6 ms·

Hell, the Linux kernel isn't very unix-ish. It's a kernel.

• qubex 10y ago
  The Linux kernel might not be “very UNIX-ish” but the GNU/Linux integrated system clearly adheres to the basic UNIX philosophy (multi-user, everything-is-a-file, userland shell, non-mandatory non-privileged GUI). Not all OSes have these same foundational pillars. What I meant to express is that Linux does whereas others (as disjoint as Genera, Windows NT, BeOS Amiga) don't.
  • digi_owl 10y ago
    In a sense Linux is more "unix" than most, as it seems to expose via virtual file systems what other _nix expose via APIs.
    • duaneb 10y ago
      In this sense, plan 9 is more unix than unix....
• digi_owl 10y ago
  In that sense the original UNIX kernel was not very unix-ish either. The unix philosophy to a large degree exempts the kernel, as few people will be directly interacting with it during daily usage.
  • qubex 10y ago
    You're referring to /proc and (more recently) /sys I presume. I'm sure you're aware of Plan9 that takes the everything-is-a-file idea to the logical extreme using it as a universal namespace by means of the P9000 (?) protocol (going way off-topic here).
    • lobster_johnson 10y ago
      9P? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/9P_(protocol) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/9P_(protocol)
    • digi_owl 10y ago
      Yes i am aware, and i suspect the Linux devs were in part inspired by that (Linux may even support 9P, iirc). Plan 9 was pretty much about taking the "everything is a file" thinking to its logical end point. Meaning that you could even manipulate individual GUI windows via the FS. I was simply musing that Linux may have taken the concept further than the BSDs while still being "unix". I can't say i ever got the impression that Plan 9 was intended to be posix compatible for instance.