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I need some help with understanding, the differences between linux and unix, also would I be able to set up a virtual environment on my computer without actually replacing my OS, and lastly would it be possible to just get linux or unix from a torrent? I know these sound like dumb questions but thanks for giving me some advice

Linux was created from Unix.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unix
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux

For a virtual environment, check out Virtualbox. You just need an ISO file of the OS you want to install.
http://www.virtualbox.org/

Most Linux distributions are free so getting them from a torrent would not be illegal, but I would reccommend getting them right from the official websites because you get the latest version and everything.

Here are a few common linux distros:
www.ubuntu.com/
http://fedoraproject.org/
http://www.linuxmint.com/ (kind of based off ubuntu)

Linux is the open source implementation of a Unix-like system, have a look at this article for details.

Setting up a virtual environment is quite simple using programs such as VMWare and VirtualBox.

I don't believe that any official Unixes are available (legally) via bit torrent, though many versions of Linux use it as one of their primary distribution channels.

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You are correct. The closest that you will get to using a unix system is to use BSD. Some examples of BSD are FreeBSD, OpenBSD and NetBSD.

Cheers!