Unix conspiracy n. [ITS] According to a conspiracy theory long popular
   among ITS and TOPS-20 fans, Unix's growth is the result of a
   plot, hatched during the 1970s at Bell Labs, whose intent was to hobble
   AT&T's competitors by making them dependent upon a system whose future
   evolution was to be under AT&T's control. This would be accomplished by
   disseminating an operating system that is apparently inexpensive and
   easily portable, but also relatively unreliable and insecure (so as to
   require continuing upgrades from AT&T). This theory was lent a
   substantial impetus in 1984 by the paper referenced in the back door
   entry.

   In this view, Unix was designed to be one of the first computer
   viruses (see virus) -- but a virus spread to computers indirectly by
   people and market forces, rather than directly through disks and
   networks. Adherents of this `Unix virus' theory like to cite the fact
   that the well-known quotation "Unix is snake oil" was uttered by DEC
   president Kenneth Olsen shortly before DEC began actively promoting its
   own family of Unix workstations. (Olsen now claims to have been
   misquoted.)

   [If there was ever such a conspiracy, it got thoroughly out of the
   plotters' control after 1990. AT&T sold its Unix operation to Novell
   around the same time Linux and other free-Unix distributions were
   beginning to make noise. --ESR]

	

	Unix conspiracy
     
        [ITS] According to a conspiracy theory long popular among
        ITS and TOPS-20 fans, Unix's growth is the result of a
        plot, hatched during the 1970s at Bell Labs, whose intent was
        to hobble AT&T's competitors by making them dependent upon a
        system whose future evolution was to be under AT&T's control.
        This would be accomplished by disseminating an operating
        system that is apparently inexpensive and easily portable, but
        also relatively unreliable and insecure (so as to require
        continuing upgrades from AT&T).  This theory was lent a
        substantial impetus in 1984 by the paper referenced in the
        back door entry.
     
        In this view, Unix was designed to be one of the first
        computer viruses (see virus) - but a virus spread to
        computers indirectly by people and market forces, rather than
        directly through disks and networks.  Adherents of this "Unix
        virus" theory like to cite the fact that the well-known
        quotation "Unix is snake oil" was uttered by DEC president
        Kenneth Olsen shortly before DEC began actively promoting its
        own family of Unix workstations.  (Olsen now claims to have
        been misquoted.)