Mac OS X Is Not a Linux Distribution.

Is Mac a Unix or Linux?

macOS is a UNIX 03-compliant operating system certified by The Open Group.

Is the Mac terminal the same as Linux?

As you now know from my introductory article, macOS is a flavor of UNIX, similar to Linux. But unlike Linux, macOS does not support virtual terminals by default. Instead, you can use the Terminal app (/Applications/Utilities/Terminal) to obtain a command line terminal and BASH shell.