:Lions Book: n. "Source Code and Commentary on UNIX level 6",
by John Lions. The two parts of this book contained (1) the entire
source listing of the UNIX Version 6 kernel, and (2) a commentary
on the source discussing the algorithms. These were circulated
internally at the University of New South Wales beginning 1976--77,
and were, for years after, the *only* detailed kernel
documentation available to anyone outside Bell Labs. Because
Western Electric wished to maintain trade secret status on the
kernel, the Lions book was never formally published and was only
supposed to be distributed to affiliates of source licensees (it is
still possible to get a Bell Labs reprint of the book by sending a
copy of a V6 source license to the right person at Bellcore, but
*real* insiders have the UNSW edition). In spite of this, it
soon spread by samizdat to a good many of the early UNIX
hackers.
-- The AI Hackers Dictionary
by John Lions. The two parts of this book contained (1) the entire
source listing of the UNIX Version 6 kernel, and (2) a commentary
on the source discussing the algorithms. These were circulated
internally at the University of New South Wales beginning 1976--77,
and were, for years after, the *only* detailed kernel
documentation available to anyone outside Bell Labs. Because
Western Electric wished to maintain trade secret status on the
kernel, the Lions book was never formally published and was only
supposed to be distributed to affiliates of source licensees (it is
still possible to get a Bell Labs reprint of the book by sending a
copy of a V6 source license to the right person at Bellcore, but
*real* insiders have the UNSW edition). In spite of this, it
soon spread by samizdat to a good many of the early UNIX
hackers.
-- The AI Hackers Dictionary
Related:
- Lions Book n.
"Source Code and Commentary on Unix
level 6
by John Lions. The two parts of this book contained... - UTSL: // [UNIX] n. On-line acronym for `Use the Source
Luke' (a pun on Obi-Wan Kenobi's "Use the Force... - Version 7 alt. V7 /vee' se'vn/ n.
The first widely
distributed version of Unix
released unsupported by Bell Labs in 1978. The... - UTSL // n.
[Unix] On-line acronym for `Use the
Source
Luke' (a pun on Obi-Wan Kenobi's "Use the Force, Luke... - samizdat: [Russian, literally "self publishing"] n
The process of disseminating documentation via underground... - Unix /yoo'niks/ n.
[In the authors' words, "A weak pun
on Multics
very early on it was `UNICS'] (also `UNIX') An interactive... - Linux /lee'nuhks/ or /li'nuks/, not /li:'nuhks/
n
The free Unix workalike created by Linus Torvalds and... - UNIX:: /yoo'niks/ [In the authors' words, "A weak pun on
Multics"] n
(also `Unix') An interactive time-sharing system ... - back door n.
[common] A hole in the security of a
system deliberately left in place by designers or maintainers
The motivation for such holes is not always sinister...
