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From: ostroff@Oswego.EDU (Boyd Ostroff)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.misc
Subject: Re: Where does UNIX fit in a graphically-based computer world?
Message-ID: <1990Sep7.230055.27388@oswego.Oswego.EDU>
Date: 7 Sep 90 23:00:55 GMT
References: <1990Sep5.202652.700@sun.soe.clarkson.edu> <14894@burdvax.PRC.Unisys.COM>
Reply-To: ostroff@oswego.Oswego.EDU (Boyd Ostroff)
Organization: Instructional Computing Center, SUNY at Oswego, Oswego, NY
Lines: 39

In article <14894@burdvax.PRC.Unisys.COM> dave@PRC.Unisys.COM (David Lee Matuszek) writes:
>In article <1990Sep5.202652.700@sun.soe.clarkson.edu> anthonjw@clutx.clarkson.edu (Jason W. Anthony) writes:
>>
>>But, I began to wonder how UNIX would fit into such a world....

I realize this may seem obvious to many people, but I feel it should be
clarified for the benefit of those who aren't really clear on what UNIX is...

When you discuss UNIX vs. Mac you are really talking about each system's
*shell* program; the user's interface to the underlying operating system.
In the case of UNIX, it is the Bourne shell (/bin/sh) or C-shell (csh)
or Korn shell (ksh).  These are text-based command interpreters which
allow you to run a variety of programs such as ls, mv, rm, etc... to
do things like list directories, rename files, delete files, etc.  Each
of these programs consists of calls to the underlying operating system to
provide services.

On the mac, the shell program is the Finder.  Selecting a menu item or 
clicking on an icon generates similar calls to the underlying Mac OS.
So what we're really discussing here are the merits of the *shell*
programs available on either system.  Add a graphical shell program to
UNIX and it becomes Mac-like.  Add a command interpreter to the Mac
(such as Manx's Aztec C shell, which behaves just like the Bourne shell)
and it will become UNIX-like. 

>>[...] I am
>>interested in people who use the Mac and who use or have used UNIX,
>>since they would see the fruits of both.
>
>You found one; any more out there?  

Here's another!  I'm sure there are *lots* of us too.  I have both a Mac
IIcx and and an AT&T 3B1 (System V UNIX box) at home, and use Macs and
UNIX systems at work too.  I like the Mac because of its software and
ease of use, but UNIX appeals to the hacker in me.... :-)

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