Unix Feuds

[Dan Mercer]

In article <1990Dec12.163227.26158 at nas.nasa.gov> smithwik at pioneer.arc.nasa.gov (R. Michael Smithwick -- FSN) writes:
:I suppose this is the best newsgroup for this nonsense. . .
:
:I recently picked up a copy of that wonderful "UNIX FEUDS" poster handed
:out by UniTech at the recent Sun User's Group conference in San Jose. 
:
:For the uninformed, the poster depicts two clashing medieval armies,
:swords drawn, shields held high, fighting out Unix standards. One army
:is for Osf and the other is UI. Standing in the middle is a wizard
:trying to pull a sword out of a stone, and caught in front of him and
:between the armies is a hapless user, ready to be done in. Well, the
:poster is full of unix puns. In  the background one guy is hitting
:someone else over the head with a pipe. Someone else has a boot hanging
:off of their sword. However, there are a few I can't quite figure out,
:perhaps some more enlightened individual will have the answers.
:
:Behind the wizard is a deamon holding a fork. Two people, clearly 
:in pain are under his spell, one is biting his hand. What does this
:mean?
Our version is slightly different - the demon is hidden by the sleeve
of the wizard.  Still,  daemon and fork should be plainly obvious.
:
:At the base of the stone are two rats, one whispering into the ear

They're mice - get it?

:of the other (possibly symbolizing security violations?). Next to
:the rats is a shell chained to the stone.  The meaning of the shell
is obvious,  chain less so.
:
:In the sky are 5 geese flying left to right.

They're migrating.
:
:On the horizon is a small church.
:
In ours it is a small castle with an X-window.  In front of it is a
Trojan horse.

There's also a man mounting or unmounting from a horse - shields
embossed with bells (for AT&T),  another emblazoned with a SUN,  and a
third marked xopen split by a file.  There are trees and branches,  an
executioner wearing a mask,  a scroll,  a cat peeking from behind the
stone,  the soldiers are wearing mail,  and a worm crawling out of an
apple.

The symbols I haven't figured out are the key on the wizard's ring and
the stranged scalloped shaped emblem on his hat.

I was also surprised that they missed one simple,  obvious pun - a
net.

:I'm sure that there are more subtle puns beyond my comprehension, but
:any light would be helpful.
:
:Anyway, the poster is destined to become a real classic. Get one if
:you can.
:
:
:                                       >> mike smithwick <<
:
:Any opinions are my own since nobody else would ever want them.
:
:"Colonize Cyberspace!"


-- 
Dan Mercer
NCR Network Products Division      -        Network Integration Services
Reply-To: mercer at npdiss1.StPaul.NCR.COM (Dan Mercer)
"MAN - the only one word oxymoron in the English Language"