Is Mac Linux or Unix?
So I have seen people asking and saying that mac is just linux, Is this true?
Or unix.
7 replies
It's Unix.
It is most definitely not Linux. Although you can take a lot of open source software written for "Linux" and compile it on OS X if you have the right tools. It is more UNIX than not UNIX, although you'll read arguments about how much "UNIX" OS X actually is. It mostly comes down to what the critiquer considers to be "true UNIX" but I will tell you that it is a fact Apple achieved UNIX certification for OS X and it is The Open Group UNIX® 03 certified.
Can you explain why it isnt linux?
Because it does not use Linus Torvalds' Open Source Kernel:
Linux (
i/ˈlɪnəks/ lin-əks[6][7] or /ˈliːnʊks/ lee-nuuks)[8][9][10] is a Unix-like and POSIX-compliant computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of Linux is the Linux kernel,[11] an operating system kernel first released on 5 October 1991 by Linus Torvalds.[12][13]
Linux and Darwin (the Kernel behind OS X) are rooted in Unix, but they are not the same because of their path of development.
DARWIN = BSD (aka FreeBSD, the Unix base) + NeXTStep Additions + Apple Specific Enhancements & Tweaks
Linux is also based off of UNIX but not BSD. See this graphic. (By Guillem, Wereon, Hotmocha / Public Domain / Wikipedia)
But they still has the same basis in Unix with much of the same terminal commands. The difference being (options and syntax are different in some cases) and some commands in Darwin may not exist in Linux Kernel and vise versa and of course all the Apple specific enhancements for interoperability with devices like iPhone, iPad, AppleTV, AppleWatch, AirPort, etc.
Hope that helps.
Like others have stated earlier, it's UNIX and not Linux. Though there are obvious similarities at the command line between Linux and Apple's variant of UNIX, you have to remember that Linux is open-source. OS X is not open-source.
Is Mac Linux or Unix?