[BBLISA] Apology for un-Unix-like comments

[Edward Ned Harvey]

One person replied off list, referencing this:


> I apologize for setting off such a thread.  I promise you, I am done
> with it starting now.


Is a confirmation of this:


>> On Thu, Jan 28, 2010 at 10:14 PM, Patrick Cable <pc at pcable.net> wrote:
>>>
>>> It's not about the powers that be at $WORK. It's about what the end
>>> users interpret.
>>> 
>>> The powers that be know the end users can be quite semantic, and want
>>> to ensure the correct phrasing is used.
>>>
>>
>> On Thu, Jan 28, 2010 at 10:30 PM, Mathew Snyder <mathew.snyder at gmail.com>
wrote:
>> So all this is just so they can prevent people at $WORK from crying
>> about what their OS of choice is called?
>>
>
> Not quite..
>
> It's about preventing this scenerio:
> $work: "Here are some rules for unix systems! Youd better follow them
> okay? Really, you're responsible for this!"
> $potential_user: "Ohhhh well i run LINUX thats not unix technically!!!
> i found a loophole! i am so smug!"
>
> and replacing it with:
>
> $work: "Here are some rules for (broad descriptor that encompasses
> everything, maybe !windows !osx). You'd better follow them okay?
> Really, you're responsible for this!"
> $user: "hmph. ok. i guess ill shut off services i dont need and give
> (point of contact) some information on my machine."


I think this is all very true and valid.  It summarizes simply:

"unix-like" is an ambiguous term.  
Even the terms "unix and linux" are not universally agreed upon.
And "*NIX" is equally ambiguous, if not more.

If there is need to avoid confusion, eliminate ambiguity, the best
phraseology would probably be something like "Any operating system other
than Microsoft or Apple."