Computers & IT (Information Technology)

Unix Courses: Learn Unix

Considering a Course in Unix? 

Unix was developed in 1969 in the U.S.A by Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, Douglas McIlroy, and Joe Ossanna. Originally called Unics which stood for Uniplexed Information and Computing Service, this was a play on the word Multics which was a large multi-user operating system being developed by Bell Labs where they were all employees for AT&T. This was then shortened to Unix, which has become its final spelling that is still used today.

The initial release of Unix had some important design attributes that live on today. One is the “Unix philosophy” of creating small, modular utilities that do one thing and do them well. The system has several utilities or functions that can be combined in a variety of ways to perform more complex tasks.

Unix also makes use of a single file system that programs use to communicate with each other, which is why everything is created as a file including hardware devices and special files that provide system information or other data. There are various Unix variants available in the market. Solaris Unix, AIX, HP Unix, and BSD are a few examples. Linux is also a freely available version of Unix.

Unix is still widely used in enterprise data centers and is still running huge, complex, and key applications for companies so there is a need for individuals who are familiar with and know how to work Unix operating systems and the great news is that there are many Unix courses currently available for you to get started.

What is Unix and why is it useful?

The Unix operating system is a set of programs that act as a link between a computer and its users. Unix is a multi-user system meaning several people can use a Unix computer at the same time and it is a multi-tasking environment where a user can run multiple programs at the same time too.

Unix provides its users with all of the features most of us are familiar with such as electronic communication such as electronic mail, text editors, text formatters, and program development tools – and most of these development tools are available as standard within the Unix operating system compared to other operating systems that may require them as add-ons.

How does Unix work?

All versions of Unix operate within the same four basics:

· Kernel − the kernel is the center of the operating system. It works together with the hardware and most of the tasks like memory management, task scheduling, and file management.

· Shell − the shell processes requests and commands. When you type in a command at your terminal, the shell interprets the command and calls the program that you want. The shell uses standard syntax for all commands.

· Commands and Utilities − There are various commands and utilities which you can make use of within Unix operating systems.

· Files and Directories − All the data of Unix is organized into files. All files are then organized into directories. These directories are further organized into a tree-like structure called the file system.

Career Opportunities in Unix

After completing your course in Unix, you can expect to work as a Unix Engineer, Unix Administrator, Unix Systems Engineer, Unix Infrastructure Administrator, Unix Analyst Engineer, Unix Production Support Engineer, or any other field where Unix is used.

If you’re serious about doing a course in Unix and would like to learn more about operating systems, check out courses in the Nightcourses.co.uk national course finder.