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Ubuntu and Debian, which are based on Linux, are called Linux distros. OpenBSD, Solaris, and MacOS, which are based on Unix, are called Unix operating systems but not Unix distros. Why is this the case and, more generally, what is considered a Unix distro?

shprogram
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MAR1
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  • I think your division between unix and linux is incorrect. Android is Linux Based but an OS not a distribution... the point is redistributing other people's software. Android and Macos both are (mostly) their own proprietary platform. Ubuntu is largely bolting together other people's work. – Philip Couling Apr 28 '22 at 21:24
  • They are all Unix-like operating systems as they behave and function similar to Unix but that's very broad. Debian and Ubuntu are Linux distributions as they are based on the Linux kernel where OpenBSD, Solaris, MacOS, AIX, HP-UX, Openserver are not. To give a simple overview: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux#/media/File:Unix_timeline.en.svg – Nasir Riley Apr 28 '22 at 21:43
  • I would say android is a Linux distro – LWS SWL Apr 28 '22 at 21:56
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux_distribution – Artem S. Tashkinov Apr 29 '22 at 07:27
  • Android is not and has never been a Linux distro. It contains next to zero crucial GNU components such as glibc. – Artem S. Tashkinov Apr 29 '22 at 07:28

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Distro is short for "distribution" and a "Linux distro" is a bundle containing both Linux and a bunch of non-Linux things. In the same way, OpenIndiana is an Illumos distribution (packaging Illumos, a Solaris derivative)

Unix is not an operating system anymore but a trademark, and anything authorized to use it is Unix. Anything not authorized, like most Linux distributions, is not Unix. There is precisely one Unix-certified Linux: Huawei's EulerOS 2.0, running on their "KunLun Mission Critical Server" — note that certification is by OS/platform pair, so the same OS on a different sort of machine would not qualify. For the same reason, Apple's macOS has two certifications: one for Arm-based systems, and one for x86-based systems.

The BSD family historically derived from Unix-the-OS, and is thus close in behaviour than most Linux systems, but this does not make OpenBSD a unix (because it is not certified)

Fox
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  • so debian is linux distro because they get the mainline linux kernel and add their patch, when freeBSD , BSD, Solaris and mac os develop everything on their own, also in unix time was bsd considered a unix distro. thanks for answering – MAR1 Apr 29 '22 at 01:41
  • Unix is not a trademark. UNIX is a registered trademark of The Open Group. There are no Unix-certified OSes; there are UNIX-branded OSes. UNIX is not Unix; Unix is not UNIX. – fpmurphy Apr 29 '22 at 02:03
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    @MAR1: not just patches. a Linux distro like Debian adds everything outside the kernel: shells like bash and dash, (optionally) an X-based GUI, thousands of utilities like ls,cat,diff,awk,tar and tools like gcc,make,ld and a great many libraries and applications, usually organized into packages in a package management system (for Debian dpkg* plus apt*). The BSDs and Solaris and MacOS similarly provide userlands on their (different) kernels, although not all separately developed: MacOS uses a lot of FreeBSD stuff, and nearly everyone (re)uses GNU and other free or open things. – dave_thompson_085 Apr 29 '22 at 02:46
  • @fpmurphy The Open Group maintains a list of "UNIX(R) Certified Products" — that's definitely a Unix-certified OS if ever I've seen one. And while the capitalization scheme matters if you're bearing the trademark, something calling itself Unix if it's not UNIX(R) would not be acceptable. For all intents and purposes, the two are interchangeable except in branding – Fox Apr 29 '22 at 18:19