Unix 已落幕，Unix 仍长存
Unix

> 
> 不要指望再看到任何更多的 AIX 大新闻了。这意味着最后剩下的 Unix 是 …… Linux。
> 
> 
> 


![](/data/attachment/album/202301/18/234213ixb4185vohd8hxh2.jpg)


这是一个时代的结束。正如上周报道的那样，IBM 已经将 AIX 的开发转移到印度。在它支付了 340 亿美金买下了红帽，有了自己的 FOSS 版本的 Unix 后，为什么还要为一个昂贵的美国团队支付费用来维护它自己的官方 Unix 的专有版本呢？！


自从我们报道“大蓝”推出 [不支持 AIX](https://www.theregister.com/2015/11/02/ibm_linux_mainframes/) 的新 POWER 服务器后，我们就察觉到了这一点 —— 而这已经是近八年前的事了。即使这已经是明摆的事，它也是一个重大事件。AIX 是最后一个正在积极开发的专有 Unix，在官方的 Open Group [名单](https://www.opengroup.org/openbrand/register) 的 10 个条目中就占了 4 个。


在甲骨文公司内部，Solaris 正处于 [维护模式](https://www.theregister.com/2022/08/19/oracle_solaris_updated/)。几乎整整六年前，我们报道了下一个主要版本 Solaris 12 已经从甲骨文的路线图上 [消失](https://www.theregister.com/2017/01/18/solaris_12_disappears_from_oracles_roadmap/) 了。HPE 的 HP-UX 也处于维护模式，因为没有新的硬件可以运行它。安腾现在真的 [已经死了](https://www.theregister.com/2019/02/01/intel_kills_itanium_again/)，而最后 HP-UX 只能在这上面运行。自从我们报道惠普调查但 [取消](https://www.theregister.com/2012/05/23/hp_project_blackbird_redwood_hp_ux/) 了将其移植到 x86-64 的努力以来，已经过去了十年。


SCO Group 的最后一个化身 Xinuos [仍然存在](https://www.theregister.com/2021/03/31/ibm_redhat_xinuos/)，它提供的不是一个而是两个专有的 Unix 变体：SCO [OpenServer](https://www.xinuos.com/products/openserver-6/) 是 SCO Xenix 的后代，而 [UnixWare](https://www.xinuos.com/products/unixware-7/) 是 Novell 的 Unix 的后代。我们注意到，OpenServer 10，一个基于 FreeBSD 10 的更现代的操作系统，已经从 Xinuos 的主页上消失了。值得指出的是，SCO Group 是以前被称为 [Caldera](https://www.theregister.com/2002/08/27/sco_lives_caldera_reinvents_itself/) 的公司，与 1980 年代与微软 [共同创建](https://www.theregister.com/2000/01/31/ms_sells_stake_in_sco/) Xenix 的 Santa Cruz Operation 不是同一个 SCO。


曾经有 [两个](https://www.theregister.com/2022/08/30/kylin_the_multiple_semiofficial_chinese/) 中国的 Linux 发行版通过了 Open Group 的测试，可以使用 Unix 商标：[浪潮 K/UX](https://www.opengroup.org/openbrand/register/brand3617.htm) 和 [华为 EulerOS](https://www.opengroup.org/openbrand/register/brand3622.htm)。虽然这两家公司都丢掉了这个相当 [昂贵](https://www.opengroup.org/openbrand/Brandfees.htm) 的商标。但这里的重要细节是，Linux 通过并被认证为 UNIX™。而且这不仅仅是一个发行版，尽管这两个都是 CentOS Linux 的衍生产品。我们怀疑任何 Linux 都会轻而易举地通过，因为许多非类 Unix 操作系统以前都通过了。


其他操作系统已经通过了，或者可能很容易就会通过。IBM 的 z/OS 活得很好：2021 年推出了 [2.5 版本](https://www.theregister.com/2021/07/28/z_os_2_5_launch/)，2022 年大蓝开始提供 [云实例](https://www.theregister.com/2022/06/29/ibm_cloud_mainframe_launch/)。z/OS 有一个与 Unix 兼容的环境，已经通过了兼容性测试，所以正式来说，它是一个 UNIX™，即使这不是它最初的原生 API。


“OpenVMS” 这个名字中的 “Open” 最初 [是指](https://www.pcmag.com/encyclopedia/term/openvms) 它在 1991 年的第五版中获得的 POSIX 兼容性，并首次应用于 DEC 的 Alpha CPU 的新版本。去年，VMS 软件公司发布了适用于 x86-64 管理程序的 [9.2 版本](https://www.theregister.com/2022/05/10/openvms_92/)（以及一个支持的机器，HPE [DL380](https://www.hpe.com/psnow/doc/a00008180enw.html)）。


