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unix

Source: WordNet (r) 2.0
unix

	UNIX
     n : trademark for a powerful operating system [syn: UNIX system,
          UNIX operating system]

Source: Jargon File (4.3.1, 29 Jun 2001)
unix

	Unix /yoo'niks/ n. [In the authors' words, "A weak pun on Multics";
   very early on it was `UNICS'] (also `UNIX') An interactive time-sharing
   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.

Source: The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03)
unix

	Unix
     
         /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://www.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)