Practical UNIX

Downloading Software from the Internet

You may wonder why commercial UNIX systems often lack standard freeware utilities, such as kermit, that are usually available on Linux. Commercial UNIX systems sell and support UNIX as a product. If they bundled in many freeware utilities, their customers would expect the same support as for the core UNIX software. To make the distinction clear, most UNIX vendors avoid providing free software as part of the standard distribution. However, most vendors also encourage their customers to download from the Internet and use the free software on their own because it extends the product capabilities. Often, a UNIX vendor’s Web site will directly link to free software for that version of UNIX.

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