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The Spirit Of Unix vs. The Unix Trademark
BSD Forums writes "This article conveys the message that Linux, BSD, and Darwin continue what Unix started. InfoWorld's Tom Yager says that several readers took him to task for referring to Linux, BSD, and OS X as Unix. He feels that Unix has a rich legacy that deserves to be preserved and accurately conveyed to new generations of computer scientists. It rattles many of us to see that the operating systems that best exemplify Unix traditions today aren't Unix at all."
GNU/Linux is an embodyment of that philosophy, and the one that is currently the most vigorous. The original AT&T codebase was strangled by the lawyers who so wanted to protect what they saw was theirs that they starved it of the oxygen of new ideas and code.
But then agian, Xerox Corp is one of the best out there in defending its copyrights..
i believe you call the stuff a "*nix".. when spoken you say "a nix", when you actually mean
"unix-like operating system"
Ofcourse this isnt in any dictionary, yet! =)
still reading?
Apple do exactly that.
Please note that the definition of UNIX(tm) (whether POSIX, UNIX98 or whatever other standard is in current usage) makes no particular claims about the internal workings of the kernel - only the API that the kernel exposes. Thus, you can have whatever damn scheduler you like and still be UNIX(tm)-compliant.
That's the wordplay (AFIK) that spawned (if you'll excuse the pun) the UNIX name.
OS Software is like love: The best way to make it grow is to give it away.
Everyone should read this.
Applies to Linux/FreeBSD/OpenBSD/Darwin/Others as well as NetBSD.
When Novell sold off Unix they gave the trademark to the Open Group, sold the code to SCO, and sold the labs to HP (which ran them into the ground like nearly everything they've done in the last 10 years or so outside of printing). So technically SCO DOES own Unix from the code perspective and they are of course a registered Unix vendor with the Open Group.
There are 4 boxes to use in the defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, ammo. Use in that order. Starting now.
There's a very detailed and interesting story, hosted in Oreilly which describes the history of UNIX.
"Twenty Years of Berkeley Unix- From AT&T-Owned to Freely Redistributable " remembers how UNIX evolved from it's early days as a proprietary software owned by AT&T; branching over to the educational field as BSD (Berkeley System Distribution), and finally ending up as various flavors of SysV and BSD's both proprietary, and freely-redistributable.
The link: here!
1. Jeep has operated continuously, albeit under different companies; Willys-Overland, Kaiser-Fraiser, American Motors, and Chrysler. Chrysler didn't relaunch the brand.
2. The SCO lawsuit has nothing to do with the Unix trademark, it has to do with System V intellectual property. For what it's worth, IBM calls Linux, umm.....Linux.
Moderators on crack once again.....
would smell as sweet...
There is actually already an operating system called XINU.
m l
"Xinu is a small, elegant, multitasking Operating System supporting the following features:
Concurrent Processing
Message Passing
Ports
Semaphores
Memory Management
Buffer Pools
Uniform Device I/O
Shell
Tcl
TCP/IP
Xinu was originally designed as a vehicle for teaching Operating System design concepts and is used by many educational institutions for this purpose. Later versions supported TCP/IP, these versions are often used in Data Communications courses."
More info at http://public.ise.canberra.edu.au/~chrisc/xinu.ht
Haven't played with it myself, but I thought I remembered seeign it before.
Karma: Bad. (As in Good?)
Huh? I've never heard this claim from anyone but Eric Raymond, and wannabe hackers having read too much in that "dictionary" of his. Please tell me of a respectable english language etymologist with the same stubborn view.
It should be quite noticeable by now, that "hacker" has been used of computer criminals for at least 15 years, both in mainstream media, and lot's of other places. To insist that it really means something else, is as stupid as insisting that "mouse" does not mean that thingy you move the pointer around the screen with, but in reality is a small rodent.
I believe you are mistaken. The term hacker has _always_ been defined as a computer expert or someone who is extremely adept at computer use. The derogatory term came about later. See below for actual definitions.
$ dict hacker
4 definitions found
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Hacker \Hack"er\, n.
One who, or that which, hacks. Specifically: A cutting
instrument for making notches; esp., one used for notching
pine trees in collecting turpentine; a hack.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 [wn]:
hacker
n 1: someone who plays golf poorly
2: a programmer for whom computing is its own reward; may enjoy
the challenge of breaking into other computers
3: one who works hard at boring tasks [syn: {hack}, {drudge}]
From Jargon File (4.3.0, 30 APR 2001) [jargon]:
hacker n. [originally, someone who makes furniture with an axe] 1. A
person who enjoys exploring the details of programmable systems and how
to stretch their capabilities, as opposed to most users, who prefer to
learn only the minimum necessary. 2. One who programs enthusiastically
(even obsessively) or who enjoys programming rather than just theorizing
about programming. 3. A person capable of appreciating {hack value}. 4.
