29 Jun
1997
29 Jun
'97
3:45 p.m.
On Sun, 29 Jun 1997 SUPRDAVE(a)aol.com wrote:
actually, ive heard the plural for unix to be unices,
rather than unixen, or
also expressed as *nix, for the different flavours of unix out there. the
hacker's dictionary is great though, just to read the words and their
origins. i've now got everyone at work to use the term "virtual friday"
which
i picked out of the dictionary! =D
Revisionist. The rendering of the plural of "Unix" to "Unices" is an
attempt to make the word fit old Latin grammar, as in "aviatrix" to
"aviatrices". It only works with feminine nouns, that being what the
"ix" ending meant in old Latin. Unix is an American English word, so the
"en" is appropriate. "*nix" is simply a word to try genericizing the
many forms of Unixen to a singular form which offends nobody.
--
Ward Griffiths
"America is at that awkward stage. It's too late to work within
the system, but too early to shoot the bastards." --Claire Wolfe