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 with the Unix trademark
being owned by {X/Open}. Unix or Unix-like operating systems
include {OSF}, {Version 7}, {BSD}, {USG Unix}, {Xenix},
{Ultrix}, {Linux}, and {GNU}.
"Unix" or "UNIX"? Both seem roughly equally popular, perhaps
with a historical bias towards the latter. "UNIX" is a
trademark, 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.
More: {The UNIX Reference Desk
(http://www.eecs.nwu.edu/unix.html)}.
{Spanish fire extinguisher
(ftp://linux.mathematik.tu-darmstadt.de/pub/linux/people/okir/unix_flam