UN*X n. Used to refer to the Unix operating system (a trademark of
   AT&T, then of Novell, then of Univel, then of the Open Group; the source
   code parted company with it after Novell and was owned by SCO, which was
   acquired by Caldera) in writing, but avoiding the need for the ugly
   (TM) typography. Also used to refer to any or all varieties of Unixoid
   operating systems. Ironically, lawyers now say that the requirement for
   the trademark postfix has no legal force, but the asterisk usage is
   entrenched anyhow. It has been suggested that there may be a
   psychological connection to practice in certain religions (especially
   Judaism) in which the name of the deity is never written out in full,
   e.g., `YHWH' or `G-d' is used. See also glob and splat out.

	

	UN*X
     
         Used to refer to the Unix
        operating system (a trademark of AT&T) in writing, but
        avoiding the need for the ugly (TM) typography.  Also used to
        refer to any or all varieties of Unixoid operating systems.
        Ironically, lawyers now say that the requirement for the
        TM-postfix has no legal force, but the asterisk usage is
        entrenched anyhow.
     
        It has been suggested that there may be a psychological
        connection to practice in certain religions (especially
        Judaism) in which the name of the deity is never written out
        in full, e.g. "YHWH" or "G--d" is used.
     
        See also glob.
     
        (1998-04-17)