klee@daisy.UUCP (Ken Lee) (09/27/88)
There's an article in this week's "MIS Week" that claims that the name
"UNIX" was invented by Brian Kernighan in the mid-1960'. He, along
with Dennis Ritchie and Ken Thompson, were once part of the MIT Multics
project, but now part of the Bell Labs computer science lab. Ritchie
and Thompson were developing a simpler, more elegant operating system.
Kernighan called it "castrated Multics", thus UNIX.
Anyone want to confirm or deny this?
Ken
--
uucp: {ames!atari, ucbvax!imagen, pyramid, sgi, uunet}!daisy!klee
arpanet: daisy!klee@sgi.com or daisy!klee@uunet.uu.net
I'm not a tourist, I was born in California.steve@polyslo.CalPoly.EDU (Steve DeJarnett) (09/28/88)
In article <1681@daisy.UUCP> klee@daisy.UUCP (Ken Lee) writes: >There's an article in this week's "MIS Week" that claims that the name >"UNIX" was invented by Brian Kernighan in the mid-1960'. He, along >with Dennis Ritchie and Ken Thompson, were once part of the MIT Multics >project, but now part of the Bell Labs computer science lab. Ritchie >and Thompson were developing a simpler, more elegant operating system. >Kernighan called it "castrated Multics", thus UNIX. According to Tannenbaum in his Operating Systems book, Unix(tm) was derived from UNICS, which stood for "UNiplexed Information and Computing Service", whereas MULTICS stood for "MULTiplexed Information and Computing Service". Kernighan supposedly coined the UNICS term, which was later converted to UNIX(tm). They did work on MULTICS (at least, Thompson did), and when he found a PDP-7 lying around, he set out to make a single-user MULTICS. This evolved (eventually) into Version 6, and so on from there. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Steve DeJarnett | Smart Mailers -> steve@polyslo.CalPoly.EDU | | Computer Systems Lab | Dumb Mailers -> ..!ucbvax!voder!polyslo!steve | | Cal Poly State Univ. |------------------------------------------------| | San Luis Obispo, CA 93407 | BITNET = Because Idiots Type NETwork | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
carlb@crash.cts.com (Carl Boernecke) (09/29/88)
In article <1681@daisy.UUCP> klee@daisy.UUCP (Ken Lee) writes: >There's an article in this week's "MIS Week" that claims that the name >"UNIX" was invented by Brian Kernighan in the mid-1960'. He, along >with Dennis Ritchie and Ken Thompson, were once part of the MIT Multics >project, but now part of the Bell Labs computer science lab. Ritchie >and Thompson were developing a simpler, more elegant operating system. >Kernighan called it "castrated Multics", thus UNIX. Well, I remember reading that it was a play of words on "Multics," and just another way of saying the number one (UNI), opperating system, with an X too make it sound more like the "s" on "Multics." I do not know if this is true, or not -- this is just something that I remembered. (Kinda like the '286 compatable, that's called the "8T" (say it out loud -- now do you get it?)). -- Carl Boernecke (carlb@crash.cts.com)
roy@phri.UUCP (Roy Smith) (09/30/88)
The way I heard it was as follows. One night, Ken and Dennis were
working late, arguing about what to call their new operating system. After
many hours of hot debate, the finally decided to knock off around 9:00 and
go for a drink. As they walking into their favorite watering hole (the BTL
Rathskeller), the bouncer at the door saw their jeans and T-shirts and
attempted to enforce the dress code (plastic pocket protector and
belt-mounted calculator required) by pointing at them and saying, "You:
nix!", meaning of course that they couldn't come in. And so history was
made.
BTW, a little while ago there was some talk in this group about
"Plan 9", the latest experimental version of Unix under development at The
Labs. Well, I'd like to let you all know that it appears to have been
released to the public earlier than expected. I was in the village this
evening (that's Grenwich Village for you non New Yorkers) when I noticed
that Plan 9 was playing a twin bill with The Neats at a little club on
Broadway, near Houston (across the street from EMS). I knew AT&T has been
doing horrible things to Unix lately, but I never would have guess that
they would have stooped so low as to turn it into a punk rock band. I can
see it now; "We are not men! We are /dev/o!"
