The Unix Operating System

EE 46 November 1987 THE UNIX OPERATING SYSTEM Now that the US and the EEC are endorsing the UNIX operating system, and the X/Open Group of European and American computer manufacturers are basing their common standards on UNIX, it seems timely to have closer look at this system. To begin with, it is useful to state that UNIX is no more and no less than a computer operating system, that is, a program that enables users to operate the computer accord- ing to an agreed set of com- mands and utilities. Therefore, UNIX - is not the latest programming language; - has essentially nothing to do with graphics assisted pro- gramming; -has provisions for manipu- lating the computer memory, whether resident as hard- ware, or in the form of a mag- netic storage device (tape; hard disk). -forms the lowest command level for loading and running higher language interpreters and compilers (C; Cobol; Fortran). UNIX in its most elementary form is fairly crude, and has none of the user friendly...