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248 lines
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<title>Impressions reading Peter H. Salus `A Quarter Century of UNIX' Issue 21</title>
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<H4>
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"Linux Gazette...<I>making Linux just a little more fun!</I>"
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</H4>
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<P> <HR> <P>
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<!--===================================================================-->
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<center>
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<H2> Impressions reading Peter H. Salus `A Quarter Century of UNIX' </H2>
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<H4> By Leif Erlingsson <<a href="mailto:leif@lege.com">leif@lege.com</a>> </H4>
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</center>
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<P> <HR> <P>
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I have been involved with Unix and the Internet since '88, and
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with Linux since '95, but it isn't until reading Peter H.
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Salus' `A Quarter Century of UNIX' during this summer vacation
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that I see where Linux fits in into the last 25 years of
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operating systems development.
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<p>
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Unix came about as a revolt against cumbersome propriety
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operating systems shipped by the various hardware-vendors.
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In contrast, Unix was developed by a handful of people. An
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example of a "huge" software project in the development of
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Unix is `awk'--developed by three people.
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<p>
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UNICS (original name) was developed at Bell Telephone
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Laboratories in the Summer 1969 - Fall 1970. Ken Thompson was
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the initiator and Dennis Ritchie and Rudd Canaday were active
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contributors.
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<br> The intent was to create a pleasant computing environment for
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themselves. The hope was that others would like it also.
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The basic notion at the Labs (in Dennis Ritchie's words as
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quoted from the book),
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<UL><p><DL>
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was and is to hire people who generate their own
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good ideas and carry them out....
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</DL><p></UL>
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The Bell Telephone Laboratories staff (BTL) were supposed to
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discover or invent new things. There was always management
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encouragement.
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<p>
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It turned out Unix was easy to use and understand when
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compared to the competition. It was extremely compact. It
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wasn't until much later that anything and everything the user
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wanted was supplied (like vi, emacs, X, ksh, csh,... :-)).
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<p>
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The single most important factor behind Unix' popularity was
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that in the beginning the source code was practically free.
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Thus it was used in education and as a base for derivate
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systems. The universities loved it. Later, when AT&T realized
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that they had in Unix something of great value and tried to
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capitalize on that, universities were forbidden to use the
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source code in education. This motivated Andy Tanenbaum to write
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MINIX, from whence Linus Torvalds got his inspiration to write a
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kernel for his Intel 386, the kernel that later became Linux.
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<p>
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Bell Telephone Laboratories (50/50 owned by AT&T and Western
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Electric Company) was, by the so called "consent decree" of
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Jan 24, 1956 (entered into because of the Sherman Antitrust
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Act and a complaint filed by the Department of Justice in
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Jan 14, 1949), required to reveal what patents it held and
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supply information about them to competitors. Also, the terms
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of the decree required BTL to license to anyone at nominal fees.
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So we have this "consent decree" to thank for the phenomenal
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spread of Unix!
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<p>
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BTL had the following support policy:
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<UL><p><DL>
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no advertising
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<br> no support
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<br> no bug fixes
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<br> payment in advance
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</DL><p></UL>
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This forced the users to band together, which resulted in
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better and more responsive support than any vendor could have
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managed. Also, an "us" (users) against "them" (vendors)
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mentality formed, reinforced by actions taken by AT&T to
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stifle "the Unix problem".
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<p>
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This is very important: Unix begat Internet!
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<p>
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For a long time no one in business took Unix seriously.
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For AT&T it was just a legal problem. It was run on VAX'es,
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but it took the Digital Equipment Corporation about a decade
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to learn how to support a Unix system as opposed to a Virtual
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Machine system because of the NIH syndrome. (NIH = Not
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Invented Here.)
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<p>
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Does it sound like Linux or does it [sound like Linux] ? :-)
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<p>
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On 20 Nov 1974, the U.S. government filed a new antitrust
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action against AT&T, Western Electric, and Bell Telephone
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Labs. The settlement reached in 1984 dissolved Western
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Electric, formed the "Baby Bells" and reorganized AT&T Bell
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Laboratories into Bell Telephone Labs.
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<p>
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AT&T was now permitted to enter the hardware and software
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computer business. AT&T sharply raised Unix license fees ...
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<p>
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One reaction was Richard M. Stallman's Free Software Foundation
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with it's GNU (Gnu is Not Unix) project, that has given the
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world a wealth of free versions of Unix systems programs.