--
Roy Smith, System Administrator
Public Health Research Institute
{allegra,philabs,cmcl2,rutgers}!phri!roy -or- phri!roy@uunet.uu.net
"The connector is the network"deke@valhalla.ee.rochester.edu (10/01/88)
In article <1681@daisy.UUCP> klee@daisy.UUCP (Ken Lee) writes: >Kernighan called it "castrated Multics", thus UNIX. >Anyone want to confirm or deny this? > >Ken There are lots of great stories around about the origin of the name. One book I have seen claims that it is an acronym for Universal INteractive eXecutive I've always believed the 'castrated Multics' version, but I like Roy Smith's story best so far. ^Deke Kassabian, deke@ee.rochester.edu or ur-valhalla!deke Univ of Rochester, Dept of EE, Rochester, NY 14627 (+1 716-275-3106)
erc@pai.UUCP (Eric Johnson) (10/07/88)
In article <3521@phri.UUCP>, roy@phri.UUCP (Roy Smith) writes: > ... > BTW, a little while ago there was some talk in this group about > "Plan 9", the latest experimental version of Unix under development at The > Labs. Well, I'd like to let you all know that it appears to have been > released to the public earlier than expected. You bet, years ago. > ...I noticed that > that Plan 9 was playing a twin bill with The Neats at a little club on > Broadway, near Houston (across the street from EMS). What about the movie _Plan 9 From Outer Space_? This was the last Bela Lugosi (sp?) film and is memorable for being rated one of the worst films of all time. > I knew AT&T has been > doing horrible things to Unix lately, but I never would have guess that > they would have stooped so low as to turn it into a punk rock band. I can > see it now; "We are not men! We are /dev/o!" Either this will start a flame war or this is AT&T's answer to the OSF. > Roy Smith, System Administrator > Public Health Research Institute > {allegra,philabs,cmcl2,rutgers}!phri!roy -or- phri!roy@uunet.uu.net > "The connector is the network" "The network is the netork" -Eric -- Eric F. Johnson | Phone +1 612-894-0313 | Are we Prime Automation,Inc | UUCP: bungia!pai!erc | having 12201 Wood Lake Drive | UUCP: sun!tundra!pai!erc | fun Burnsville, MN 55337 USA | DOMAIN: erc@pai.mn.org | yet?
mjr@vax2.nlm.nih.gov.nlm.nih.gov (Marcus J. Ranum) (10/08/88)
In article <216@pai.UUCP> erc@pai.UUCP (Eric Johnson) writes: >In article <3521@phri.UUCP>, roy@phri.UUCP (Roy Smith) writes: >> "The connector is the network" > >"The network is the netork" All network and no play makes Jack a dull boy... All network and no play makes Jack a dull boy... All network and no play makes Jack a dull boy... All network and no All network ad no play makes Jack a dull boy... All network and no play makes Jack a dull boy... --mjr();
debra@alice.UUCP (Paul De Bra) (10/08/88)
In article <216@pai.UUCP> erc@pai.UUCP (Eric Johnson) writes: >In article <3521@phri.UUCP>, roy@phri.UUCP (Roy Smith) writes: >> ... >> BTW, a little while ago there was some talk in this group about >> "Plan 9", the latest experimental version of Unix under development at The >> Labs. Well, I'd like to let you all know that it appears to have been >> released to the public earlier than expected. > > You bet, years ago. >... >What about the movie _Plan 9 From Outer Space_? This was the last >Bela Lugosi (sp?) film and is memorable for being rated one >of the worst films of all time. >... Plan 9 is not to be confused with Version 9 Unix. Version 9 is just the successor of Version 8, which was the successor of Version 7 Unix (it's a little more complicated than this, but let's skip the details). Plan 9 is the latest experimental system, but 1) is not Unix, and 2) is far from usable yet. (some pieces are beginning to work...) We know nothing about any lousy rock-band. Plan 9's name is obviously derived from the movie, which is occasionaly shown at the labs to remind us of the origin of the name (and because the movie is so lousy it's really worth watching). Paul. |-------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Paul De Bra | I am completely surrounded by giant bugs ! | |debra@research.att.com | There's millions of them, all over this code! | |uunet!research!debra | Beam me up quickly...Please... | |--------------------------------------------------------------------------
