Great is a relative term. But, can you name an OS, especially a UNIX, that is better in the general case? By &quot;general case&quot;, I mean, good for just about anything, even if there&#x27;s something better for some niche or role. Also, take into account the world we live in: More computing happens on servers and phones than on desktops and laptops; and judge the OS based on how it&#x27;s doing in those roles.<p>I sincerely consider Linux a great UNIX. Probably the best UNIX that&#x27;s existed, thus far. There are warts, sure. Technically, Solaris had (and still has, in IllumOS and SmartOS) a small handful of superior features and capabilities (at this point one can list them on one hand, and one could also list some &quot;almost-there&quot; similar techs on Linux). But, I assume you&#x27;ve used Solaris (or some other commercial UNIX) enough to have an opinion...can you honestly say you enjoyed working on it more than Linux? The userspace on Solaris was always drastically worse than Linux, unless you installed a ton of GNU utilities, a better desktop, etc. But, Linux brought us a UNIX we could realistically use anywhere, and at a price anyone could afford. That&#x27;s a miracle for a kid that grew up lusting after an Amiga 3000UX (because it was the closest thing to an SGI Indy I could imagine being able to afford).