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Another is Keith Bostic's CSRG project to create a license
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free version of Unix. Today, all free Unix clones except
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Linux use the CSRG code, and all free Unix clones use the GNU
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code, Linux included.
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<p>
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This is very important: Internet begat GNU and CSRG, and
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therefore the free Unixes, Linux included. And Unix begat
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Internet, so therefore,
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<!-- in the biblical sense, -->
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Unix begat
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Linux. Also, as we all know, Linux is continually developed
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on the Internet by a looseknit band of programmers from around
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the world, each doing their little piece -- truly users banded
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together!
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<p>
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So where do Microsoft and others fit into this picture?
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DOS/Windows is just one of many systems sprung out of the
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fountain of Truth -- though there is much debate as to how
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much truth has rubbed off on them. :-)
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<p>
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There is a huge cultural barrier between the Unix camp and
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the other guys. It took DEC a decade before the DEC Unix
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Engineering Group was formed, and when it was, it was located
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in a separate location from the rest of the company.
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<p>
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Salus tells the story in the book:
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<br> there was a lot of animosity towards Unix up and down the
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company at DEC. Armando Stettner relates how Dave Cutler,
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one of DEC's engineering elite, at one point got two Unix
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engineers, Armando Stettner himself and Bill Shannon, to
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drive down to his office 20 minutes away to help him with,
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Armando thinks it was, some SRI package on top of VMS.
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They got there and Cutler was in his office. Armando and
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Bill sat down at a terminal, and it just didn't do what
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they expected it to do. Cutler asked them how it was, and
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Armando replied that it didn't work. To this Cutler said
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"Well, thank you very much" and they were dismissed.
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Cutler then called their Senior Group Manager and chewed
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him out and said Armando and Bill were sorry excuses for
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engineers and he never wanted to see them in Spitbrook
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(his office) again. Armando believes that Cutler's
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disdain has been reflected in his work ever since.
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Armando says:
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<UL><p><DL>
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Cutler was doing yet another OS based on a new
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architecture called Prism, not Unix, during
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Digital's internal RISC wars. Initially,
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Cutler's OS wasn't portable, but was culturally
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compatible with VMS. There is a lot of stuff
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in NT that I think can be traced to Prism.
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[Cutler went to work for Microsoft around 1983.]
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</DL><p></UL>
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<br>
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<p>
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To round this off I'd like to itemize a few general factors
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for the success of Unix:
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<UL><p><DL>
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Simplicity
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<p>
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Small projects
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<p>
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No restrictions put on creativity
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<p>
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Freedom
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<p>
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Free source
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<p>
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Fun
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<p>
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Collect a lot of great ideas that are around plus
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some original ideas and put them together in a very
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interesting, powerful way.
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<p>
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Users supporting themselves
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<p>
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Internet
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<p>
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Portability
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<p>
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Universality
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<p>
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Stability -- i.e., the antithesis of the continuous
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change needed to keep the DOS/Windows personal computer
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market alive. System programs don't need to change.
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Well designed OS's don't need fundamental changes.
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No need to do Windows 95 this year, Windows 97 the next
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and then NT. Just stick with what works!
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<p>
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"Us against them" -- thanks AT&T, DEC and Microsoft!
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</DL><p></UL>
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<br>
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<p>
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There must be a fundamental difference of thinking between
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the free software camp and the other guys:
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<p>
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The first mind-set is to share in order to gain. The other
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mind-set is hoarding out of fear that something is going to be
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taken away. Out of the latter mind-set springs the correct
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business-types managing their various copy-protected products,
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while from the sharing win-win culture, where each person's
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efforts becomes a multiplier toward a common goal, springs an
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open and nonconformistic, somewhat anarchistic type of person.
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The two often do not like or understand each other.
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<p>
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<br>
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<p>
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(This article is copyright Leif Erlingsson. As long as
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this copyright notice is preserved, and any cuts clearly
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marked as such, the author hereby gives his consent to
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any and everybody to use this text.)
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<p>
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(The book `A Quarter Century of UNIX' is Copyright <20> 1994 by
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Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, Inc.)
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<!--===================================================================-->
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<P> <hr> <P>
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<center><H5>Copyright © 1997, Leif Erlingsson <BR>
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Published in Issue 21 of the Linux Gazette, September 1997</H5></center>
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