Unix/Linux Training

A Short History of UNIX/Linux

In 1969, Bell Labs used a computer operating system named Multics; however it did not deliver a usable system. This single user operating system worked for Bell Labs, but was not practical for an external audience. The search was on to develop a communal computing environment to encourage close communications between users. The first version of the new operating system was brainstormed by 3 people and implemented by Ken Thompson in just 2 days. They named it UNIX as a play on words from Multics.

In 1971, the first application for UNIX was an ancestor to nroff which was used to support word processing for Bell Labs patent department. By 1972, there were 10 installations of UNIX.

The early versions of UNIX were written in assembly language. Evolving from an interpreted language called B, a new high level language called C was developed by Dennis Ritchie. In 1973, Thompson and Ritchie used C to rewrite UNIX.

In 1974, UC Berkeley began investigating and learning UNIX. By 1977, they released the first version of BSD which included the first version of the text editor called "vi".

The beginnings of the UNIX industry started in 1978 with Santa Cruz Operation. Even Microsoft shipped a UNIX product called Xenix in 1980.

In 1983, Richard Stallman founded the GNU Project with a goal of developing an open-source UNIX-like operating system. By the early 1990s, the libraries, compilers, text editors and shell were in place. It only lacked the Kernel. With the addition of the Mach Microkernel all the parts were in place.

In 1991 a Finnish university student named Linus Torvalds developed a new operating system on his personal computer to replace Minix which disallowed extensions. Originally, this operating system was named "Freax". With the help of Ari Lemmke, it was renamed to Linux.

Initial versions of Linux required Minix for the installation. It even required another OS just to boot up from hard disk.

Over time, Linux surpassed Minix in functionality. Linux adopted a powerful set of GNU software utilities organized by the Free Software Foundation.

UNIX/Linux Today

Today, Linux is a freely distributable open-source operating system that runs on all popular platforms. The brilliance of GNU/Linux is that anyone can improve on it, to the benefit of everyone. There are many dozens of different distributions of Linux available for free, including Ubuntu, Gentoo, Fedora, CentOS, Slackware. Each distribution has its own major features and goals; some try to be all-graphical in appearance and configuration, while others try to be true to the original UNIX philosophy of command-line interaction for total control of the system.

There are also many commercial editions of Linux including Red Hat, SUSE, Conectiva, Debian, LinuxPPC and Mandrake Soft.

Why Should You Learn UNIX?

UNIX-like operating systems are at the heart of so many devices we use today. Many of the largest web servers on the Internet are UNIX/Linux based. Macs are UNIX based today, as are many network devices (routers, cable modems, firewalls) and even a variety of hand-held computers and cell phones. Understanding the commands and concepts of UNIX can take you a long way - both now and in the future.

Linux now runs on virtually all computing platforms. It is becoming more and more popular for its ease of use, power, and resistance to viruses and other attacks.

Most Linux training courses are 5 days long. Fastech Learning Center will enable you to be productive with UNIX/Linux in just 2 days. Our hands-on, instructor led, high tech industry tested training will give you the skills you need to use Linux in just a few days and for a reasonable cost. Your improved Linux skills will save money in the long run.

You can spend many non-productive hours trying to teach yourself an operating system. You will end up with many misconceptions and holes in your knowledge. The result will be inadequate use of powerful utilities.

See Also

Check out our curriculums for detailed course suggestions depending on your background and interests.