31268 Web Systems 27/03/2022

31268 Web Systems Faculty of Information

Technology

Week 2 Apps

31268 Web Systems Hard

ware

Operating Systems
Kernel
Shell

A History lesson...
GUI

Week 2: Operating Systems

Part 1: Unix

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The web… A bunch of

Revision:
What is an Operating System ?
Faculty of Information
Technology
computers and
• Is It … a network of
Definition: An operating system is a piece of
networks…
software that sits between all programs and the
computer's hardware.

… and a whacking
big computer
running the
web site program on index.html
an operating system
running on
HARDWARE 3 4

Examples of Operating Systems Faculty of Information

Technology

• Unix based
– Mac OSX, iPhoneOS
– Linux
– Solaris
– freeBSD

• Windows NT based
– Windows XP, Windows 7, Windows 2003
Unix
• Symbian
– Nokia mobile phones

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Where is Unix used? Faculty of Information

Where is Unix used? Faculty of Information
Technology Technology

•Unix has been used continuously since 1969. •Unix has been used continuously since 1969.

•Unix is used on most of the computers running the •Unix is used on most of the computers running the
Internet Internet
–(web servers, domain name servers, email servers, web –(web servers, domain name servers, email servers, web
hosting) hosting)
• “Unix is not popular for ordinary users…..” • “Unix is not popular for ordinary users…..”

•But…..
Mac OS/X is based on UNIX !
(also iPhone and iPod Touch !)

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Where is Unix used? Faculty of Information

Evolution of Unix Faculty of Information
Technology Technology

Many versions of Unix. Most are based from 2 original

•Unix has been used continuously since 1969. versions:

•Unix is used on most of the computers running the •System V - the original version from AT&T
Internet
–(web servers, domain name servers, email servers, web •BSD - from the University of California at Berkeley
hosting)
• “Unix is not popular for ordinary users…..”
Lots of little differences - commands with different
options, different structure of directories for system
•But….. administration.
Mac OS/X is based on UNIX !
(also iPhone and iPod Touch !) See http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/3-unix-like-
•But….. operating-systems-arent-linux/
Motorola phones!!
Google Android phones!!
Netbooks NOTE: I’ve mixed Unix and Unix-like – for this subject
Routers treat them as the same!
•…. & so on 9 10

Unix History (wikipedia) Faculty of Information

Unix Irregularities Faculty of Information
Technology Technology

•Ad Hoc Development:

–Quite a lot of Unix, especially the various scripting

languages and the individual commands grew up in an
ad-hoc and unregulated, haphazard fashion.

–While this resulted in a much more powerful and

versatile operating system, it also results in being rather
confusing at the user level.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unix-like 11 12

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A Standard for Unix commands? Faculty of Information

A Standard for Unix commands? Faculty of Information
Technology Technology
•IEEE tried to standardise Unix: •IEEE tried to standardise Unix:
–Called IEEE 1003, or better known as “POSIX” –Called IEEE 1003, or better known as “POSIX”
–Defined: commands, utilities, system interfaces, scripting –Defined: commands, utilities, system interfaces, scripting
language. language.

•POSIX has been largely ignored by vendors - $$$ and

too complex  1990’s UNIX wars

• Result: inconsistency and difficulty in transferring

code between systems.

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A Standard for Unix commands? Faculty of Information

Operating Systems Faculty of Information
Technology Technology

•Only one Operating System has been in

continuous use for longer than Unix.
Finally, 2002, new Single Unix
Specification (SUS) agreed. If version
meets spec  can be called UNIX.
Otherwise called “Unix-like”
NOTE: I’ve mixed Unix and
Unix-like – for this subject
treat them as the same!

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Operating Systems Faculty of Information

Operating Systems Faculty of Information
Technology Technology

•Only one Operating System has been in  The longevity of Unix (despite its faults) is
continuous use for longer than Unix. noteworthy and prompts a question:
 IBM VM/CMS:
Virtual Machine/Conversational Monitor System
(1966!)
Why has Unix survived ?
–used on mainframes

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Why has Unix survived? (1) Faculty of Information

Why has Unix survived? (1) Faculty of Information
Technology Technology

No one owns these ideas. No one owns these ideas.

•Unix is a set of ideas, none of which are secret.

•Any person or group is free to implement these

ideas. There have been court cases over specific lines
of code in “official” Unix (System V) , but the lines of
code are only a specific implementation of these
principles.

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Why has Unix survived ? (2) Faculty of Information

Why has Unix survived ? (2) Faculty of Information
Technology Technology

Unix is based on simple concepts: Unix is based on simple concepts:

i.e.: Files, processes, permissions and users.

•Even hardware devices e.g. /dev/mouse are

represented as files.

•This has simplified the conceptual picture of Unix (if

not the internal code)

•It has also allowed Unix to incorporate new ideas and

technologies quite easily.

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Why has Unix survived? (3) Faculty of Information

Why has Unix survived? (3) Faculty of Information
Technology Technology

Unix is portable Unix is portable

•Unix is written in the programming language C.

 i.e.: not tied to any particular CPU.
 Any computer with a C compiler can
usually compile the source code

•The technology of computer hardware has

evolved enormously since 1970, but is still
conceptually the same.

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Why has Unix survived ? (4) Faculty of Information

Why has Unix survived ? (4) Faculty of Information
Technology Technology

Unix (at least some varieties) is free Unix (at least some varieties) is free

•1993/1994 onwards: free versions of Unix

(Linux, FreeBSD)

•Especially available to cheap Intel based PCs -

lots of them around because of Microsoft
Windows.

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Why has Unix survived ? (5) Faculty of Information

Why has Unix survived ? (5) Faculty of Information
Technology Technology

Unix is efficient, stable and relatively Unix is efficient, stable and relatively
secure secure

•Unix is fast and stable (system crashes are rare).

•Designed for security for multi-user systems –

files have owners, security permissions are tight
 therefore fewer viruses for Unix.

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Why has Unix survived? (6) Faculty of Information

Why has Unix survived? (6) Faculty of Information
Technology Technology

The Unix as a set of tools approach The Unix as a set of tools approach

•The Unix CLI has some very powerful features.

Specifically, simple commands, pipes and I/O
redirection.

•You can create very powerful ad hoc tools

 by passing the output of one command to another
command

• This has a great appeal to many technically

oriented users.

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