From: Pablo Saratxaga 
Kaixo!
on Wed, 01 Apr 98 17:50:39 +0200,
 Adam Mead  said:
 AM> UNIX??? LINUX??? whats the difference!..
Unix(tm) is a registered trademark of (I don't know who owns it now; it was
AT&T at the beginning then it has benn sold and resold and sublicensied etc)
While Linux(tm) is a registered trademark owned by Linus B. Torvalds.
The term "unix-like" designs an OS that have similarities in functionality
whith the original "Unix". (In fact now there is a word to replace the
somewhat problematic idioms "unix-like", "Unices", "Un*x",... that word is
"POSIX implementation" :) ).
What you may expect of a unix-like system:
* multitasking
* multiuser
* process control (ps, kill,...)
* a choice of shells
* a hierachical tree presentation of data in the disks
* owner/group/others idea of permissions on files/directories
* the OS is the only that access the hardware
* networking features integrated int othe OS
* a C compiler
* a "text file" approach for several things, and a wide variety of tools
  to cope whith
* email
* scheduling (cron, at)
* the X11 graphical and windowed environement
 AM> is unix like dos???
It is the other way around: DOS took a lot of ideas from UNIX 
(the redirections of stdin:  >>
the pipe |, the idea of hiearchical directories (only they used \ instead
of / :-( ), the shell jokers * and ? etc.
Only in DOS all is much more limited, and lots of things simply don't
exist.
To make a comparizon, DOS imitation Unix is like the MS-Windows 1.0 (if you
ever knew it) imitating MacOS (which was very similar to win95 from the
beginning).
The multi-user is something that even NT still hasn't  (it has 
multi-personalities rather than multi-user; that is whith NT you can have
two persons use two different environment; but they cannot use the machine
at the same moment. Whith a real multi-user system like unix two persons
can use the same machine at the same moment whith two different 
nvironments).
That is a real new dimension that you don't even imagine the capacities it
can bring you until you don't know it.
 AM> linux x-windows?????
X Window (not "X-Window" nor "X Windows") also called X11 or simply X, is
the standard windowed system on a unix-like OS.
It isn't limited to unix-like systems; X11 also exist for OS/2, windows,
macOS, DOS,... 
X11 is network aware, and OS and hard independent; that is you can run
a program on a SUN on sparc cpu located in Australia, and have the display
in Japan, in a computer running MacOS on a powerPC.
 AM> what i want to do is have a linux partion and a win95 partion..
 AM> means im going to have to re-install all my stuff again anyway cos of 
he
 AM> re-partion.. but even so.. i want a linux system!.. one that
That's worth the effort.
Using umsdos (a hack to do whith the limitations of the FAT partition and
have long names and unixish permissions on files) gives much more poorer
performances, and also you will have much more problems than just taking
the time to backup and repartition; you need to repartition only once;
if you use umsdos you will be annoyed anytime until you repartition (you
will end up doing it anyway, believe me.... I did :) )
 AM> 1: has a proper GUI that dont crash and looks good!
X11 is only the widowing system, not the GUI; the GUI, that is the 
"look and feel" is left to anyone to choose; there are literally dozens of
them (I personally saw 8 of them), some mimicing others OS GUI (eg Amiga
workbench, macos, win95, the SUN thing, NeXT,...), some others innovative;
some that needs at least 60.000 colours and a lot of RAM to work, some
that work on monochrome displays,...
I currently use fvwm95, it looks like win95 and I like it. I think I'll
switch to KDE in a near future.
About crashing... the only times I crashed the X server is when I incorrecly
configured the mouse protocol...
 AM> 2: that will run all the Linux/unix stuff (meaing compatible)
Linux/i386 can of course run Linux/i386 binaries :) it also can
run many i386 unices binaryes (SCo, Solaris x86, ...) ones trough iBCS.
it can run DOS programs whith dosemu, MS-Windows programs whith Wabi
(win16 only, comercial) or Wine (any win16,win95,winNT; but still in 
developpement, however a lot allready work).
