Here are some fascinating and lesser-known facts about Unix that underscore its importance and uniqueness:
Originating from a game: Unix was created partly out of frustration with another system. In the 1970s, Ken Thompson and Dennis Ritchie were working on Multics at Bell Labs. When that project was halted, Thompson developed Unix, inspired by a game called Space Travel, which he programmed on a PDP-7 machine. So Unix was, in a sense, a “byproduct” of a space game.
Written in C: Unix was one of the first operating systems written almost entirely in the C programming language, which made it extremely portable. This made it possible to use Unix on different hardware platforms, which was a milestone in software development.
Minimalist design: The Unix philosophy of “do one thing and do it well” continues to shape software development today. Programs are small, modular, and work together via simple interfaces (such as pipes). This idea influenced modern systems such as Linux and macOS.
The name “Unix” was a play on words: The name “Unix” (originally “Unics”) was an allusion to “Multics” (Multiplexed Information and Computing Service). ‘Unics’ stood for “Uniplexed Information and Computing Service,” which jokingly emphasized the simpler, leaner nature of Unix.
Free distribution: In the 1970s, Bell Labs distributed Unix to universities free of charge, which led to its widespread use and further development. This laid the foundation for the open source movement, as students and researchers were able to study and modify the source code.
First virus victim: The first known computer virus, “Creeper” (1971), ran on a Unix-like system (TENEX). It was harmless and only displayed the message “I’M THE CREEPER: CATCH ME IF YOU CAN.” The first antivirus program, “Reaper,” was developed to combat Creeper.
Impact on the Internet: Many of the early Internet protocols, such as TCP/IP, were developed on Unix systems. Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD), a variant of Unix, played a key role in the development of the Internet.
/etc directory: The /etc directory (pronounced “et cetera”) contains configuration files and was named this way because it was originally intended for “everything else” that did not fit into other directories.
Unix time: Unix introduced what is known as “Unix time,” which counts the seconds since January 1, 1970 (the epoch). Many systems still use this method today, but there is one challenge: on January 19, 2038, the 32-bit time overflow (Y2K38 problem) could disrupt systems because the number of seconds exceeds the capacity of a 32-bit integer.
Hollywood favorite: Unix systems often appear in movies, such as Jurassic Park (1993), where Lex uses a Unix system to regain control of the park. The user interface shown was based on a real Unix system (IRIX from Silicon Graphics).