自从 1993 年的 Windows NT 以来，Windows 就有了一个 POSIX 环境。现在，有了 WSL，它可以说有了两个，而且我们怀疑，如果微软有这样的想法，它可以把 Windows 认证为一个官方的 Unix 兼容的操作系统。


在我们最近关于 Haiku Beta 4 的 [报道](https://www.theregister.com/2023/01/11/haiku_beta_4/) 中，我们说它并不是真正的 Unix。正如你所看到的，在文章的结尾处有一个编辑说明，解释了为什么。


我们听取了 Haiku 的主要全职开发人员的意见，他坚决不同意我们的观点。在他看来，Haiku 现在有很强的 Unix 兼容性，文件系统中有一些主要的 Unix 目录，有一套相当完整的 Unix API 调用，有一个 Unix shell，等等，这意味着 Haiku 绝对是一个 Unix。我们认为，由于它是 BeOS 的重新实现，有自己原生的文件系统、API、GUI 等等，它是一种不同的东西，只是提供了 Unix 兼容性。


但这说明了在 21 世纪准确定义 “Unix” 一词的含义的困难。自从 1993 年 Novell 从 AT&T [收购](https://www.theregister.com/2013/07/25/novell_peaked_with_netware_four/) 了 Unix 系统实验室，保留了代码，并将商标捐赠给 Open Group 后，Unix 就不再意味着 “基于 AT&T 的代码”。从那时起，如果通过了 Open Group 的测试（并且你支付了使用商标的费用），它就是 UNIX™。Haiku 还没有，所以它不是。Linux 有，所以它是。但 z/OS 也是如此，它是 OS/390 的直接后裔，或者说它是 IBM MVS 在 1974 年推出时的名字。换句话说，它是一个实际上并不基于、类似于、甚至与 Unix 有关的操作系统。


这意味着最后一个官方商标的商业 UNIX™ 是苹果的 macOS 13，在专有的 GUI 层之下，无论如何，它主要是一个名为 Darwin 的开源操作系统。内核 [XNU](https://github.com/apple/darwin-xnu) 是基于 Mach 的，内核中的 “Unix 服务器” 来自 FreeBSD。


所以，从 2023 年起，开源真的赢了。现在有比以往更多的类 Unix 操作系统，还有一些非常不类似于 Unix 的操作系统与之高度兼容，但是官方路线，就所有的意图和目的而言，已经死亡和消失。所有专有的、商业的 Unix 们现在都是在维持而已：它们会得到基本的错误修复和安全更新，但我们不会看到任何重大的新版本。


让我们为之献花。




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via: <https://www.theregister.com/2023/01/17/unix_is_dead> 


作者：[Liam Proven](https://www.theregister.com/Author/Liam-Proven "Read more by this author") 译者：[wxy](https://github.com/wxy) 校对：[wxy](https://github.com/wxy)


本文由 [LCTT](https://github.com/LCTT/TranslateProject) 原创编译，[Linux中国](/article-15455-1.html) 荣誉推出


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This article is more than **1 year old**

# Unix is dead. Long live Unix!

## Don't expect to see any more big AIX news. What does that leave us with?

Comment It's the end of an era. As *The Reg* covered last week, IBM has transferred development of AIX to India. Why should IBM pay for an expensive US-based team to maintain its own proprietary flavor of official Unix when it paid 34 billion bucks for its own FOSS flavor in Red Hat?

Here at *The Reg* FOSS desk, we've felt this was coming ever since we reported that Big Blue [was launching](https://www.theregister.com/2015/11/02/ibm_linux_mainframes/) new POWER servers which *didn't* support AIX – already nearly eight years ago. Even if it was visibly coming over the horizon, this is a significant event: AIX is the last proprietary Unix which was in active development, and constitutes four of the 10 entries in the official Open Group [list](https://www.opengroup.org/openbrand/register).

Within Oracle, [Solaris is in maintenance mode](https://www.theregister.com/2022/08/19/oracle_solaris_updated/). Almost exactly six years ago, we reported that the next major release, Solaris 12, [had disappeared from Oracle's roadmap](https://www.theregister.com/2017/01/18/solaris_12_disappears_from_oracles_roadmap/). HPE's HP-UX is also in maintenance mode because there's no new hardware to run it on. [Itanium really is dead now](https://www.theregister.com/2019/02/01/intel_kills_itanium_again/) and at the end that's all HP-UX could run on. It's over a decade since we reported that HP investigated but [canceled an effort to port it to x86-64](https://www.theregister.com/2012/05/23/hp_project_blackbird_redwood_hp_ux/).

