UNIX Is, Likely, the Oldest Research Paper

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Write programs that handle text streams, because that is a universal interface.'

This philosophy evolved to fully permeate every part of the programming industry. Furthermore, the philosophy of using text streams further improved Unix's universality.

In the mid-70s the cat got out of the bag. Unix spread through the academic world like wildfire and soon into the corporate world. Because of a pre-existing anti-trust suit, AT&T -- the parent company of Bell Labs -- was prevented from marketing Unix as a product, this led to its rise as a free, or open-source software. The upshot was not only the widespread dissemination of Unix, but also the development of tools and code for it in a competitive environment, leading to exponential improvements in short periods of time.

The problem came in the mid-80s, when the multiplicity of Unices fostered a well-meaning, if misguided, standardization attempt. AT&T, in partnership with Sun Microsystems, initiated the endeavor but their competitors -- who produced their own operating systems based on Unix -- became concerned and formed the Open Systems Foundation (OSF) to preserve their own market share. In a reaction to this reactionism, AT&T and Sun Microsystems formed Unix International to fight for their market share, and then it was on: the Unix Wars had begun.

From the Unix Wars emerged two distinct Unices, each standardized by one of the rival consortiums, but both stronger than the multiplicity of software available before hand. In 1993 AT&T -- freed from anti-trust laws by a mid-80s suit -- finalized its sale of Unix to Novell, which later sold the rights to the Santa Cruz Operation.

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Today Unix is produced under a variety of labels, by a variety of companies including Sun Microsystems, Hewlett-Packard, and Compaq. Unix-like operating systems -- a term which Unix's governing board does not approve of -- have become widespread and even taken a large piece of Unix's market share. These include Linux, the most popular open-source operating system to have emerged out of the Free Software Movement of Richard Stallman, which competes even with the juggernaut, Microsoft Windows. It is interesting to note that Apple's Mac OS X is also a Unix-like operating system, essentially based on Unix.

Unix has come a ways -- through war and corporate takeovers -- but has helped shape the state of software and programming philosophy today. Its widespread implementation has made it perhaps the most commonly used tool of mankind since the mid-70s. And, do remember, it all began with a video game......

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