UNIX Magic Poster
Steve Kastin
Forgive me if this topic has already come up on the net, but I feel
compelled to ask about it anyway.
Several months ago, we got the "UNIX Magic" poster from Unitech, and
we immediately tried to see how many little jokes it contained. Some
were incredibly obvious (like the cat), while others were a little more
subtle, like the pipes overhead, or the initials on the banner on the
UNIX wizard's hat.
But there are a few annoying things whose significance we can't figure out.
In particular:
- the jar labeled "oregano"
- the farmer in the window, with the scythe
Anyone have any ideas?
Steve Kastin
Brent Chapman
> Several months ago, we got the "UNIX Magic" poster from Unitech, and
>we immediately tried to see how many little jokes it contained. Some
>were incredibly obvious (like the cat), while others were a little more
>subtle, like the pipes overhead, or the initials on the banner on the
>UNIX wizard's hat.
> But there are a few annoying things whose significance we can't figure out.
> In particular:
> - the jar labeled "oregano"
I haven't been able to figure this one out, either; it may be from some
old version of UNIX or something.
> - the farmer in the window, with the scythe
He is "reaping". I've heard or read (but I don't remember where) the term
"reaping processes" used to describe a program waiting around for its children
to terminate.
-Brent
--
Brent Chapman Senior Programmer/Analyst
cha...@mica.berkeley.edu Capital Market Technology, Inc.
lll-tis!koala!brent 1995 University Ave., Suite 390
Phone: 415/540-6400 Berkeley, CA 94704
Lenny Tropiano
| In article <13...@aecom.YU.EDU> ste...@aecom.YU.EDU (Steve Kastin) writes:
|
| > Several months ago, we got the "UNIX Magic" poster from Unitech, and
| >we immediately tried to see how many little jokes it contained. Some
| >were incredibly obvious (like the cat), while others were a little more
| >subtle, like the pipes overhead, or the initials on the banner on the
| >UNIX wizard's hat.
| > But there are a few annoying things whose significance we can't figure out.
| > In particular:
| > - the jar labeled "oregano"
|
| I haven't been able to figure this one out, either; it may be from some
| old version of UNIX or something.
|
My interpretation (I don't know if it is right or not) is that it has to
do something with a Berkeley-ism program called "spice" although I don't know
what spice is!
| > - the farmer in the window, with the scythe
|
| He is "reaping". I've heard or read (but I don't remember where) the term
| "reaping processes" used to describe a program waiting around for its children
| to terminate.
|
Hmmm ... thats an interesting thought, although I thought it was something
to do with "windows", like "clearing" the window?
-Lenny
--
Lenny Tropiano ...seismo!uunet!godfre!quincy!lenny -or-
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Robert C. Pilz
> compelled to ask about it anyway.
> we immediately tried to see how many little jokes it contained. Some
> were incredibly obvious (like the cat), while others were a little more
> subtle, like the pipes overhead, or the initials on the banner on the
> UNIX wizard's hat.
> But there are a few annoying things whose significance we can't figure out.
> In particular:
> - the jar labeled "oregano"
>
>
> Steve Kastin
The answer to the window with the scythe;
First it is a window, curses (the book on the shelf) uses windows.
Second, it is someone hacking the kernal.
Third, in the scene in the window is a mount point.
I don't know what "oregano" refers to. I was suprised
there was no jar marked with the word "paste".
-===- __ _______ _______
Robert Pilz --======= / \ |__ __| |__ __|
AT&T DPCT ----======= / __ \ | | _____ | |
Room 4SC24 =-----======= / / \ \ | | / _ \ | |
2301 Maitland Center Pkwy =-----======= | |__| | | | \ \ \_\ | |
Maitland, Fl 32751 ==---======== | __ | | | / \ __ | |
=========== | | | | | | | (\ / / | |
attmail!rcpilz ========= |_| |_| |_| \_____/ |_|
(305) 660-6990 -===-
David Herron -- Resident E-mail Hack
>In article <13...@aecom.YU.EDU> ste...@aecom.YU.EDU (Steve Kastin) writes:
>> - the farmer in the window, with the scythe
>He is "reaping". I've heard or read (but I don't remember where) the term
>"reaping processes" used to describe a program waiting around for its children
>to terminate.
exitted processes between the time the process does the exit()
and the time that the parent process "reaps" them are referred
to as Zombies. Doesn't a certain mythical figure use a scythe?
