Jargon file v2.1.5 28 NOV 1990 -- part 5 of 6

[Eric S. Raymond]

In <1990Nov30.172512.5282 at sctc.com> Rick Smith wrote:
> What is the source of this nonsense describing Multics as the SECOND
> SYSTEM EFFECT applied to CTSS?

Um...Dennis Ritchie, I think, in a retrospective on the history of UNIX -- but
I can't put my finger on the exact quote. Dennis, if you're listening, can 
you confirm or deny this?

I will incorporate several of your corrections. Upon doing a context grep for
MULTICS it does seem that the references to it are uniformly negative. That
is unfair and was unintended; though I agree with the charge that MULTICS
became somewhat bloated and at least partly a victim of design grandiosity, I
also do think that it expressed some of the best thinking about OS design in
its day and doesn't deserve to be `sneered at' by anyone.

I will add some description of MULTICS's contributions to OS design to the
MULTICS entry. Thanks for your feedback.
-- 
      Eric S. Raymond = eric at snark.thyrsus.com  (mad mastermind of TMN-Netnews)