14 Feb
2025
14 Feb
'25
8:57 p.m.
You've got that right, although I learned that from a different
perspective. A Unix magazine I contracted for was contacted more than once
by AT&T legal saying "Unix" is an adjective, not a noun. I didn't know
about the connection with copyright.
Rik
On Fri, Feb 14, 2025 at 1:40 PM Brantley Coile <brantley(a)coraid.com> wrote:
UNIX is a trademark and as such, it's an
adjective and needs a noun to go
with it. Unix operating system is okay. Unix system is more descriptive.
It's a intellectual property thing.
Brantley
On Feb 14, 2025, at 3:36 PM, segaloco via TUHS
<tuhs(a)tuhs.org> wrote:
So in most technical circles and indeed in the research communities
surrounding
UNIX, the name of the system was just that, UNIX,
prefixed often with
some
descriptor of which stream, be it Research, USG,
BSD/Berkeley, but in
any case
the name UNIX itself was descriptive of the
operating system for many of
its
acolytes and disciples.
However, in AT&T literature and media, addition of "System" to the end
of the
formal name seemed to become de facto if not de
jure. This can be seen
for
instance in manual edits in the early 80s with
references to just "UNIX"
being
replaced with variations on "The UNIX
System", sometimes haphazardly as
if done
via a search and replace with little review.
This too is evident in some
informative films published by AT&T, available on YouTube today as
"The UNIX Operating System" and "UNIX: Making Computers Easier to
Use"[1][2].
Discrepancies in the titles of the videos
notwithstanding, throughout it
seems
there are several instances where audio of an
interviewee saying
"The UNIX System" were edited over what I presume were instances of them
simply
saying UNIX.
I'm curious if anyone has the scoop on whether this was an attempt to
echo
the
"One Bell System" and related
terminology, marketing tag lines like
"The System is the Solution", and/or the naming of the revisions
themselves as
"System <xyz>". On the other
hand, could it have simply been for
clarity, with
the uninitiated not being able to glean from the
product name anything
about it,
making the case for adding "System" in
formal descriptions to give them
a little
bit of a hint.
Bell Labs folks especially, was there ever some grand thou shalt call it
"The UNIX System" in all PR directive or was it just something that
organically
happened over time as bureaucratic powers at be
got their hands on a
part of the
steering wheel?
- Matt G.
[1] - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tc4ROCJYbm0
[2] - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvDZLjaCJuw