that it was written in C was the reason it took off so much. It would be wrong to say that Unix is written in assembly anymore than Linux is written in assembly. Some chunks are written in assembly but the majority of both operating systems are in C.

Note: Technically Unix is any system which conforms to the standard and has paid for certification saying that and thus has the right to use Unix (which is a registered trademark) in their product name and description.

Unix has several variants and Linux is a copy of a copy of one style. Basically... linux is very close. The differences are going to be as dramatic as the differences between AIX and solaris (which are both Unix trademarked). In short... everything is different and almost nothing is different.

Linux doesn't share any lines of code with unix (at least it had better not or SCO is right) but it does act in a manner similar to any "real" Unix system you would find.

For more information about what it takes to be a "real" Unix... look at the following page. http://www.unix.org/version3/

This is the updated standard all systems must conform to if they want to be Unix 3 compliant. Then they pay (huge megabucks) and get certified that they meet this standard... and they can be called Unix. The old one (Unix 98) is where most commercial Unix products fall today. I don't know if any have got the updated certification.