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Unix Compatibility

What is UN*X? - UNIX is a powerful CLI (Command Line Interface) operating system, that basically means that it looks (but only looks) like DOS (Sorry, that's the easiest way I could explain it). It was originally designed to be run on powerful servers in large businesses, but it sort of disappeared back into the server rooms when the personal computer came onto the market because personal computers weren't powerful enough to run it, and also because it was not the easiest operating system to use.

I thought it was UNIX, what's with the asterisk? - in computer terms an asterisk is a wildcard, just like in card games, meaning that you can replace it with whatever you want. UNIX is a specific operating system, but UN*X means that is is similar to UNIX, but not the same (Note: you'll sometimes also seen it written as *NIX). UNIX is actually a product name, so developers of UNIX-like operating systems had to make sure that the names that they picked were not the same, but at the same time most wanted the name to imply that it was like UNIX (a good example is Linux), but the term UN*X is used to imply any type of UNIX-like operating system.

Why would I want to be compatible with UN*X? - That's a good question, UN*X has become increasingly more popular now that personal computers are powerful enough to handle it (most personal computers actually benefit from the use of it), you may have heard of Linux which is by far the most popular of UN*X operating systems. Also, MacOS X (which will be the primary operating system for new Macintosh computers) runs ontop of a UN*X operating system (in this case FreeBSD 4.4 I think), this doesn't mean that you will have to learn UN*X to use MacOS X... No, MacOS X retains the ease of use and file system of other versions of the MacOS, but there is also a free version of it called Darwin which will undoubtedly continue to be used by many people. Basically, you don't really have to have UN*X compatibility, but it sure can't hurt, and to put it simply: UN*X is back.

What are the ways of being compatible with UN*X? - The following is a list of things you can do to be compatible with UN*X operating systems:

  • Install a UN*X OS on your Mac
  • Set up a computer with a UN*X OS on it on your network or the Internet
  • Get an SSH and/or Telnet client
  • Get a TAR application
  • Get a GZip application
  • etc

How do I install a UN*X OS on my Mac? - First I'd suggest going to Free UNIX For Your Macintosh and finding a UN*X OS which will work on your Mac. The following list is also provided so that you may research them separately in case they aren't listed on the previously mentioned site:

As for the actual installation of the UN*X operating system, that really depends on the specific OS which you intend on installing. Some such as MINIX and Mac06 don't require a separate partition on your hard disk (if you don't know how to partition then don't partition a hard drive with valuable data on it, you will most likely lose it in the process of trying to repartition). The following is a list of sites which I am collecting which document the installation procedures for different UN*Xs on Macintosh hardware:

I'm still in the midst of writing this page, if you want to see it get done faster, please bug me about it.