Hi all... In response to the recent "easter egg" in 4.2's song, I asked about some possible meaning behind the "100001 1010101" bit and only ended up more confused as a result of what one individual provided in their replies.
Could anybody enlighten me on proper UNIX association... here are the messages... In response to "theraven"'s speculation over the song at: http://slashdot.org/~TheRaven64/journal/184027 me: Perhaps: Regarding "...these are ! and U..." As in "not equal to proprietary" (UNIX vs unix/unix-like) Or in other words, "free" theraven: "Could be, but considering the fact that GNU's Not UNIX, and the song is fairly anti-GNU in places, I'd guess not. Especially since OpenBSD is UNIX, it just isn't UNIX(TM)." me: Okay... I didn't know OpenBSD was UNIX. I thought OpenBSD was Unix; and that UNIX was a registered trademark of The Open Group, with systems like "UNIX 98" and "UNIX 03". My bad. The "GNU's Not Unix" GNU bit makes sense, though I was simply referring to the difference between $ and free. I was under the impression that UNIX regarded $ and Unix = free. Oh well, no biggy. :-p theraven: "UNIX was an operating system released by AT&T in the late '70s. Some guys at Berkeley added a load of stuff to it, and called their version the Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD). Since it was based on the AT&T code, you needed a license from AT&T to use it. They gradually replaced the AT&T code with their own, and in 4.2BSD-lite, there was no AT&T code, allowing the whole system to be distributed for free (and Free). OpenBSD is based on 4.2BSD-lite, and so contains no original UNIX code, but can trace its evolution back to the original UNIX. The Open Group owns the UNIX trademark (although they are very careful not to test it in court, where it would probably be determined to be a generic term and not subject to trademarks). They can say that something is UNIX(tm) or not; all you have to do is pass a conformance test and pay them a large heap of money. OpenBSD is derived from the original UNIX sources, but has not passed this conformance testing and paid TOG a heap of money, so it is not UNIX(tm). The alternate capitalisation, Unix, is not very common. A few proprietary UNIXes used it, but none of the well-known ones. For a bit more history, take a look at the UNIX timeline [levenez.com]." That's it... now at this point I just give up (when someone refers me to that UNIX timeline, which I've seen and read before and honestly that page doesn't answer my question, so their responses really didn't help any at all.) I'm positive my original guess is wrong (how !U is "not propietary") but that's not the point anymore... it's this: Does OpenBSD = UNIX? Or, does OpenBSD = Unix? (or unix or unix-like or etc.)? I didn't need theraven giving me some preschool explanation "UNIX was an operating system released by AT&T in the late '70s..."...eventually BSD-lite (etc.), I was looking for a simple and direct response - hopeful for explanation *directly related* to that direct response - not a history lesson. I've studied the history of UNIX and "unix-like" branches, at least on a basic level, this is simply a question of one specific system (OpenBSD) and proper use of terminology (aka "UNIX" the trademark, all caps, title), not a question of generic history of the system concept in such an over-generalized and poorly explained fashion as what theraven provided. Thank you for you help in clearing me of my confuzzlement! Sean P.S.- Someone please tell me theraven's, "The alternate capitalisation, Unix, is not very common." is incorrect! I see "Unix" EVERY day, regardless of if propietary or free. Their statement, or claim, in that quote is starting to get into ridiculous speculations as pertaining to general usage of terms in everyday English language and falling off topic of what it is *specifically* in reference to. If I'm wrong in the "Unix" bit, oh well - no biggy - but still am confused about OpenBSD = UNIX or Unix or Unix-like or unix-like or unix or ham sandwich on rye. Thanks! -- Public Key: http://mpec.net/gsd.asc
