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How Unix'y is Mac OS X? [closed]

How Unix'y is Mac OS X? [closed]

From my limited knowledge: The Unix OS coder assumes the user knows what they're doing, etc. versus the Apple's you can only do it the way you are allowed to do it, etc.

Asked by: Guest | Views: 169
Total answers/comments: 5
Guest [Entry]

"Mac OS X is plain Unix. This is a BSD Unix flavour, and is certified SUS V3 (Single Unix Specification version 3).

This means that everything that a software engineer or system administrator expects to find in a Unix system is present in Mac OS X."
Guest [Entry]

"Open a Terminal and it's Unix. Use the GUI, and it's OS X. Many of us consider this the best of both worlds.

I never would have switched to Mac if there wasn't a Unix underneath."
Guest [Entry]

"The GUI is the one that hides the feature. Underneath it feels like a BSD with some cosmetic differences, and some platform differences.

When you drop to a shell, a *nix user won't feel all that out of place. I routinely do that with my MacBook anyways."
Guest [Entry]

"A significant point is how much you can do only via the GUI, and the answer is surprisingly little -- including modifying GUI settings or running AppleScripts. There are programmable command line interfaces to almost everything, and quite a few Unix utilities are also included without being explicitly mentioned, Subversion for instance.

As a matter of opinion, having been a Unix workstation user since the mid 1990s, Mac OS X is kind of like the Amiga and BSD had a love child that ran away and was trained in kung-fu in the mountains by IRIX."
Guest [Entry]

The difference that stands out the most for me is that the default Mac OS X file system, HFS Plus, is not case sensitive. It is possible to use UFS, but this can limit the functionality of other parts of the OS. It was a bit jarring when I discovered the lack of case sensitivity. At least it is case preserving.