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To: Bald Eagle who wrote (8291)	3/12/1998 12:19:00 PM
From: LKO	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 64865

> Also, wouldn't you agree that UNIX is > language as well as being an operating system. > What are shell scripts if they are not programs? Reminds me of the parable about blind men trying to feel and characterize an elephant. Ofcourse everyone is correct here but here is my $0.02 Here is how I see it... An OS can execute applications via non-interactive devices (batch mode, punch cards etc on mainframes), or through interactive devices. Interactive devices typically offer an interface (in some OS's after authenticating a user - the "login") which is either a GUI or a "command line interpreter". Some OS's offer both even at the same time. Unix is an OS that can run multiple GUIs (e.g. OpenWin, CDE, XWindows etc) and command line interpreters (e.g. csh, ksh, bash) ) all at the same time. The command line interpreters ofcourse offer not just ability to run commands but a "scripting language" often called "shell scripts". These "scripting languages" offer control structures often similar to those of conventional programming languages. Command line interpreters can also be run from a GUI interface and are then called "terminal emulators" (e.g. xterm, cmdtool, shelltool, <whatever>) DOS used to have command line interpreted but when you ran the application you lost the command line interpreter. Windos and Mac offer a GUI only environment.(I have heard Mac has added a command line interpreters and scripting support but I have not seen it). Under Windows/DOS there are applications like "MKS" that added Unix-like terminal emulation and scripting applications though I have not used them. So what people describe an OS as is often based on how they interact with it. I have seen Windows classes which actually teach Word/EXcel applications. I hope I have described the "elephant" accurately or maybe I missed a snout or tusk or two of this beast... :-)