Path: utzoo!utgpu!attcan!uunet!husc6!cmcl2!nrl-cmf!ames!killer!vector!rpp386!pigs!haugj From: haugj@pigs.UUCP (Joe Bob Willie) Newsgroups: comp.unix.questions Subject: Is UNIX(TM) Multi-User? Summary: stupid question of the month club ... Message-ID: <365@pigs.UUCP> Date: 19 Aug 88 22:24:36 GMT References: <880@taux01.UUCP> <213@bhjat.UUCP> <1640@uop.edu><404@cpro.UUCP> <15287@shemp.CS Reply-To: haugj@pigs.UUCP (Joe Bob Willie) Organization: Big "D" Oil and Gas Lines: 20 In article kaldis@topaz.rutgers.edu (Theodore A. Kaldis) writes: >You are confusing *Dennis* Ritchie, the developer of the C programming >language (and co-author, along with Brian Kernighan, of the book of >the same title) with Ken *Thompson*, the developer of UNIX (which >ironically started out as a *single*-user operating system). this really belongs in comp.os.silly-questions, but here goes anyway ... is unix REALLY a multi-user operating system? or does it just act that way because it is a multi-tasking o/s? i know most of the actual history behind unix, and i recall reading once that dennis didn't consider unix to even be an operating system. so, what features does unix have which prevents it from being a single user operating system with a very clever single user program (init) running? -- jfh@rpp386.uucp (The Beach Bum at The Big "D" Home for Wayward Hackers) "Never attribute to malice what is adequately explained by stupidity" -- Hanlon's Razor