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Path: euryale.cc.adfa.oz.au!newshost.carno.net.au!harbinger.cc.monash.edu.au!nntp.coast.net!news.kei.com!news.mathworks.com!uunet!in1.uu.net!news.netone.com!news.sprintlink.net!news-fw-12.sprintlink.net!newton.hlthsrc.com!matusij@hlthsrc.com From: Mark Greene <greenemj@hlthsrc.com> Newsgroups: comp.unix.misc,comp.unix.bsd.misc,alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: On the Naming of UNIX Things Date: Fri, 08 Nov 1996 13:39:41 -0800 Organization: Healthsource, Inc. Lines: 29 Message-ID: <3283A89D.10CA@hlthsrc.com> References: <55vhpf$q3o@mail1.wg.waii.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: 170.48.42.61 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Mailer: Mozilla 2.02 (Win16; I) To: Mark Whetzel <markw@zeus.wg.waii.com> Xref: euryale.cc.adfa.oz.au comp.unix.misc:26407 comp.unix.bsd.misc:1495 alt.folklore.computers:124582 Mark Whetzel wrote: > > I was having a discussion with some of my co-workers on WHY things > are named as they are in UNIX. Anybody have some of the > tales behind the odd things that bound in unix history? > > One question we had of some students we are training: > > Why are system processes called 'daemons'? > > Some of the others I have heard about: the naming of 'biff', grep, yacc. > > E-mail preferred, as I can then post a summary of the BEST of this quest. > > References to printed material and other net resources appreciated. > > -- > Mark Whetzel My comments are my own, not my company's. > Western Geophysical - A division of Western Atlas International Inc., > A Subsidiary of Western Atlas Inc. DOMAIN addr: mark.whetzel@waii.com > VOICE: (713) 963-2544 FAX: (713) 963-2758 Check out the UNIX FAQ posted every month or so. Section 5 or 6, I think, has a bit on unix command name history. Also, check out the book "A Student's Guide to UNIX" by Harley Hahn. Very informative, witty, and readable, with lots of historical tidbits. Including a couple of paragraphs on deamons. MJG