Unix Myths 13 “standard” being applied to software systems such as Unix. Real standards, wrote Schilling, are for physical objects like steel beams: they let designers order a part and incorporate it into their design with foreknowledge of how it will perform under real-world conditions. “If a beam fails in service, then the builder’s lawyers call the beam maker’s lawyers to discuss things like compensatory and punitive damages.” Apparently, the threat of liability keeps most companies honest those who aren’t honest presumably get shut down soon enough. This notion of standards breaks down when applied to software systems. What sort of specification does a version of Unix satisfy? POSIX? X/ Open? CORBA? There is so much wiggle room in these standards as to make the idea that a company might have liability for not following them ludicrous to ponder. Indeed, everybody follows these self-designed stan- dards, yet none of the products are compatible. Sun Microsystems recently announced that it was joining with NeXT to promulgate OpenStep, a new standard for object-oriented user interfaces. To achieve this openness, Sun would will wrap C++ and DOE around Objective-C and NEXTSTEP. Can’t decide which standard you want to follow? No problem: now you can follow them all. Hope you don’t have to get any work done in the meantime. Unix Myths Drug users lie to themselves. “Pot won’t make me stupid.” “I’m just going to try crack once.” “I can stop anytime that I want to.” If you are in the market for drugs, you’ll hear these lies. Unix has its own collection of myths, as well as a network of dealers push- ing them. Perhaps you’ve seen them before: 1. It’s standard. 2. It’s fast and efficient. 3. It’s the right OS for all purposes. 4. It’s small, simple, and elegant. 5. Shellscripts and pipelines are great way to structure complex problems and systems. 6. It’s documented online.

14 Unix 7. It’s documented. 8. It’s written in a high-level language. 9. X and Motif make Unix as user-friendly and simple as the Macintosh. 10. Processes are cheap. 11. It invented: • the hierarchical file system • electronic mail • networking and the Internet protocols • remote file access • security/passwords/file protection • finger • uniform treatment of I/O devices. 12. It has a productive programming environment. 13. It’s a modern operating system. 14. It’s what people are asking for. 15. The source code: • is available • is understandable • you buy from your manufacturer actually matches what you are running. You’ll find most of these myths discussed and debunked in the pages that follow.