Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!armadillo.cis.ohio-state.edu!lum
From: lum@armadillo.cis.ohio-state.edu (Lum Johnson)
Newsgroups: news.newusers.questions
Subject: Re: Abbreviation: RTFM
Message-ID: <63389@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu>
Date: 28 Sep 89 19:34:23 GMT
References: <1812@servax0.essex.ac.uk> <2652@zaphod.axion.bt.co.uk> <1620@tellab5.tellabs.CHI.IL.US>
Sender: news@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu
Reply-To: Lum Johnson 
Organization: The Ohio State University, IRCC/CIS Joint Computing Laboratory
Lines: 26

In article <1620@tellab5.tellabs.CHI.IL.US> toth@tellab5.tellabs.CHI.IL.US (Joseph G. Toth Jr.) writes:
>
>By the way, what does UNIX stand for?? ...

"UNIX" need not stand for anything - seating has been provided.

Seriously, though, "UNIX" is simply a pun on "MULTICS".  The '60's
Project MAC developed a model or philosophy of timesharing, which was
implemented by various groups as CTSS, ITS, MULTICS, and TOPS-10.
Those who found the MAC philosophy unsatisfactory decided to explore
other ideas.  BBN created TENEX;  Bell Labs created UNIX.
(The lists are in alphabetical order - no meaning should be inferred.)

>Maybe we need a new newsgroup 'alt.acronym'

No.  We have enough newsgroups already, thank you.  And rmgrouping
old newsgroups is painful beyond all understanding or comprehension.

>Maybe this whole acronym discussion should be moved to 'rec.humor'

How about `alt.religion.computers'?  Traffic has thinned out there.
-=-
-- 
Lum Johnson      lum@cis.ohio-state.edu      lum@osu-20.ircc.ohio-state.edu
"You got it kid -- the large print giveth and the small print taketh away."
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