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What is UNIX, Anyway?

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the it-sure-tastes-unixy dept.

Lieutenant writes "Technology professionals have loosely used the term "UNIX" since the first person had to explain the difference between the Berkeley and AT&T flavors, so it's not surprising to find as many UNIX standards as there are versions of the operating system. Peter Seebach wades through the wellspring of UNIX standards and sorts them out for you, concluding that the rumors of the death of UNIX are (as usual) greatly exaggerated."

8 of 218 comments (clear)

  1. it's ok by rayde · · Score: 5, Funny

    i don't take any reports of UNIX's death as fact without a Netcraft confirmation.

    1. Re:it's ok by aussie_a · · Score: 4, Funny

      Heck, I didn't even see anybody post a *BSD is Dying troll.

      That's because it is already dead.

  2. Correlation, Causation, LSD by Quirk · · Score: 5, Funny
    In some cases, existing practice in a field reflects a decision a college student at Berkeley made at 3 AM.

    "There were only two things to come out of Berkeley in the 60's, LSD and Unix. I doubt that is a coincidence."

    --
    "Academicians are more likely to share each other's toothbrush than each other's nomenclature."
    Cohen
  3. Re:UNIX ? by larry+bagina · · Score: 5, Funny
    XINU Is Not Unix.

    (It's actually a giant space clam that wants you to give all your money to L Ron Hubbard)

    --
    Do you even lift?

    These aren't the 'roids you're looking for.

  4. Answer by ceeam · · Score: 5, Funny

    Unix is not GNU.

  5. Re:mnennnnn by ettlz · · Score: 5, Funny
    kytf jxcjvoixcvj :: POIJP>>IPOhghghgIPO

    That command is only valid for System V type variants.

    Ah. I see you've been forced to use AIX as well!

  6. Re:I vote for syslog by samkass · · Score: 4, Funny

    You've never read a Sendmail.cf file, have you?

    --
    E pluribus unum
  7. Re:I vote for syslog by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    To be fair, he did say "drug induced". Sendmail.cf (Heck, M4 in its entirity) clearly is not drug induced. It is a many tentacled being which slithered forth from the darkest nether regions of hell to lay waste to the minds of humanity. On a good day.