What is this Unix stuff?

Unix is a computer operating system originally developed in 1969 by a group of AT&T employees at Bell Labs.

Unix and Unix-like operating systems are widely used in both servers and workstations today. The Unix environment and the client-server program model were essential elements in the development of the Internet and the reshaping of computing as centered in networks rather than in individual computers.

Under a 1956 consent decree in settlement of an antitrust case, AT&T (the parent organization of Bell Labs) was forbidden from entering the computer business. Unix could not, therefore, be turned into a commercial product under the terms of the consent decree, Bell Labs was required to license its nontelephone technology to anyone who asked for it.

In 1983, the U.S. Department of Justice settled its second antitrust case against AT&T and broke up the Bell System. This relieved AT&T from the 1956 consent decree that had prevented them from turning Unix into a product. AT&T promptly rushed to commercialize the Unix System V, a move that ironically very nearly killed Unix.

In 1991 Linus Torvalds released a version of Unix named "Linux" as free software. Linux distributions, comprising Linux and large collections of compatible software have become popular both with individual users and in business. Popular distributions, some with rather esoteric names, include Red Hat Enterprise Linux, Fedora, SUSE Linux Enterprise, openSUSE, Debian GNU/Linux, Ubuntu, Mandriva Linux, Slackware Linux and Gentoo.

Mac OS X is also a Unix system developed by Apple Inc.

Linux and BSD are now rapidly occupying much of the market traditionally occupied by proprietary Unix operating systems, as well as expanding into new markets such as the consumer desktop and mobile and embedded devices.

We at Mousley Consulting, Inc. are not only closely watching the "Open Source" software initiative, but are dabbling in it as well, having set up a server running the Ubuntu operating system with OpenDocMan and OpenClinica web applications. Furthermore, we have set up a laptop running Ubuntu to serve as our test bed client.

The allure? The software is free, the source is readily available and customizable, and it is supported by hundreds (if not thousands) of developers/experts.

Stay tuned! We will continue to explore "alternates" to the perceived high cost of Microsoft software and discuss our findings in this space.

Have you used Unix and/or Open Source software? If so, what do you think?