Unix Still Fit As 40th Birthday Approaches

By Doug Caverly
Staff Writer
Article Date: 2009-06-05

It might be time to start sending out invitations and interviewing cake decorators. Soon enough, the operating system that's near and dear to your hearts will be celebrating its 40th birthday.

Ken Thompson started working on what would become Unix in August of 1969. Dennis Ritchie, Doug McIlroy, Joe Ossanna, and Rudd Canaday joined him soon enough. The operating system's development path then continued - Gary Anthes has actually put together a timeline if you're interested in the details - until Unix assumed its present form.

Now here's the great news: if you were to sing "Happy Birthday" to Unix, you could include the "and many more" part at the end and actually mean it.

Mari Keefe looked at the results of a recent survey and writes, "Of the 211 respondents, 130 (62%) reported using Unix in their organizations. . . . Of the respondents whose companies use Unix, 69% indicated that their organizations are 'extremely reliant' or 'very reliant' on Unix, with another 21% portraying their organizations as 'somewhat reliant' on Unix."

So "over the hill" is a phrase that doesn't appear to apply here. Heck, maybe the 40th birthday celebrations will even renew people's interest in Unix and (figuratively) act to rejuvenate the operating system.

About the Author:
Doug is a staff writer for WebProNews. Visit WebProNews for the latest eBusiness news.