The history of Unix systems and their main components.
3
votes
1answer
117 views
Is there a archive of old man pages? specifically for the features available for grep in early 'ed'
This is just a bit of history rummaging... I'd like to know how different today's grep is to the original implementation, introduced by Ken Thompson in ed. which evolved to ex, which then became vi...
...
6
votes
3answers
1k views
What is the point of the 'operator' user?
Many un*x systems ship with a user account named 'operator'. What is the purpose of this account?
Do some systems actually make use of this account, or is this more of a historical legacy? Have you ...
0
votes
1answer
202 views
What is the difference between UNIX and UNIX Like? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Is Linux a Unix?
I have heard Linux was not UNIX (I guess it still isn't) but that it was UNIX Like. Some people will just say "Linux is UNIX" or say "Linux, Solaris, ...
2
votes
1answer
208 views
Does research unix have any binary editor?
I cannot find any binary editor in v7 unix by reading volumn 1 of the manual.
Is there any?
26
votes
2answers
1k views
Why is 'umount' not spelled 'unmount'?
I am wondering if there is any historical or practical reason why the umount command is not unmount.
6
votes
2answers
239 views
Why are UNIX logins often formed with the first letter of the first name followed by the first seven letters of the name?
I have seen in many places (especially universities) logins formed in the following way:
First letter of the first name: John Smithsonian → j
First seven letters of the name: John Smithsonian → ...
22
votes
5answers
2k views
Why do /usr and /tmp directories for Linux miss vowels in their spellings?
I have often started to think about this but never found a good answer. Why are these two Unix directories not /user and /temp instead?
All the other directories under root seem to be exactly what ...
17
votes
4answers
645 views
What aspects of Plan 9 have made their way into Unix?
Plan 9 was developed by Bell Labs as a successor to Unix. Although for various reasons it never quite materialized as such, a fair amount of development still went into Plan 9.
My question is, what ...
15
votes
2answers
1k views
Origin of 'root' account
What's the origin of root account? Where did it come from and why is it called root anyway?
(Originally asked by @lizztheblizz on Twitter.)
2
votes
2answers
212 views
“Linux supports the dynamic loading of kernel modules. ”
I read in a book written by Robert Love that:
Linux supports the dynamic loading of kernel modules.
He said this is the difference between Linux and Unix, but I seem to recall there is also KLD ...
4
votes
2answers
1k views
0
votes
2answers
765 views
Who wrote the “Linux kernel” (Linus Torvalds and his team)?
Who are the authors of the pure Linux kernel from scratch, which was integrated with GNU tools and formed the full GNU/Linux Operating system in the 1990s? I have read some wiki articles but I haven't ...
4
votes
2answers
703 views
11
votes
1answer
255 views
What is the difference between shared memory in early unix systems vs modern unix systems?
How could processes share memory in early versions of UNIX version modern implementations of shared memory?
5
votes
3answers
404 views
zsync vs. jigdo
What's the difference between zsync and jigdo? Their core functionality seems the same, so I'm curious on things like performance, file size, and ease-of-use. Would also be interesting to know why one ...
1
vote
0answers
569 views
What killed hotwire-shell? [closed]
It was supposed to be a more appealing shell than shell, with some hype some years back then and then... it died? What happened?
3
votes
1answer
242 views
Why did Debian create the DFSG?
I'm curious why Debian created the DFSG when the FSD already existed. There are some differences (conflicts) of course, but was that the main motivation?
2
votes
1answer
597 views
What killed Beagle? [closed]
Beagle was all the rage some years ago, and then it just died... silently. Anyone knows why?
2
votes
2answers
271 views
1
vote
2answers
278 views
51
votes
6answers
5k views
Is Linux a Unix?
So, there are lots of different versions of Unix out there: HP-UX, AIX, BSD, etc. Linux is considered a Unix clone rather than an implementation of Unix. Are all the "real" Unices actual descendants ...
54
votes
2answers
3k views
4
votes
4answers
2k views
Evolution of Operating systems from Unix
Can you explain the evolution hierarchy of operating systems (Linux and Windows) from Unix?
3
votes
1answer
345 views
Resources System V vs BSD
I'm searching for some detailed resources about the differences of System V and BSD concepts.
For example:
Interprocess Communication
Sockets vs TLI
...
Some sort of pro/cons discussion with ...
27
votes
5answers
1k views
Why is there a * When There is Mention of Unix Throughout the Internet?
I've noticed that throughout the Internet, within forums and blog posts, Unix always has a * in the word, whether it is *nix or Un*x, as I noticed at the welcoming banner at the Unix StackExchange ...
5
votes
1answer
422 views
Anyone know the meaning of yy?
Since history questions are considered on topic, I figured I'd ask one that's been bugging me for quite some time and no one I know seems to know the answer. Does anyone know what the historical ...
49
votes
5answers
9k views
Where did the “wheel” group get its name?
The wheel group on *nix computers typically refers to the group with some sort of root-like access. I've heard that on some *nixes it's the group of users with the right to run su, but on Linux that ...
10
votes
3answers
437 views
How was the shift to 64 bits handled on Linux
How was the transition to 64 bits handled on Linux/Unix? The Windows world still seems to have issues with it and I'm curious how it was handled in the *nix world.
22
votes
3answers
2k views
What did Ken Thompson mean when he said, “I'd spell create with an 'e'.”
Ken Thompson, the creator of Unix, was once asked what he'd do if he had
it to do over again. He said, "I'd spell create with an 'e'."
What is Ken referring to? Is there a "creat" command?
