John Hasler <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > David Kastrup writes: >> ...we are talking about the language use at the start of the eighties, >> not nowadays. > > From _UNIX Programmer's Manual_ Copyright 1983, 1979 Bell Telephone > Laboratories, Inc.: > > PREFACE > This new form of the Seventh Edition manual attests to the gratifying > poularity of the UNIX operating system. > ... > ... > > INTRODUCTION TO VOLUME 1 > ... > ... > 1. Commands > 2. System calls > 3. Subroutines > 4. Special Files > 5. File formats and conventions > 6. Games > ... > ... > Commands are programs intended to be invoked directly by the user... > ... > ... > System calls are entries into the UNIX supervisor. > ... > ... > > > From _The UNIX System_ by S. R. Bourne Copyright 1983 Bell Telephone > Laboratories, Inc.: > > Chapter 1 > Introduction > > UNIX describes a family of computer operating systems developed at Bell > Laboratories. The UNIX system includes both the operating system and its > associated commands. The operating system manages the resources... > ... > The commands provided include basic file and data management, editors... > ... > > > Looks to me as if Bell Labs was a bit ambiguous as to the exact definition > of an operating system.
Yes. There is definitely a language dichotomy between the _marketable_ entity "operating system" (which is most of the time, but not always, just referred to as "system"), and the _technical_ entity "operating system". The same can be observed on the current Wikipedia page <URL:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operating_system>: the page starts off with a formal definition: An operating system (OS) is a software program that manages the hardware and software resources of a computer. A key component of system software, the OS performs basic tasks, such as controlling and allocating memory, prioritizing the processing of instructions, controlling input and output devices, facilitating networking, and managing files. that is _very_ clearly just describing the task of kernel and kernel threads. The following section "Introduction" tries to cast some light on the actual usage of the word, and in the rest of the article, "operating system" is sometimes used to clearly indicate just kernel and kernel threads, sometimes in the terms of the encompassing system. I consider it likely that UNIX itself was one of the major systems responsible for this mixup, since the concept of "thousand little utilities, all alike" as an essential toolbox for solving standard problems (usually employing pipes) more or less became popular with UNIX. I think UNIX was one of the first systems where the bulk of code constituting the system look-and-feel was actually in the applications included with the system, not just the shell. -- David Kastrup, Kriemhildstr. 15, 44793 Bochum _______________________________________________ gnu-misc-discuss mailing list gnu-misc-discuss@gnu.org http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/gnu-misc-discuss