Run MacOS programs trough executor, run Amiga programs trough STonX,
run game boy games, run arcade games, run ZX Spectrum or TRS-80 programs,...
And if you have the sources you can just recompile.
And don't forget java. :)
 AM> 3: is there such a thing as AOL or Compuserve program for Linux like 
ith
 AM>    windows?..
No.
And I really don't think that a company that uses a proprietary interface
is worth using (we are near the 3d millenium and AOL still don't know there
are not the only online service anymore !!!)
 AM> 4: what linux version/whatever do i need???? which is best??
I recommend you "Red Hat", it is easy to install, easy to manage, it is
used by lots of people (=easy to have help), and is easy to found.
 AM> 5: where do i get it from in the UK!?
Here in Belgium you can buy Linux CD on big librairies or almost any
computer vendor.
If you happen to have a visa card then yo ucan buy it from internet.
If you happen to have a friend whith the CD then you don't need to buy it.
If you happen to have a permanent access to internet at high spees then
you don't even need a CD.
 AM> 6: how much will it cost me???
For the software: from 0.0 UKP to 100.0 UKP depending on your choices
(Caldera is one of the most expensive; but you have technical support, 
commercial programs, and printed manual included in the price).
There are CD sold at 1 USD (+shipping). But the most common is about
10-20 UKP for a package of 5-10 CD, I suggest you the Infomagic or the
Pacific Hi Tech ones.
If you only buy some cheap CD then you need to add a book: ~15-30 UKP for
a good one, I suggest you "Running Linux" from Matt Welsh at O'Reilly 
editions.
 
Note that for that price you have not only the kernel itself but also
plenty of tools from GNU, BSD, X Consortium and other sources.
In fact if you were to build a similar functionality on a Windows NT it will
cost you about 2,500 UKP ! And even then the quality of the Linux tools
will be better.
Whith Linux you will be availalbe to use things like apache (the most
used web server), INN (the most used news server), sendmail (the most
used mail server); a unix-like in other words (the most used OS in Internet,
in the industry, the research, the universities,...)
And all that for a price inferior of a single DOS update ! 
 AM> 6: Does linux have a 'dos' type shell??
Again it is the other way around: DOS have one (two in fact, remember
4DOS.COM) shells that are largely inspired fro mUnix shells, but largely
underfeatured too !
Whith a unix-like, and specially whith Linux, you have not only one but
several very high quality shells. The shell of choice in Linux is bash
(the Bourne Again shell), but there are others; tcsh, pdksh, ash,...
 AM> (no 'p' takers!.. i mean a shell to
 AM>    the actulal system command line like with windows/win95/os2..
A... you mean an interface to the shell in fact ! (the shell *IS* the command
line; what you call a shell is not a shell but an interface to it; or
a windowed environement).
Well yes, there is the X11 system I told you earlier; and there is mc,
the midnight comander (a Norton comander clone); and then there is dialog,
a program which draws dialog boxes, menus etc in text mode; whith it you
can make scripts (=like what is called "*.BAT files" in DOS, less the
limitations :) ). I build all my BBS interface whith that)
 AM> 7: internet & Comms!!! what sort of support does it have!!!
Anything.
The Internet has just been created and works mainly whith unix.
If you ever switch off all unix computers at same time the internet simply
completly disappears !
You can also fax, do voice mail, etc.
Major telecommunications companies use unix for their job.
Well, as a end user, there is netscape, the most used web browser, talk,
irc clients, news clients, fidonet programs, email, videoconferencing and
the like. ftp, ...
 AM> 8: Anyone got a list of Commands for the Unix shell with details on what
 AM>    they do?.. 
chanae:~$ help
GNU bash, version 1.14.7(1)
Shell commands that are defined internally.  Type `help' to see this list.
Type `help name' to find out more about the function `name'.
Use `info bash' to find out more about the shell in general.
A star (*) next to a name means that the command is disabled.
