Unix Third Edition: Visual Quickstart Guide

Getting Unix or Access to a Unix System

People choose to use Unix for a number of reasons, from control (on the legal and licensing side as well as the “getting stuff done” side) to economy (most flavors of Unix offer free or nearly free licensing) to power (experienced Unix geeks can do more with less effort on Unix than Windows—for many things, at least. In the final analysis, though, most Unix people end up sticking with Unix because they tried it, slogged through the initial learning curve, then decided they like it. Using a Unix system is different from working on a PC. Using a PC, the computer’s hard drive is your personal space, and— generally—you don’t have access to what’s on someone else’s hard drive. With Unix, you have your own personal ...