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Date:      Fri, 3 Oct 2003 11:04:14 -0400 (EDT)
From:      Jerry McAllister <jerrymc@clunix.cl.msu.edu>
To:        freebsd-questions@freebsd.org
Subject:   Re: FreeBSD vs. RedHat
Message-ID:  <200310031504.h93F4EUa022138@clunix.cl.msu.edu>
In-Reply-To: <3F7C6E86.6090906@bigfoot.com>

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> 
> >>
> >>
> >>FreeBSD is a child of System V, so UNIX.  Linux was written from scratch 
> >>by Linus with the GNU Public License, as opposed to FreeBSD which 
> >>originated from BSD, which originated from System V.
> > 
> > No doubt you will hear a lot of corrections to your statement.
> > That is because it is not true.    First of all, System V is a UNIX,
> > but UNIX is not a System V.   You sound like you have confused which
> > set is the larger and contains the other set.   The set of all UNIX 
> > contains System V (and BSD and Linux).   The set of all System V does
> 
>    you can't say that linux is unix. both legally (somebody would have 
> to pay) and because it's independent implementation. you can call them 
> unix-like

Technically correct, but everybody still says it that way, just
like almost everyone calls a Canon or other brand photo copier
a xerox machine and other brands of geletin dessert jello.   As
long as they keep the distinction clear in their official paper-work
the remaining misstatements will go by the wayside and cause no
misunderstanding.

> ...
> > Linux started with supposedly a "clean" (in the same sense that BSD
> > was cleaned of Bell Labs code) System V type of kernel and people then
> > added on all the rest of the stuff, also supposedly clean code.  Now
> > Linux seems to be in the same place BSD was years ago proving they
> > are clean and not using any code now owned by SCO.   I have no idea
> > how clean it really is or how seriously SCO is in its claims or if
> > it is just trying to position itself into a marketable position.
> 
>    the difference is that linux started from scratch while bsd started 
> from bell code. not that it makes one or the other better but you can 
> say that bsd IS unix (one of them) but you cannot say that linux is unix.

The original BSD UNIX could legitimately be called UNIX as it came from 
Bell code.    But, you can't really say that the Open-software BSDs are 
UNIX because even though they have a memory of Bell code, they got cleaned 
of it to eliminate the legal problems and essentially were re-written from 
scratch.   And Linux has some memory of System V even if it is clean of 
ATT->SCO owned code regardless of it supposedly being written from scratch.   
BSDs are about as scratch as Linuxen, but have memories of different and 
somewhat earlier families of UNIX.

////jerry

> 
> 	erik
> 

--h93Eo3Og022073.1065192603/clunix.cl.msu.edu--




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