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UNIX


UNIX:: /yoo'niks/ [In the authors' words, "A weak pun on
   Multics"] n. (also `Unix') An interactive time-sharing system
   invented in 1969 by Ken Thompson after Bell Labs left the Multics
   project, originally so he could play games on his scavenged PDP-7.
   Dennis Ritchie, the inventor of C, is considered a co-author of the
   system.  The turning point in UNIX's history came when it was
   reimplemented almost entirely in C during 1972--1974, making it the
   first source-portable OS.  UNIX subsequently underwent mutations
   and expansions at the hands of many different people, resulting in
   a uniquely flexible and developer-friendly environment.  By 1991,
   UNIX had become the most widely used multiuser general-purpose
   operating system in the world.  Many people consider this the most
   important victory yet of hackerdom over industry opposition (but
   see UNIX weenie and UNIX conspiracy for an opposing point
   of view).  See Version 7, BSD, USG UNIX.