 %[DIGITS | WORD] [&]               . filename
 :                                  [ arg... ]
 alias [ name[=value] ... ]         bg [job_spec]
 bind [-lvd] [-m keymap] [-f filena break [n]
 builtin [shell-builtin [arg ...]]  case WORD in [PATTERN [| PATTERN].
 cd [dir]                           command [-pVv] [command [arg ...]]
 continue [n]                       declare [-[frxi]] name[=value] ...
 dirs [-l]                          echo [-neE] [arg ...]
 enable [-n] [name ...]             eval [arg ...]
 exec [ [-] file [redirection ...]] exit [n]
 export [-n] [-f] [name ...] or exp fc [-e ename] [-nlr] [first] [last
 fg [job_spec]                      for NAME [in WORDS ... ;] do COMMA
 function NAME { COMMANDS ; } or NA getopts optstring name [arg]
 hash [-r] [name ...]               help [pattern ...]
 history [n] [ [-awrn] [filename]]  if COMMANDS; then COMMANDS; [ elif
 jobs [-lnp] [jobspec ...] | jobs - kill [-s sigspec | -sigspec] [pid 
 let arg [arg ...]                  local name[=value] ...
 logout                             popd [+n | -n]
 pushd [dir | +n | -n]              pwd
 read [-r] [name ...]               readonly [-n] [-f] [name ...] or r
 return [n]                         select NAME [in WORDS ... ;] do CO
 set [--abefhknotuvxldHCP] [-o opti shift [n]
 source filename                    suspend [-f]
 test [expr]                        times
 trap [arg] [signal_spec]           type [-all] [-type | -path] [name 
 typeset [-[frxi]] name[=value] ... ulimit [-SHacdfmstpnuv [limit]]
 umask [-S] [mode]                  unalias [-a] [name ...]
 unset [-f] [-v] [name ...]         until COMMANDS; do COMMANDS; done
 variables - Some variable names an wait [n]
 while COMMANDS; do COMMANDS; done  { COMMANDS }
chanae:~$ help pwd
pwd: pwd
    Print the current working directory.
chanae:~$ help alias
alias: alias [ name[=value] ... ]
    `alias' with no arguments prints the list of aliases in the form
    NAME=VALUE on standard output.  An alias is defined for each NAME
    whose VALUE is given.  A trailing space in VALUE causes the next
    word to be checked for alias substitution.  Alias returns true
    unless a NAME is given for which no alias has been defined.
Then there are also the manpages, type 'man man' for the manpage of man
(which is the program to read the man pages).
If you are on X11 yo ucan use xman, or even a web browser
 AM> like for instance in dos.. 'dir : gives directory listing of
look in the Linux CD for the HOWTO's, and read the DOS-to-Linux-HOWTO; it
reply to exactly that question. (you can also get the HOWTO on itnernet or
on BBS, read them on the web or usenet). The HOWTOs are short yet very in 
depth texts about a given topic; they explain all you need to know to do that
thing. The DOS-to-Linux-HOWTO is:
  From DOS/Windows to Linux HOWTO
  By Guido Gonzato, guido@ibogfs.cineca.it
  v1.2.2, 31 October 1997
  This HOWTO is dedicated to all the (soon to be former?) DOS and Win-
  dows users who have just taken the plunge and decided to switch to
  Linux, the free UNIX clone. Given the similarities between DOS and
  UNIX, the purpose of this document is to help the reader translate his
  or her knowledge of DOS and Windows into the Linux environment, so as
  to be productive ASAP.
 AM> 9: Programming under Linux.. i do Turbo Pascal 7 programming at the 
moment
 AM>    is there a Pascal for Linux????
There are several Pascal compilers yes, some are even free software (while
Turbo Pascal costs much more money); but in Unix and Linux in particular
pascal isn't very popular. C, C++, Java, perl, python, tcl/Tk are more 
mmon.
If you have web access: http://www.linux.org/ and travel...
-- 
Saludos,
Pablo Saratxaga           PGP Key available, key ID: 0x8F0E4975
visite http://www.linux.org.uy/
--- ifmail v.2.14-tx8.8
---------------