hello everybody,

I know of some websites were i can download unix. 1.) I was thinking is there a difference between unix and linux. After this post i will see if there are any sites that i can download linux from. 2.) is there a particular version of unix i should be downloading 3.) what is the best version of linux free or paid for. 4.) any download sites anyone can add will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks everybody!

Where are you downloading a UNIX from? Most likely, it's pirated, and I would not fool with it. UNIX systems normally cost mucho $$$, and finding it for free (with the exception of Sun's Free Solaris binary program) is probably not legal.

But, let me clear up a few misconceptions. There are different versions of UNIX and Linux. Under UNIX, Solaris, AIX, HP-UX, Unixware, and OpenServer are some examples. For Linux, Slackware, Red Hat, Debian, and Mandrake are some there. You could just about buy any of the Linux distributions that I listed, but I've downloaded them all (legally, for free), run them, and I don't feel like I've missed anything buy not having bought the version. However, I have bought distros in the past, because I've wanted to support open source causes.

That's really all it boils down to-- if you like it, pay some money for it to keep the authors going. Many of them don't ask for donations, but I'm sure they wouldn't turn them away.

Even for a newbie, as long as your willing to read some directions you could handle gentoo :)

Linux download site:

www.linuxiso.org


Which particular flavor of Linux you choose is really up to you; everyone who uses Linux has their own opinion on that one. ;)

what are the major differences between unix and linux?

As Alex mentioned, most versions of UNIX cost big bucks, while most versions of Linux can be downloaded for no cost or disks can be purchased for very little cost.

You are free to copy and share your Linux disks with as many people as you wish, and/or install Linux on as many computers as you wish.

Because it is quickly becoming a poplular "desktop" operating system, Linux has a much broader range of support for the numerous hardware devices (of the sort that the average user might want to have on their system) than does UNIX.

Bugs, security holes, etc. tend to get fixed much faster than do those in commercial operating systems, including UNIX.

There are slight variations in command syntax, filesystem structures, and other "under the hood" elements of the two operating systems, but the differences aren't generally large enough really call them differences.

Thanks, that was an excellant web adress for the different linux to download. I am going to research on a few and download one. This site should be visited by anyone interested in downloading a version of linux. Thanks again!!

dont forget to md5sum the packages after download to make sure that they are all good downloads or you may end up wasint money on blank cd's only to find out that file you downloaded was bad.

Thanks, that was an excellant web adress for the different linux to download. I am going to research on a few and download one. This site should be visited by anyone interested in downloading a version of linux. Thanks again!!

Your're welcome; glad we could help.

In terms of K_T's suggestion of verifying the MD5sums- that's a very good idea, regardless of which version of Linux you download (or which site you download it from). The MD5sums program will verify that your iso images didn't get corrupted during the download. The linuxiso.org site I linked to has more info on the MD5sums program and its usage.

Linux download site:

www.linuxiso.org


Which particular flavor of Linux you choose is really up to you; everyone who uses Linux has their own opinion on that one. ;)

Where has this website been all my life!?! Thanks for sharing it. What a 1 stop shopping site that is. Any particular favorite you'd recommend? I like Mandrake the best, but I've really only tried Red Hat and Mandrake. I currently use Mandrake 10 and have used it since version 6 I believe.

Tim Cummings
:D

linuxiso.org has been around for a long time. I'm glad you found it useful; it really is a "Linux supermarket", isn't it?

In terms of which distro- that's always a personal preference. Also, because the distros are always maturing and improving, what was the "best" distro last year may not be today. I prefer the Sys V-based distros (RH, SuSE, Mandrake, etc.) as opposed to the BSD-ish ones such as Slackware, but that's just me.

hello everybody,

I know of some websites were i can download unix. 1.) I was thinking is there a difference between unix and linux. After this post i will see if there are any sites that i can download linux from. 2.) is there a particular version of unix i should be downloading 3.) what is the best version of linux free or paid for. 4.) any download sites anyone can add will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks everybody!

unix: not free, few systems run it anymore, not as big as a community as before
linux: gpl signing edit away, free, highly supported, highly customizable

i suggest debian or slackware, debian is for new users butis very powerful, slackware is for more experianced or the fearless with lots of time on their hands

so, generally, Linux is a freeware branch of unix??? am i correct?

xlulux: Do your homework, Bub. There *are* some flavors of UNIX that are free (see my last post in this thread) and widely used.

As far as hardware support, NetBSD runs on pretty much anything, and I've got FreeBSD to work on hardware that Linux didn't have support for.

Linux is NOT a freeware branch of UNIX. It's a completely seperate operating system that was derived from MINIX.

Before making another arbitrary derogatory comment about a particular operating system, I highly suggest doing some research on the subject first to learn at least *some* facts about it so you at least sound like you have a clue about what you're talking about.

Solaris is also a decent price last time I looked a month or so ago the full solaris media kit (books, install, oracle, extra software) cost $89, if you wanted to save money you can just download the ISO's for $20. Solaris is Unix, it is very powerful and fairly easy as unix variants go, however, it is poorly supported on x86 platforms you have to have specific hardware, on the other hand solaris 10 is coming out really soon and that has much better hardware support.

I only mention it to show that not all unix variants are over priced, in reality for a new user I would recommend freebsd or linux, in terms of linux distributions, I like gentoo but that is a more advanced distro for a new user I always recommend suse simple easy to use and very powerful, once you are familiar you can always change distros to something more advanced, slackware, debian (debian isn't for new users, debian is mostly aimed at more advanced users), gentoo (in my opinion the best since everything can be compiled from source allowing you to size every possible optimisation from your system).

HTH

Ben

Before making another arbitrary derogatory comment about a particular operating system, I highly suggest doing some research on the subject first to learn at least *some* facts about it so you at least sound like you have a clue about what you're talking about.

My, my... are'nt we a bit grumpy...

so, generally, Linux is a freeware branch of unix??? am i correct?

I was asking for clarification because I wanted myself corrected if ever i misunderstood the discussion... and yes, I did misunderstand... :!:

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