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Chapter 1

This document provides an overview of the UNIX operating system. It defines UNIX as a popular operating system that runs on hardware, with files and programs stored on disk. When programs execute, they become processes in memory. UNIX supports a hierarchical directory structure and sharing of resources like CPU time and memory. It includes many utilities and allows communication between processes. The main varieties of UNIX are System V and BSD, with sub-varieties including Linux, Solaris, and OS X. Philosophies of UNIX include using pipes to connect processes and the super user role.

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28 views

Chapter 1

This document provides an overview of the UNIX operating system. It defines UNIX as a popular operating system that runs on hardware, with files and programs stored on disk. When programs execute, they become processes in memory. UNIX supports a hierarchical directory structure and sharing of resources like CPU time and memory. It includes many utilities and allows communication between processes. The main varieties of UNIX are System V and BSD, with sub-varieties including Linux, Solaris, and OS X. Philosophies of UNIX include using pipes to connect processes and the super user role.

Uploaded by

Josh Evans
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Chapter 1

What is UNIX?

Graham Glass and King Ables,


UNIX for Programmers and Users,
Third Edition, Pearson Prentice Hall, 2003.

Original Notes by Raj Sunderraman


Converted to presentation and updated by
Michael Weeks
Computer Systems
 Computer System : Hardware + Software
 Hardware: CPU, Memory (RAM/ROM), Disk drives,
CD-ROM drives, Monitor, Graphics card, Keyboard,
Mouse, Printer, Tape drive, Modem, Ethernet
interface, Other peripherals.
 Software: Operating System, Application Programs
 UNIX is the name of a popular operating system.
Unix
Hardware provides a framework for executing
programs and storing files
 File: collection of data normally stored on
disk.
 Program: collection of instructions/data that
is stored in a file.
Process
 When a program is executed, it is loaded into memory.
It is called a process when it is executing.

 Most processes read/write data from/to files

 Processes and files have an owner

 UNIX supports hierarchical directory structure

Files and processes have a location within the


directory structure

UNIX provides the capabilities to create, modify and


destroy files, programs, and processes.
Unix Attributes
Sharing of resources: CPU (time slices), memory
(pages), disk (blocks)

Communication: process-device controller, process-


process, etc. (pipes 1-way, sockets 2-way)

Utilities: Unix comes with a large collection of utilities;


we will study many of these.

 Programmer support: All kinds of compilers available;


Access to parallel processing, file handling and
interprocess communication via System calls in C
Two Main Varieties of Unix

 System V (AT&T) and


 BSD (Berkeley Standard Distribution)
 Both are merged now. SunOS, IRIX, AIX, HP-UX
have features from both varieties although most
are System V Unix.
 Other Unix versions you may have heard of:
 Linux (Fedora, Red Hat, Ubuntu, SUSE, etc.)
 Sun Java Desktop OS, Solaris
 Apple OS/X
Sub-Varieties of Unix

 Linux (Runs on PC architecture)


 Fedora
 Red Hat
 Ubuntu
 Sun Java Desktop OS, etc.
 Sun Solaris (Runs on SPARC architecture)
 Apple OS/X (Runs on PowerPC and Intel platforms)
Philosophies of Unix
 Pipe mechanism
 Output of one process can be used as input for
another process. e.g.
 $ who | sort

 Using the pipe mechanism, complex tasks can be


broken down into simpler ones and combined using
pipes etc.
 Super user
 user who has complete control over the system
resources. Typically the System's Administrator.
Review
 Computer Systems
 Unix as an operating system
 Processes
 Unix Attributes
 Unix Varieties
 Unix Philosophies

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