Re: [MacPerl-Scribes] Re: Using MacPerl for CGI Programming

[Terje Bless <link@tss.no>]

On 19.03.00 at 14:02, David Steffen <steffen@biomedcomp.com> wrote:

>>What is this "*nix" y'all keep talking about?
>
>It is shorthand for Unix, Linux, BSD and other members of that work-alike
>family.  Linux is DEFINITELY not Unix; it comes from an independent code
>base.

Linux is a UNIX kernel clone. A GNU/Linux system is a UNIX system clone.


>BSD is a homologue of Unix and probably is in the same genus but is
>definitely not the same species. 

BSD is the Berkley Standard Distribution of UNIX; a sibling of AT&T UNIX.


>Thus, Unix cannot be used for reasons that have nothing to do with 
>AT&T patents.

UNIX is a /Trademark/ of AT&T not a Patent and, yes, I do believe that UNIX
works just fine. Alternately, you could use "UN*X" cf. The Jargon File.

Oh, and it's "GNU is Not UNIX".


>Is this really objectionable?  Rich?  Brian?

Not objectionable, but debateable.

I think "*nix" is bad because it isn't clear; _especially_ for people who
do _not_ have UNIX background! "UN*X" is better and I would personally
prefer just spelling it out as "UNIX" or, if you prefer, "Unix" (it isn't
really an acronym but AT&T papers consistently use capitals).

It's a nitpick...


>I could globally change this to "CGI scripts"

The point is that CGI is an interface description and not a class of
programs. Whether it is a script, a program, or an application depends on
what and how much it does IMO. Perl -- and, more importantly, perl -- is
not clearly a programming language or a scripting language and I don't
think the distinction is all that important.

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