[layer8]

“*nix” means a Unix-like OS just generally (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%2Anix), like for example in “Minix” and “Xenix”. Sticking “OS” to the end of an OS name is also commonplace. However, the title on the page is “The Learnix Operating System”, so the actual name seems to be just “Learnix”.

It’s arguably Nix and NixOS who have unnecessarily stepped into the “*nix” namespace without adding a distinguishing prefix.

[xboxnolifes]

Then I guess the OS part is redundant, since thr nix already implies an OS.

[saghm]

I feel like if I saw something just called "learn unix", I'd expect it to be teaching me how to use it generically, not implement it. Adding "OS" makes it clear to me that it's a dedicated OS for the purpose of learning (although it still wasn't clear to me that the goal was implement it so if anything I'd argue that the title is missing context, but the name of the OS isn't redundant).

[bheadmaster]

No, actually Nix is a package manager/system configuration tool. NixOS uses Nix as part of its image.

[xboxnolifes]

No, nix clearly means a Unix-like OS and any other interpretation is wrong, as the context of this thread would suggest.

[ZenoArrow]

So your argument is the first usage of a word gets exclusive rights to it? Firstly, that's not how human languages work. Secondly, this would invalidate the Unix claim to "nix" as it's been a word for hundreds of years prior to Unix being invented.

[johannes1234321]

It is, but in IT context the association was strong, while Unixes decline and most of the systems with derived naming are historic. But anybody with a background in sysadmin for more than 10 years probably would still have the association. In ten years Linux will probably the only one remaining with the ux-naming (and MacOS X with the single X, which also serves as ten, following MacOS 9)

[0x696C6961]

My guy, most people don't even know what nix (the package manager) is.

[ZenoArrow]

Time to get familiar then.

[bigyabai]

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/homonym

[rendaw]

LearnixOS doesn't seem to have anything to do with NixOS, afaict?

[otabdeveloper4]

> “*nix” means a Unix-like OS just generally

"Unix-like OS" isn't a thing that has existed for two decades. Only Linux and Darwin survived, so don't do the "*nix" thing, please.

[onestay42]

BSD would like a word.

[wasting_time]

They can't be heard over the faint booing from the Solaris crowd.

[yjftsjthsd-h]

For that matter, if we're including the proprietary OSs, HP-UX is still kinda a thing and AIX is going strong. Of course, IIRC those are actual certified UNIX™ instead of unix-like... though I'd call that a subset, so still in scope IMO.

[riffraff]

TIL AIX is still in development and they had a release this month

https://community.ibm.com/community/user/blogs/sanket-rathi1...

[otabdeveloper4]

We don't talk about BSD here.

[devnonymous]

Before clicking the links.. How confident do you feel about your assertion?

https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=today%205-y&q=...

https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&q=Unix%20l...

[otabdeveloper4]

Very confident.

The people who do the "*nix" cargo cult thing have never seen a SunOS machine and don't even know what a HPUX is.

[devnonymous]

The linked trends suggest a revival of the term though.

> The people who do the "*nix" cargo cult thing have never seen a SunOS machine and don't even know what a HPUX is.

The meaning of words evolve over time though. Text is still broken into lines by "carriage return/line feeds" and is written on "hard disk" split up in "sectors".,. Over time people using these would not have seen a typewriter or even know what a platter is but may still use it to communicate effectively.

[yjftsjthsd-h]

Illumos is still actively developed, open source, and can trace its lineage back to actual unix.

For that matter, we've had new members joining the family over the years; https://www.redox-os.org/ is, in their own words, "a complete Unix-like microkernel-based operating system written in Rust, with a focus on security, reliability and safety."

[johnisgood]

For anyone wondering, OpenSolaris -> illumos (e.g. OpenIndiana). Good times!

[nineteen999]

Not to mention that Version 4 UNIX source code was just released!

[yjftsjthsd-h]

Well, yes, but that's not exactly a modern OS, just historically interesting.

[wpm]

Darwin is not UNIX (nor is XNU). But macOS technically is certified UNIX.

[someguyiguess]

XNU literally stands for “X is Not Unix”