Introduction

This course is intended for people not familiar with the UNIX operating system. It is meant as an introduction for beginners to help them understand concepts behind the UNIX operating system. Intermediate users may find the course useful as a refresher.

The examples used were performed using a Sun Workstation, running SunOS 4.1.2, and a Silicon Graphics Personal IRIS running IRIX 4.0.1. Unless otherwise indicated, the outputs shown were from a Sun workstation running SunOS version 4.1.2. DECstations running ULTRIX, Hewlett-Packard workstations running HP/UX and IBM RS/6000 workstations running AIX all use the commands described in this manual. Most other UNIX systems use the same basic commands, although some of the options used may vary slightly between the different architectures.

NOTES:

• This book refers to various UNIX derivatives running on ``workstations".

  The author's definition of ``workstation" includes systems such as the Sun Microsystems SPARCstation family, the Silicon Graphics Personal IRIS, Indigo, Power Series, Challenge, and Onyx families, the IBM RS/6000 series, the HP 9000 model 700 and 800 families, and the DEC DECstation families.

• Although most sections refer to UNIX in general, some refer to a specific architecture. Others may refer to NRC-specific topics. Those sections are generally clearly indicated.
• When this version of the course notes were sent to duplication, IRIX 5.x from Silicon Graphics and Solaris 2.3 from Sun Microsystems were about to be released. Those two operating systems are based on System V Release 4 (SVR4) of UNIX, which has a slightly different filesystem structure. This version does not cover the SVR4 structure.

• History
  • BSD: Berkeley System Distribution
  • XENIX
  • AT&
• History (continued)
• The UNIX Operating System
  • Multi-tasking, Time Sharing
  • Multi-user
  • Network Capabilities
  • Portability
  • Flexibility
  • Software Available
  • Virtual Memory
  • Case Sensitivity
• UNIX Philosophy
• Exercises