*nix - an abbreviation?

[Jonathan I. Kamens]

In article <5167 at balu.UUCP>, fifi at cosmo.UUCP (A.F.Zinser) writes:
> I don't want to know the meaning of '*', but the meaning of
> 'unix' - if there is one.

  I'm surprised this isn't in the monthly "frequently asked questions" posting.

  The story I heard is that "Unix" a parody of "Multics", an operating
system which preceded Unix and which I will not discuss here (This is,
after all, comp.UNIX.questions, not comp.MULTICS.questions).

  Oh, one thing I will mention is that I think the reason they decided
to parody Multics' name is that they didn't like the draconian security
features present in Multics, and wanted to write an operating system
that was more open.

   There goes the idea that Unix is secure :-)

Jonathan Kamens			              USnail:
MIT Project Athena				11 Ashford Terrace
jik at Athena.MIT.EDU				Allston, MA  02134
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P.S. Unix and Multics are almost definitely registered trademarks owned by
     somebody (AT&T for Unix, probably Honeywell for Multics).  If you're
     they, Plbbbbbbbb.