Free unix?

Hello everyone

I'm interested in learning unix and my question is, is there any free versions of unix? I'm hoping i can find sco open server, any version. But i have not yet been able to find one. If there are not any free unix versions available I understand linux is a lot like unix, but I was wondering how much do they have in common? Are their command lines exactly the same? any recommendations would be most helpful.

The command lines are the exact same, given UNIX systems you have used in the past stick to the standard thing.

Use a server version of Debian or Ubuntu, or just the Desktop version by disabling any desktop environments and it should give you the command line your used to.

You might find FreeBSD closer to what you're looking for: http://www.freebsd.org/

Thanks everyone!

Hello everyone

I'm interested in learning unix and my question is, is there any free versions of unix? I'm hoping i can find sco open server, any version. But i have not yet been able to find one. If there are not any free unix versions available I understand linux is a lot like unix, but I was wondering how much do they have in common? Are their command lines exactly the same? any recommendations would be most helpful.

All kinds of BSDs (FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD, Dragonfly BSD, PC-BSD etc.), all Linux versions, and also OpenSolaris. All of these are free. The command line is exactly the same as it is basically a shell with the standard set of command line tools. The differences are in the internal architecture, filesystems used, file hierarchy, supported devices (linux supports the widest variety). The shells may vary, but not by much. I'd suggest you install a Linux distribution and learn from there, or you can install each of the systems for a month and learn of the differences that way.

BTW, Linux isn't entirely UNIX, the differences are minimal, but they are there. BSD and OpenSolaris, however, are conforming to the UNIX specs entirely.