Trying to learn UNIX!!! For Mac OS X!

[nietzsche2131]

Well I'm trying to learn UNIX. But for the mac I heard that is different, i.e some of the commands are a tad different from linux/unix. I've looked at amazon for some book about this topic. The O'Reilly one, Unix for Mac OS X looks good. But, if somebody could a site to learn basic command line in mac os x that would be sweet thanks for your time.

[Viro]

Mac OS X is uses the BSD tools. If you have a site on BSD Unix (FreeBSD, NetBSD, etc), it'll be more helpful than sites for Linux.

[spb]

I'm coming to Mac from the GNU/Linux. I like the Mac, but it is different from UNIX/Linux.

It is more than just BSD vesus SysV, many of the commands are overridden by the Mac OS. For example, the "hostname" command is used the change the name of the computer in GNU/Linux and UNIX. In OSX, you can run hostname in terminal, but when you exit terminal it reverts back to what you have in the OSX preferences.

I'm not saying that this is bad, but I would say that Mac is not UNIX.

If you want to learn UNIX/Linux, I'd suggest that you get a cheap (used) PC and install one of the free OS's. Slackware GNU/Linux and FreeBSD are both BSD based so that you can learn more about the basis that OSX is built on.

[Andrew Adamson]

I did a quick search and found this site. Probably does the trick for what you want.

http://www.ss64.com/osx/

You can usually find what you are looking for by using the 'apropos' command. If you want to find the command that changes the group permissions on a file, for example, just type in 'apropos group' and see what comes back. Use 'man' to see the manual page on any command you are interested in learning more about.

Without a doubt, Darwin commands and Linux commands are different (Apple goes so far as to say 'Mac is NOT Unix'). But for the basic user, the similarities are much more numerous than the differences.

[spb]

Originally Posted by Andrew Adamson

Without a doubt, Darwin commands and Linux commands are different (Apple goes so far as to say 'Mac is NOT Unix'). But for the basic user, the similarities are much more numerous than the differences.

Compared to MSWindows yes, OSX and UNIX are similar. Comparing namebrand UNIX/Linux OS's and OSX, the slew of UNIX/Linux OS's have more in common with one another than with OSX. OSX is built on UNIX, but it adds to it, which gives the OS a different feel.

My recommendation to nietzsche2131 and others is that they learn UNIX from one of the free *NIX's and then apply the principles to OSX. The analogy that comes to mind is someone wanting to learn about automobile mechanics. You can learn by working with a vintage 1970's machine or a modern model. They both work on the same principle, but there is so much electronic augmentation to the 2005 automobile compared to the older models that it might be better to see how things work first on the vintage machine and then see how they are augmented in the modern automobile.

When I started using OSX this year, I read through, "Mac OSX Panther" and "OSX for UNIX Geeks." Both are produced by O'Reily Publishing. I can't say that I can recommend these for learning UNIX. The book that I learned the most about using UNIX was, "Unix System V: A Practical Guide," by Mark Sobell. Again there will be minor differences between the SysV UNIX and the BSD UNIX, but these are minor, and the hands on examples in Sobell's text are generic enough that they will work on both flavors of UNIX.

sb

[HomunQlus]

Well, the base of OS X is Darwin with the Mach Kernel, and as far I know that still is UNIX, it's not different at all. But: Yes, Apple changed some commands, but in its entirety I'd say it still is a UNIX.

[Andrew Adamson]

Veeery interesting discussion on Slashdot a while back (in their discussion of the release of Tiger... two days after the fact). Here's a branch on that thread that has the interesting bit. There are aspects of this argument that fly well above my head, but it sounds like the author, AsSeenOnTV, speaks with some authority on the matter. Sounds a little like angels and pin heads...

Owing to the fact that OS X completely lacks /proc and /dev make me think that OS X is fundamentally different (er, different at a fundamental level), but I don't really know one way or the other. All I can say is that OpenBSD (the only BSD I've worked on) and Linux (RedHat and Slack) and OS X all have commands and command switches that are mutually exclusive. I spend most of my time in a shell (mostly in emacs), so personally I find it a little annoying.

[RacerX]

Originally Posted by spb

but I would say that Mac is not UNIX.

Yeah, but you should remember that GNU/Linux is not UNIX.



Infact, GNU stands for GNU is Not UNIX.

As for the heritage of Mac OS X, NEXTSTEP, OPENSTEP and Rhapsody are based on 4.3BSD. Rhapsody included parts from OpenBSD and NetBSD. Mac OS X's Darwin is based on 4.4BSD Lite with parts from FreeBSD (which is also based on 4.4BSD Lite).

Mac OS X is a Unix, but is not UNIX ® (a licensed trademark of the Open Group).

Of my many Unix systems, only my SGIs and Suns qualify as UNIX.

Just FYI.