Linux vs. Unix

[realg187]

What does the name Linux means? Just curious, I know the guy who made the kernel has the name "Linus" which is one letter off. Also if you take out the L and get inux, thats Unix Scrambeled!

[techieMoe]

As for the origin of "Linux" it was just Linus' working name for it. "Linus' Minix" became "Linux":

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux

UNIX on the other hand is a registered trademark of The Open Group, and was a play on the other heavy hitter at the time, MULTICS:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unix
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multics

[Alboin]

As for the origin of "Linux" it was just Linus' working name for it. "Linus' Minix" became "Linux":

Not quite, Linus wanted to name it "Freax", but his friend at his university who controlled the FTP accounts gave him a directory called "Linux". Hence the name.

[techieMoe]

Not quite, Linus wanted to name it "Freax", but his friend at his university who controlled the FTP accounts gave him a directory called "Linux". Hence the name.

Interesting. Perhaps you should add that to the Wikipedia article?

[realg187]

wow, there are lots of OSOS {Open Source Operatiing System}.

Where did his friend get the name from?

[Alboin]

As far as I can guess, the name 'Linux' is derived from the term 'Linux's Minix', which in turn, was derived from Minix meaning 'Mini Unix' (Or 'Minimal Unix') All of which were based off of UNIX's 'X'.

Or, one could also say that 'Linux' means 'Linus's Unix' and skip Minix altogether, albeit, at the time Linus wrote Linux he was working on Minix, so I would assume that it had some influence. (For instance, the removing of 'Uni' from the word 'Unix'.)

[techieMoe]

As far as I can guess, the name 'Linux' is derived from the term 'Linux's Minix', which in turn, was derived from Minix meaning 'Mini Unix' (Or 'Minimal Unix') All of which were based off of UNIX's 'X'.

Or, one could also say that 'Linux' means 'Linus's Unix' and skip Minix altogether, albeit, at the time Linus wrote Linux he was working on Minix, so I would assume that it had some influence. (For instance, the removing of 'Uni' from the word 'Unix'.)

All conjecture aside, the Wikipedia article I linked to has a quote from Linus himself about the origin of the name, which is where I based my statement. It was taken from his posts in a newsgroup:

...It's partly due to minix: linux was just my working name for the thing, and as I wrote it to replace minix on my system, the result is what it is... linus' minix became linux.

[Alboin]

Hmm, interesting. The other source on wikipedia says that it explains about Linus's title Freax in his book 'Just for Fun'. A contradiction by Linus perhaps?

[techieMoe]

Hmm, interesting. The other source on wikipedia says that it explains about Linus's title Freax in his book 'Just for Fun'. A contradiction by Linus perhaps?

Or perhaps I took the "Linus' minix" quote out of context? He is describing how he pronounces it, after all. Maybe he just used that as a pronunciation example.

Then again, perhaps he was just out of it one day. He does work very hard and all.

[oz]

Here's a 2005 interview where Linux tells how he came up with Tux and Linux:

http://hs.riverdale.k12.or.us/maverick/?q=node/257

Q: How did you come up with the name TUX, and how did you come up with the name Linux?

Linus: “Tux I actually never came up with, I came up with the logo, but it never had a name. It's really short for Tuxedo. Linux was my working name for the system. I thought it was unprofessional to name it after myself. It was going to be released as Freeaks Free was for Free and also freaks for freaks. I didn't actually have a website of my own, this was before web sites. It was an FTP site. The guy who set it up didn't like the name Freeaks because he thought it was too unprofessional. I'm actually happy it was named Linux because it was unprofessional.”

However, I can't vouch for the accuracy of any of the information.

oz