UNIX
From Waisman Brain Imaging Wiki
UNIX is a computer operating system, like Microsoft Windows or OS X for Macs.
We use UNIX at the labs quite a bit, as many of the data processing and analysis tools don't run under Windows or on Macs (or their Windows versions are very limited). All of our network file servers run UNIX, as do LAN104 and LAN106 - LAN109 at Brogden and tezpur and ancho at Keck.
There are several different companies that make their own versions of UNIX. For example, Sun's version of UNIX is Solaris. (In fact, Mac OS X is actually UNIX with a friendly user interface on it.)
There are also open-source alternatives like Linux, which are quite popular because they are free (or very low cost), and the source code to the OS can be downloaded and studied or modified as needed.
Because there are many versions of UNIX that are all slightly different, some commands won't be exactly the same on all of the UNIX computers in the labs. This can be a bit confusing, but there's no easy way to get around it. You just have to learn the Sun and Linux versions (and possibly the Mac OS X ones as well). Fortunately, most commands are identical or nearly so on all versions.
Our Tips and Tricks
- Several helpful guides on UNIX and UNIX-related tools (https://psyphz.psych.wisc.edu/web/members/help/index.html#unix) (need NetID and password to view)
- A Quick And Dirty Intro To UNIX (John Koger)
- Handy Lab UNIX Tricks (John Koger)
- Scripting Introduction (http://brainimaging.waisman.wisc.edu/~oakes/teaching/scripting_intro.pdf) (Tom Johnstone)
Specific UNIX Commands
- rsync Copy lots of files with speed and confidence. Sync up two similar directories. And more.
- screen Run multiple jobs in one window and switch between them until you're dizzy.
- gzip Trade in your excess CPU speed for disk space. Smush files 'til they're real small.
- top See who's running that huge MATLAB job so you can go yell at them.
- X Make UNIX draw windows and graphs just like a Mac or Windows can.
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