“Every gives examples of some of the features that must be
present in a “real” operating system and that (apparently) he
doesn’t consider part of UNIX, including “a graphical user
interface, hundreds of utilities, and additional applications and
functions that are required to make it run: control panels,
extensions, libraries, and programming kits…”
“The article, which appears to no longer be available online,
seems to offer the viewpoint that, because there was no central
authority governing the development of the UNIX world, the
improvements made to UNIX systems since the 1970s do not get
counted as part of UNIX. Even such core features as the graphics
interface options and network functions that let users “copy files
and send them on a network” (TCP/IP? The r* utilities?) are not
UNIX according to Every. One can only guess that the world’s most
popular Web server and the world’s most popular email server (which
comes standard on most UNIX distributions) also disappear from
consideration. Many may agree with his argument that Sun Solaris is
not really UNIX, but the implication that the BSD variants aren’t
UNIX and, in fact, that UNIX System V isn’t UNIX, makes it
difficult to determine what he really thinks UNIX is.”
“Of course, like most arguments, this one comes down to
semantics. Unfortunately, Every chooses an obscure definition
of UNIX and an even more non-standard definition of an operating
system. “An operating system,” he writes, “is the software that
comes with a computer (or OS distribution) that programmers and
users need to make themselves productive.” His definition
seems to include almost anything — not just a Web browser, but
word processor, spreadsheet, and screen capture utility. (One
wonders if he thinks that Mac OS is not an operating system, since
so many Mac users “make themselves productive” with Internet
Explorer and Word for Macintosh.) Most of the features he claims
are necessary for a real operating system are, in fact, available
for every UNIX version. The fact that they may have come from
different sources does not mean they are not part of a coherent and
cohesive system.”