from
Jargon File (4.4.4, 14 Aug 2003)
Unix
/yoo'niks/, n.
[In the authors' words, "A weak pun on Multics"; very early on it was
"UNICS"] (also "UNIX") An interactive timesharing system invented in
1969 by Ken Thompson after Bell Labs left the Multics project,
originally so he could play games on his scavenged PDP-7. Dennis
Ritchie, the inventor of C, is considered a co-author of the system.
The turning point in Unix's history came when it was reimplemented
almost entirely in C during 1972--1974, making it the first
source-portable OS. Unix subsequently underwent mutations and
expansions at the hands of many different people, resulting in a
uniquely flexible and developer-friendly environment. By 1991, Unix
had become the most widely used multiuser general-purpose operating
system in the world -- and since 1996 the variant called {Linux} has
been at the cutting edge of the {open source} movement. Many people
consider the success of Unix the most important victory yet of
hackerdom over industry opposition (but see {Unix weenie} and {Unix
conspiracy} for an opposing point of view). See {Version 7}, {BSD},
{Linux}.
Some people are confused over whether this word is appropriately
`UNIX' or `Unix'; both forms are common, and used interchangeably.
Dennis Ritchie says that the `UNIX' spelling originally happened in
CACM's 1974 paper The UNIX Time-Sharing System because "we had a new
typesetter and {troff} had just been invented and we were intoxicated
by being able to produce small caps." Later, dmr tried to get the
spelling changed to `Unix' in a couple of Bell Labs papers, on the
grounds that the word is not acronymic. He failed, and eventually (his
words) "wimped out" on the issue. So, while the trademark today is
`UNIX', both capitalizations are grounded in ancient usage; the Jargon
File uses `Unix' in deference to dmr's wishes.
from
The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (8 July 2008)
Unix
<operating system> /yoo'niks/ (Or "UNIX", in the authors'
words, "A weak pun on Multics") Plural "Unices". An
interactive {time-sharing} {operating system} invented in 1969
by {Ken Thompson} after {Bell Labs} left the {Multics}
project, originally so he could play games on his scavenged
{PDP-7}. {Dennis Ritchie}, the inventor of {C}, is considered
a co-author of the system.
The turning point in Unix's history came when it was
reimplemented almost entirely in C during 1972 - 1974, making
it the first {source-portable} OS. Unix subsequently
underwent mutations and expansions at the hands of many
different people, resulting in a uniquely flexible and
{developer}-friendly environment.
By 1991, Unix had become the most widely used {multi-user}
general-purpose operating system in the world. Many people
consider this the most important victory yet of hackerdom over
industry opposition (but see {Unix weenie} and {Unix
conspiracy} for an opposing point of view).
Unix is now offered by many manufacturers and is the subject
of an international standardisation effort [called?].
Unix-like operating systems include {AIX}, {A/UX}, {BSD},
{Debian}, {FreeBSD}, {GNU}, {HP-UX}, {Linux}, {NetBSD},
{NEXTSTEP}, {OpenBSD}, {OPENSTEP}, {OSF}, {POSIX}, {RISCiX},
{Solaris}, {SunOS}, {System V}, {Ultrix}, {USG Unix}, {Version
7}, {Xenix}.
"Unix" or "UNIX"? Both seem roughly equally popular, perhaps
with a historical bias toward the latter. "UNIX" is a
registered trademark of {The Open Group}, however, since it is
a name and not an acronym, "Unix" has been adopted in this
dictionary except where a larger name includes it in upper
case. Since the OS is {case-sensitive} and exists in many
different versions, it is fitting that its name should reflect
this.
The UNIX Reference Desk
(http://geek-girl.com/unix.html).
Spanish fire extinguisher
(ftp://linux.mathematik.tu-darmstadt.de/pub/linux/people/okir/unix_flame.gif).
[{Jargon File}]
(2001-05-14)
