What is the relationship between Unix, Linux, Ubuntu, and Debian?
I suspect they are all Operating Systems that are based upon one another – similar to how Windows is based on DOS. Is my suspicion correct? Do these operating systems have the same type of relationship with each other as Windows has with DOS? Are they related to DOS or Windows in any way?
Solution:
Unix is an Operating System developed starting in 1969. It was originally designed to be a developer station rather than application platform, but, as development progressed and different vendors got involved, Unix was added to.
Unix was initially written in assembly, but later developed into C.
In relation to the others, the Linux kernel is Unix-like.
Linux is a Unix-like kernel. It was initially developed by Linus Torvalds through the 1990s. This kernel was used in the initial software releases by the Free Software Movement to compile a new Operating System. The kernel is responsible for managing the systems resources and allocating them to applications.
Note here despite many of its releases being referred to as ‘Linux’ this is a specific aspect which makes up the Operating System along with the text editor, compiler, debugger etc and not an Operating System in its own right.
Debian is one of the forms of this Operating System released in the early 1990s as is one of the most popular of the many versions of Linux available today.
Ubuntu is another Operating System which was released in 2004 and is based on the Debian Operating System. It is very popular because is is easy to learn without the need to use the terminal.
- Linux: Kernel (Still in active development)
- Debian: Early Operating System to Ubuntu (Still in active development)
- Ubuntu: Newer Operating System based on Debian (Still in active development)
- Unix: An old Operating System which the Linux kernel loosely based on
Reading: Linux Kernel
Reading Debian
Reading Ubuntu
Reading: Unix
If you are really interested in learning the history behind all this I recommend a film called Revolution OS, which goes into a lot of the history behind the development of this free software movement.