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Subject:Re: UNIX vs. Unix From:Christopher Warren <schwa -at- MEDIAONE -dot- NET> Date:Mon, 3 May 1999 16:55:21 -0400
"rutherford b. martin" wrote:
>
> hi
>
> is it ever permissible to use 'Unix', or must it always be 'UNIX'?
I think it might be worthwhile to make a historical detour here. I don't
think this is official lawyerly advice, but here's the Jargon File's
take on the subject
(http://www.tuxedo.org/~esr/jargon/noframes/Unix.html):
> Some people are confused over whether this word is appropriately
> `UNIX' or `Unix'; both forms are common, and used interchangeably.
> Dennis Ritchie says that the `UNIX' spelling originally happened in
> CACM's 1974 paper "The UNIX Time-Sharing System" because "we had a
> new typesetter and troff had just been invented and we were
> intoxicated by being able to produce small caps." Later, dmr tried
> to get the spelling changed to `Unix' in a couple of Bell Labs
> papers, on the grounds that the word is not acronymic. He failed,
> and eventually (his words) "wimped out" on the issue. So, while the
> trademark today is `UNIX', both capitalizations are grounded in
> ancient usage; the Jargon File uses `Unix' in deference to dmr's
> wishes.
But it really comes down to what The Man wants :-), so it's probably
better to stick to "UNIX" in formal, company-sanctioned communications.
--
csw
