Now the question is, did he put the x as a variable i.e. they couldn't agree how to write it so he used x as a stand-in, or was he using x phonetically.
And this, for the readers in the future reading this post from their flying cars on Mars (or Roko's Basilisk), is what we call trolling in the ancient times.
Unix was named (phonetically) by bwk. I don't think he ever spelled it, but since it was a play on multics, he thought it was unics (you can ask him).
At the time, Unix was compiled on the central computer at Bell Labs (GE-635) that produced a PDP-7 paper tape. Usually, I just ran the tape and threw it away. When I needed to save a tape, I wrote "Unix" on the tape. It [the name] stuck after that.
44 Comments
snoons@lemmy.ca · 76 pts · 112d
linics
hmmmm.... no, i don't like it
thingsiplay@lemmy.ml · 22 pts · 112d
Lunics
tux0r@snac.rosaelefanten.org · 6 pts · 112d
lunatics
hanrahan@slrpnk.net · 4 pts · 111d
That's for Arch users :)
tux0r@snac.rosaelefanten.org · 1 pts · 97d
Arch users can't Gentoo, else they would Gentoo.
Valmond@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 1 pts · 111d
Fanatics for fedora users?
I'm a Minatic myself.
midribbon_action@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 43 pts · 113d
Cool story, but I already chose to believe Ken Thompson has no testicles some time ago.
victorz@lemmy.world · 27 pts · 112d
Didn't expect this in the comments. What's this about?
midribbon_action@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 82 pts · 112d
Ken Thompson is one of the most influential unix of all time.
Lumidaub@feddit.org · 31 pts · 112d
*very angry upvote*
Vajra_furor@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 25 pts · 112d
When she showed me this joke, I had to leave the room. She was so proud of how funny she is.
Ludicrous0251@piefed.zip · 15 pts · 112d
She is very funny. She should be proud.
victorz@lemmy.world · 8 pts · 112d
I still don't get it. Am I whooshing or do I just not have enough details yet? I just woke up btw...
auntieclokwise@lemmy.world · 19 pts · 112d
The word Unix sounds very close to the word for a castrated male.
victorz@lemmy.world · 8 pts · 112d
Oh my god, of course. lol, thanks!
peterhorvath@mastodon.de · 1 pts · 112d
@auntieclokwise @victorz :-) What is the language on which you are thinking on?
victorz@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 112d
If I'm reading English text, I think in English. Otherwise it varies between my native tongue and English.
peterhorvath@mastodon.de · 0 pts · 112d
@victorz They are not even similar on English.
sbeak@sopuli.xyz · 9 pts · 112d
eunuchs (a word used to describe testicle-less men working for various different rulers around the world)
victorz@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 112d
Thanks 😄
peterhorvath@mastodon.de · 2 pts · 112d
@sbeak @victorz It is "unix car parts shop"
meowmeow@quokk.au · 31 pts · 112d
Just wait until lynucks gets revealed
swab148@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 9 pts · 112d
A Canadian distro?
Jarix@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 112d
I dig it. Make it so
meowmeow@quokk.au · 1 pts · 112d
Nice.
tux0r@snac.rosaelefanten.org · 1 pts · 112d
OpenBSD exists
swab148@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 7 pts · 112d
Famously, not a Linux distro
Grass@sh.itjust.works · 3 pts · 112d
O Penbee Esdee
Ensign_Crab@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 111d
I need a jynnan tonnyx.
FauxLiving@lemmy.world · 26 pts · 113d
Now the question is, did he put the x as a variable i.e. they couldn't agree how to write it so he used x as a stand-in, or was he using x phonetically.
Probably the latter, and yet...
Gullible@sh.itjust.works · 22 pts · 113d
Dang, people should email him for 15 years to find out!
FauxLiving@lemmy.world · 30 pts · 113d
Let's leave it unsettled so future nerd historians, 100 years from now, can hate us for not asking and write books speculating about it.
modus@lemmy.world · 14 pts · 112d
Or post the question on a forum, then post "response deleted" and then post a third one to say "Thanks! That was super-interesting!"
FunStuffIsFun@eviltoast.org · 8 pts · 112d
Share a screenshot, but be sure that the screenshot is a photobucket 404.
FauxLiving@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 112d
And this, for the readers in the future reading this post from their flying cars on Mars (or Roko's Basilisk), is what we call trolling in the ancient times.
Valmond@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 1 pts · 111d
X = GNU achtually
DarrinBrunner@lemmy.world · 10 pts · 112d
Answer transcribed by moi:
Unix was named (phonetically) by bwk. I don't think he ever spelled it, but since it was a play on multics, he thought it was unics (you can ask him).
At the time, Unix was compiled on the central computer at Bell Labs (GE-635) that produced a PDP-7 paper tape. Usually, I just ran the tape and threw it away. When I needed to save a tape, I wrote "Unix" on the tape. It [the name] stuck after that.
mech@feddit.org · 10 pts · 112d
Now try asking Ken M
x00z@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 112d
It really feels like I knew this already.
Paranoidfactoid@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 111d
I wish someone would make a Plan 9 distribution.
tux0r@snac.rosaelefanten.org · 1 pts · 97d
A couple of Plan 9 distributions exist.
scathliath@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 1 pts · 111d
This should be made into a purity seal.