Ask HN: If Unix gets more popular would you use it instead of Linux?

FreeBSD, OpenBSD and NetBSD are UNIX-likes, and not POSIX-certified.

i dont think ur definition of unix passes muster?

Why do you classify the BSDs as Unix and not Linux as a Unix? Linux has about as much right to be called a Unix as the BSDs do, as those BSDs have had to be stripped of pretty much all Unix code in order to comply with the AT&T v. BSDi court case from 35 years ago[0].

Further, the BSDs were more popular than Linux at a point in time. There's a very good reason why Linux won the platform wars, and a very large part of that reason is because of the GPL - a difference with the BSDs which wont be going away.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UNIX_System_Laboratories%2C_In....

[EDIT: Typo. Added citation.]

How much difference in hardware and software availability is there between Linux and the various Unix versions? I often see mentions of a user abandoning Windows for Linux, but what percentage of users actually abandon one OS for another? Considering how long Unix has been around, even before Linux, is it likely to get significantly "more popular"?

I already do ... I used FreeBSD on desktops/laptops since 20 years.

Details:

- https://vermaden.wordpress.com/2018/09/07/my-freebsd-story/

- https://vermaden.wordpress.com/2020/09/07/quare-freebsd/

Mhm.. probably not FreeBSD is nice but it's too much behind Linux for: performance, drivers support, Wayland, Docker

I use macOS which is a UNIX (certified as such: https://www.opengroup.org/openbrand/certificates/1223p.pdf) and it may already be very popular at least on laptops ;)

I mean...macOS can certainly be considered a Unix, and it is more popular than Linux as a desktop daily driver.

Linux is Unix, or at least Unix like enough that it can be called Unix. Anyway, no, I use 9Front

If there was another good daily driver that also was built around systemd (or perhaps kubernetes) and a broad range of well integrated Wayland desktops, maybe perhaps possibly. Those two define the basics of my userland are my must have.

Termux

MacOS 26 Tahoe is Unix certified[0]. It already is more popular than Linux.

[0]: https://www.opengroup.org/openbrand/register/

Apparently yes, given that I’ve been using macOS for about fifteen years now. And given that the topic seems to imply desktop/laptop use, isn’t macOS already the more popular OS?

Give me a bash shell, g++, perl, the shell tools, and a web browser, and I'm good.

I use macOS. Among other things... :-)

laughably ironic HP-UX officially dies in another month