terry@wsccs.UUCP (Every system needs one) (10/12/88)
In article <1507@valhalla.ee.rochester.edu>, deke@valhalla.ee.rochester.edu writes: > > In article <1681@daisy.UUCP> klee@daisy.UUCP (Ken Lee) writes: > >Kernighan called it "castrated Multics", thus UNIX. > >Anyone want to confirm or deny this? > > Universal INteractive eXecutive I always thought it was "UNIX Not Is XINU" 8-) terry@wsccs
bob@cloud9.UUCP (Bob Toxen) (10/22/88)
> The way I heard it was as follows. ... "You: nix!", ... Sorry, no. UNIX is a play on names of Multics. The latter was supposed to be all things to all people with every feature including the kitchen sink. The modern counterpart is Ada. Ken conceived of UNIX as one thing to one person and its simple elegence, high performance, easier programming has made it much less popular than DOS which has uh, um, ahh... > I was in the village this evening (that's Grenwich Village for you > non New Yorkers) That's Village with a capital-V to New Yorkers who know that proper names should be capitalized. (It's not spelling I'm complaining about.) > Roy Smith, System Administrator > Public Health Research Institute > {allegra,philabs,cmcl2,rutgers}!phri!roy -or- phri!roy@uunet.uu.net -- Bob Toxen {ucbvax!ihnp4,harvard,cloud9!es}!anvil!cavu!bob Stratus Computer, Marlboro, MA
kirkl@ism780c.isc.com (Kirk Lillis) (10/26/88)
In article <2156@cloud9.UUCP> bob@cloud9.UUCP (Bob Toxen) writes: >> The way I heard it was as follows. ... "You: nix!", ... >Sorry, no. UNIX is a play on names of Multics. The latter was supposed >to be all things to all people with every feature including the >kitchen sink. The modern counterpart is Ada. > >Ken conceived of UNIX as one thing to one person and its simple elegence, >high performance, easier programming has made it much less popular than >DOS which has uh, um, ahh... The way I recall it (from Tannenbaum's book on operating systems) is that MULTICS stood for MULTiplexed Information and Computing Service. An associate of Dennis and Ken's at Bell Labs called their scaled down version UNICS, for UNiplexed Information and Computing Service. This nameplay evolved into UNIX. --KirkL --
deraadt@xenlink.UUCP (Theo A. DeRaadt) (10/29/88)
In article <18479@ism780c.isc.com>, kirkl@ism780c.isc.com (Kirk Lillis) writes: ! In article <2156@cloud9.UUCP> bob@cloud9.UUCP (Bob Toxen) writes: ! >> The way I heard it was as follows. ... "You: nix!", ... ! >Sorry, no. UNIX is a play on names of Multics. The latter was supposed ! >to be all things to all people with every feature including the ! >kitchen sink. The modern counterpart is Ada. ! The way I recall it (from Tannenbaum's book on operating systems) is that ! MULTICS stood for MULTiplexed Information and Computing Service. An associate ! of Dennis and Ken's at Bell Labs called their scaled down version UNICS, for ! UNiplexed Information and Computing Service. This nameplay evolved into UNIX. And what of the other Multics related tale - that Unix like a Multics with a number of things "cut out", hence, Unix is, a castrated multics, or a enuch, ie. Unix. <tdr. _____ _ ----------------------------------- / / / / \ _ _ /_/_ Theo de Raadt: (403) 283-9123 / /_ _ ___ __/_ /__/ _\ _\ __/ / Xenlink / / /</_(_) (_/</_/ \_(_/\(_/\(_/_(_/ ..!alberta!calgary!xenlink!deraadt