The last incarnation of the SCO Group, Xinuos, [is still around](https://www.theregister.com/2021/03/31/ibm_redhat_xinuos/) and offers not one but two proprietary UNIX variants: SCO [OpenServer](https://www.xinuos.com/products/openserver-6/), descended from SCO Xenix, and [UnixWare](https://www.xinuos.com/products/unixware-7/), descended from Novell's Unix. We note that OpenServer 10, a more modern OS based on FreeBSD 10, has disappeared from Xinuos's homepage. It's worth pointing out that the SCO Group was [the company formerly known as Caldera](https://www.theregister.com/2002/08/27/sco_lives_caldera_reinvents_itself/), and *isn't* the same SCO as the Santa Cruz Operation which [co-created Xenix with Microsoft](https://www.theregister.com/2000/01/31/ms_sells_stake_in_sco/) in the 1980s.

There used to be [two Chinese Linux distros](https://www.theregister.com/2022/08/30/kylin_the_multiple_semiofficial_chinese/) which had passed the Open Group's testing and could use the Unix trademark: [Inspur K/UX](https://www.opengroup.org/openbrand/register/brand3617.htm) and [Huawei EulerOS](https://www.opengroup.org/openbrand/register/brand3622.htm). Both companies have let the rather [expensive](https://www.opengroup.org/openbrand/Brandfees.htm) trademark lapse, though. But the important detail here is that Linux passed and was certified as a UNIX™. And it wasn't just one distro, although both were CentOS Linux derivatives. We suspect that any Linux would breeze through because many un-Unix-like OSes have passed before.

Other OSes have passed or probably easily would, though. IBM's z/OS is alive and well: [version 2.5 came out in 2021](https://www.theregister.com/2021/07/28/z_os_2_5_launch/) and in 2022 Big Blue [started offering cloud instances](https://www.theregister.com/2022/06/29/ibm_cloud_mainframe_launch/). z/OS has a Unix-compatible environment which has passed the compatibility tests so officially, it's a UNIX™, even if that wasn't its original native API.

The "open" in the name "OpenVMS" originally [referred](https://www.pcmag.com/encyclopedia/term/openvms) to the POSIX compatibility it gained with version 5, way back in 1991, and was first applied to the new version for DEC's Alpha CPUs. Last year [VMS Software released version 9.2](https://www.theregister.com/2022/05/10/openvms_92/) for x86-64 hypervisors (and a single supported box, HPE's [DL380](https://www.hpe.com/psnow/doc/a00008180enw.html)).

Ever since Windows NT in 1993, Windows has had a POSIX environment. Now, with WSL, it arguably has two of them, and we suspect that if Microsoft were so inclined, it could have Windows certified as an official Unix-compatible OS.

[IBM shifts remaining US-based AIX dev jobs to India – source](https://www.theregister.com/2023/01/12/ibm_aix_developer_jobs/)[Haiku beta 4: BeOS rebuild / almost ready for release / A thing of beauty](https://www.theregister.com/2023/01/11/haiku_beta_4/)[What did Unix fans learn from the end of Unix workstations?](https://www.theregister.com/2022/12/13/unix_workstations_lessons/)[NixOS 22.11 'Raccoon': Like a proof of concept you can do things with](https://www.theregister.com/2022/12/13/nixos_2211_raccoon/)

In our recent story on [Beta 4 of Haiku](https://www.theregister.com/2023/01/11/haiku_beta_4/), we said it wasn't really a Unix. As you can see, there's an editor's note attached to the end of the story explaining why.

We had heard from Haiku's primary full-time developer, who vigorously disagreed with our point of view. To his mind, the fact that Haiku now has strong Unix compatibility, with some of the main Unix directories present in its filesystem, a quite complete set of Unix API calls, a Unix shell, and so on, means that Haiku is quite definitely a Unix. We feel that inasmuch as it's a reimplementation of BeOS, with its own native filesystem, API, GUI and so on, it's something different, which offers Unix compatibility *as well*.

But this illustrates the difficulty of defining precisely what the word "Unix" means in the 21st century. It hasn't meant "based on AT&T code" since [Novell bought Unix System Labs from AT&T](https://www.theregister.com/2013/07/25/novell_peaked_with_netware_four/) in 1993, kept the code, and donated the trademark to the Open Group. Since that time, if it passes the Open Group's testing (and you pay a fee to use the trademark), it's UNIX™. Haiku hasn't so it isn't. Linux has so it is. But then so is z/OS, which is a direct descendant of OS/390, or IBM MVS as it was called when it was launched in 1974. In other words, an OS which isn't actually based on, similar to, or even related to Unix.

Which means that the last officially trademarked commercial UNIX™ is Apple's macOS 13, which underneath the proprietary GUI layer is mostly an open source OS called Darwin anyway. The kernel, [XNU](https://github.com/apple/darwin-xnu), is based on Mach with an in-kernel "Unix server" derived from FreeBSD.

So, as of 2023, open source really has won. There are more Unix-like OSes than ever, and some very un-Unix-like OSes which are highly compatible with it, but the official line is, to all intents and purposes, dead and gone. All the proprietary, commercial Unixes are now on life support: they will get essential bug fixes and security updates, but we won't be seeing any major new releases.

Send flowers. ®

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