3  definitions  found 
 
  From  WordNet  r  1.6  [wn]: 
 
  UNIX 
  n  :  a  powerful  operating  system  developed  at  the  Bell  Telephone 
  Laboratories  [syn:  {UNIX},  {UNIX  system},  {UNIX  operating 
  system}] 
 
  From  Jargon  File  (4.2.3,  23  NOV  2000)  [jargon]: 
 
  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  variiant  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},  {USG  Unix},  {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. 
 
 
 
  From  The  Free  On-line  Dictionary  of  Computing  (13  Mar  01)  [foldoc]: 
 
  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  towards  the  latter.  UNIX"  is  a 
  trademark  of  {X/Open},  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}] 
 
  (2000-09-28) 
 
 

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