A person who is good at programming quickly. 5. An expert at a
particular program, or one who frequently does work using it or on it;
as in `a Unix hacker'. (Definitions 1 through 5 are correlated, and
people who fit them congregate.) 6. An expert or enthusiast of any kind.
One might be an astronomy hacker, for example. 7. One who enjoys the
intellectual challenge of creatively overcoming or circumventing
limitations. 8. [deprecated] A malicious meddler who tries to discover
sensitive information by poking around. Hence `password hacker',
`network hacker'. The correct term for this sense is {cracker}.
The term `hacker' also tends to connote membership in the global
community defined by the net (see {the network} and {Internet address}).
For discussion of some of the basics of this culture, see the How To
Become A Hacker (http://www.tuxedo.org/~esr/faqs/hacker-howto.html ) FAQ.
It also implies that the person described is seen to subscribe to some
version of the hacker ethic (see {hacker ethic}).
It is better to be described as a hacker by others than to describe
oneself that way. Hackers consider themselves something of an elite (a
meritocracy based on ability), though one to which new members are
gladly welcome. There is thus a certain ego satisfaction to be had in
identifying yourself as a hacker (but if you claim to be one and are
not, you'll quickly be labeled {bogus}). See also {geek}, {wannabee}.
This term seems to have been first adopted as a badge in the 1960s by
the hacker culture surrounding TMRC and the MIT AI Lab. We have a report
that it was used in a sense close to this entry's by teenage radio hams
and electronics tinkerers in the mid-1950s.
From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (09 FEB 02) [foldoc]:
hacker
(Originally, someone
To quote from the Open Group:
"From February 1995, computer systems have carried the UNIX brand if:
They guarantee to support the services specified in the Single UNIX Specification.
Customers can identify UNIX certified products by the Open Brand logo and the mandatory attribution declaring to which version of the specification the product complies:
UNIX 93 applies to UNIX system products which pre-date the Single UNIX Specification.
UNIX 95 applies to UNIX system products which conform to the Single UNIX Specification.
UNIX 98 applies to UNIX system products which conform to the Single UNIX Specification , Version 2.
The mark to be associated with the Single UNIX Specification, Version 3 is under development, see the platform pages for the latest information.
In licensing the UNIX brand a vendor warrants and represents that every certified product:
Conforms to the specification.
Meets The Open Group's test and certification requirements.
Will continue to conform to the specification.
Will be rectified within an agreed time should it be found to be non-conformant.
UNIX certification is widely recognized as the international symbol of assurance in open systems. By the end of 2001, the value of procurements of open systems referencing the brand had exceeded $25 billion. "
So, from a technical standpoint you can see that if it meets the standards (UNIX98, UNIX95, UNIX93, or a soon to be updated standard) LINUX, FREEBSD, or any other OS can be branded 'UNIX' legally.
However, in spoken discourse (and by spoken I mean not only verbal, but written words attributed to journal, informal, or fiction genres) I think it perfectly acceptable to say 'unix' when it would be more accurate to say 'Linux', or 'FreeBSD', as mentioned previously in the example of 'Kleenex' becoming a generic term for 'tissue'. The verbal lexicon will continue to change and reflect our understandings of the effective reality (Linux contains many of the standards contained in UNIX98 for example, and for all intents and purposes is indistenguishable from a branded UNIX to an end user)
Unix keepers of the flame should not find issue with this usage, since it really serves to pay homage to the roots of all Posix compliant operating systems - UNIX. Without the brainchild of AT&T Labs, we would not be here discussing this subject. Just as well, as the article cited at the head of this thread indicates, the tradition of brainstorming inovation across a free community will continue to drive changes which will find their way into the standard whether the UNIX purists like it or not. As Bruce Lee stressed: internalize what works - and the unix paradigm of open development works.
Lodragan Draoidh
The more you explain it, the more I don't understand it. - Mark Twain
The two usages of the word "hacker" ("computer criminal" and "expert programmer") apparently both derive from the MIT definition of "hack", which I believe predates the spread of computers.
They present it as "someone who does some sort of interesting and creative work at a high intensity level", and specifically mention that it often includes pranks.
Another definition which fits well is "someone who operates a complex system in a manner inconsistent with its designer's intent".
Either of those two definitions can apply to either the popular usage, or ESR's description.