Just what is unix (answer) - (nf)

[rpw3 at fortune.UUCP]

#R:osu-dbs:-55900:fortune:26900050:000:1570
fortune!rpw3    Apr 20 18:31:00 1984

Just a minor quibble, but one that may keep someone out of trouble:

+--------------------
| ***** fortune:net.unix / osu-dbs!paul /  7:16 pm  Apr 18, 1984
|
| For those of you who don't seem to know, UNIX is **NOT** the user interface,
| UNIX **IS** the kernal and file system, **NOTHING MORE**.  As evidence, take
| a look at the differences between sh(1) and csh(1).  These shells are not
| UNIX, but programs that run on UNIX.
+--------------------

Wrong-o! UNIX (tm) is ANY PIECE of that which comes on your tape when
you sign your license. ALL of the utilities, ALL of the kernel, ALL
of the compilers, shells, games, etc., etc., &c. (Check with your lawyer.)

Now. As a systems person who has used TOPS-10 and TOPS-20, I must also
say that the user interface is PRECISELY what most users think of when
they try to describe "UNIX". Pipes. Redirection. Hyphen-options. It is
possible to completely replace the kernel and file system (see R. C. Holt,
"Concurrent EUCLID, The UNIX Operating System, and Tunis") and still not
change the visible "UNIX". UNIX is an entire environment, not just one
implementation of some system primitives.

This is not to say that that I agree with everything in UNIX or that I
don't want to change some of it (remember me? TOPS-10/SCAN options?),
but that just because an environment is hosted on a UNIX kernel it
is not necessarily "UNIX". And vice-versa.

Rob Warnock

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