Date: Thu, 3 Feb 2000 01:05:04 -0800 From: Josef Grosch <jgrosch@mooseriver.com> To: J McKitrick <jcm@freebsd-uk.eu.org> Cc: questions@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: BSD = Unix ??? Message-ID: <20000203010503.A22761@mooseriver.com> In-Reply-To: <20000201193639.A6007@freebsd-uk.eu.org>; from jcm@freebsd-uk.eu.org on Tue, Feb 01, 2000 at 07:36:39PM %2B0000 References: <20000201193639.A6007@freebsd-uk.eu.org>
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On Tue, Feb 01, 2000 at 07:36:39PM +0000, J McKitrick wrote: > I just read Greg's article on BSD advocacy. Just a question: Linux is > actually a Unix clone. Can BSD be called Unix? Or are we just Unix > compatible, or Unix-based? From a legal point of we can not say FreeBSD is Unix. Unix is a trademark held by (mumble, mumble, someone new this week). Their lawyers have come up with an ingenious method to extract large amount of cash from computer companies. In order to call an OS "Unix", a computer company must pass a suite of tests, I seem to remember this test suite being called "UNIX98" or some other horrid thing, __AND__ pay said owner of the Unix trademark some outrageous fee, the sum of $100,000 stick in my mind. I have it on good authority that OS400 and MVS, both IBM mainframe OSs, have passed the test suite and IBM can now label these OSs as Unix. From a historical and technical point of view, FreeBSD as well as OpenBSD, NetBSD, and BSDI, are direct descendants of Berkeley Unix AKA BSD. Anyone who says FreeBSD is not Unix is either displaying their ignorance or is a lawyer. But, I repeat myself ;-) From my understanding, Linux started out as a Minux clone with a lot of ideas from the Bach book, ala SysV. I would say that Linux is a SysV clone. Josef -- Josef Grosch | Another day closer to a | FreeBSD 3.4 jgrosch@MooseRiver.com | Micro$oft free world | UNIX for the masses To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-questions" in the body of the message
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