UNIX: More Platforms, Friendlier Face
Terian Tyre · T.H.E. Journal Technological Horizons in Education · 1989
UNIX: More Platforms, Friendlier Face UNIX, from ATT BIN, for binary, where most executable binary files such as utilities are stored; USR, where all users' files are located; and ETC, for device drivers and other hardware-related stuff. This universality of structure is one of the reasons why UNIX remains popular; code written for one UNIX system is easily ported to another. It is also why UNIX is a platform utilized worldwide in all varieties of enterprises, and why all programming languages have a built-in hook for UNIX. More important to educational users, however, is the design of UNIX. It was created for terminal-based computing, the mainstay of the higher-education environmnet. Relatively inexpensive and durable terminals function as doors into the system. Terminals may be directly wired to the mainframe, or remote terminals can access the system via modems and phone lines. In either case, users work as if they were sitting in front of the mainframe itself. And unlike DOS-based LANs, there is no degradation of performance with multiple users. In addition, since UNIX is terminal-based, the system manager has absolute control over what users can do. Based on specific needs, the manager decides what application programs users can access, what security levels they should have, etc. Other UNIX features significant to educators include many built-in application programs, such as the vi editor; built-in communications protocols, like TCP/ip and SL/IP, for networking; and built-in electronic mail capability. UNIX e-mail, in fact, is how academics have kept up and in touch with colleagues for years. International UNIX e-mail networks were in place long before e-mail became available to the general public. Extending Its Reach Recent advances in hardware have now extended the reach of UNIX beyond the mainframe. New processorsM such as RISC-based chips and Intel's 386, allow UNIX to be run on desktop computers. This broadening of platforms not only provides more options and flexibility to educational institutions that already run UNIX, but it may also bring non-UNIX schools into the fold. For example, a high school that doesn't need the power of a mainframe can purchase a 386-based microcomputer, install UNIX and use the computer as a file server for classroom terminals. And if so desired, the school can also install a DOS operating system and run DOS-based applications at the same time that UNIX is executing other operations--that's how powerful UNIX's multi-tasking capabilities are. Implementations of UNIX for microcomputers include: XENIX, from Microsoft Corp. of Bellevue, Wash.; UNIX System V/386, from The Santa Cruz Operation, Inc. of Santa Cruz, Calif.; Interactive 386/ix, from Interactive Systems Corp. …