I've not seen this poster ... where would I get a copy?
--
<---- David Herron, Local E-Mail Hack, da...@ms.uky.edu, da...@ms.uky.csnet
<---- {rutgers,uunet,cbosgd}!ukma!david, da...@UKMA.BITNET
<---- I thought that time was this neat invention that kept everything
<---- from happening at once. Why doesn't this work in practice?
Michael C. De Masi
>
> > Several months ago, we got the "UNIX Magic" poster from Unitech, and
> >we immediately tried to see how many little jokes it contained. Some
> > - the farmer in the window, with the scythe
> He is "reaping". I've heard or read (but I don't remember where) the term
> "reaping processes" used to describe a program waiting around for its children
> to terminate.
> -Brent
I always assumed that he was a hacker.
--
Michael C. De Masi - AT&T Communications (For whom I work and not speak)
3702 Pender Drive, Fairfax, Virginia 22030 Phone: 703-246-9555
UUCP: seismo!decuac!grebyn!paisano!demasi
"There are monkey boys on the premises." Unknown red Lectroid.
Tim Olson
>In article <53...@jade.BERKELEY.EDU>, cha...@eris.BERKELEY.EDU (Brent Chapman) writes:
>| He is "reaping". I've heard or read (but I don't remember where) the term
>| "reaping processes" used to describe a program waiting around for its children
>| to terminate.
>|
>
>Hmmm ... thats an interesting thought, although I thought it was something
>to do with "windows", like "clearing" the window?
What about "cut"?
-- Tim Olson
Advanced Micro Devices
(t...@amdcad.amd.com)
William Moran
oregano is intended to represent.
Now for a more topical question: can anyone suggest a good place to find
a fairly comprehensive discussion of the curses and termcap libs which
are supplied with BSD 4.x. I don't want to look at the sources because
that could pose a problem for what I have in mind (writing this stuff
for a different environment).
Bill Moran
******************************** William Moran Jr. *************************
* Arpa: moran-...@yale.arpa or cs.yale.edu * Arioch, Arioch etc. *
* UUCP: {harvard,decvax,cmcl2}!yale!moran-william * 1. Nf3 ++/-- *
* Bitnet: moran-...@yalecs.bitnet * *
****************************************************************************
Scott Boake
> In article <53...@jade.BERKELEY.EDU>, cha...@eris.BERKELEY.EDU (Brent Chapman) writes:
> | In article <13...@aecom.YU.EDU> ste...@aecom.YU.EDU (Steve Kastin) writes:
> |
> | > Several months ago, we got the "UNIX Magic" poster from Unitech, and
> | >we immediately tried to see how many little jokes it contained. Some
> | >were incredibly obvious (like the cat), while others were a little more
> | >subtle, like the pipes overhead, or the initials on the banner on the
> | >UNIX wizard's hat.
This poster sound great! Where can I get one and how large is it?
If you could supply with a name of a company / phone number / price it would
be greatly appreciated.
Scott
----------
Scott Boake Small Systems Consulting
+1 813 544 - 8152 P.O. Box 2142
5030 - 73rd Ave North Suite 10
..!codas!usfvax2!jc3b21!boake2!scott Pinellas Park, FL 34665
Howie Kaye
> Several months ago, we got the "UNIX Magic" poster from Unitech, and
>we immediately tried to see how many little jokes it contained. Some
>were incredibly obvious (like the cat), while others were a little more
>subtle, like the pipes overhead, or the initials on the banner on the
>UNIX wizard's hat.
> But there are a few annoying things whose significance we can't figure out.
> In particular:
> - the jar labeled "oregano"
I was speaking to someone at unitech, and they said that they had a
second poster coming out soon.
I also asked them what the oregano stood for. They said it referred
to an incident in which one of the original writers of BSD was
arrested for crossing the canadian border with a bag full of oregano.
------------------------------------------------------------
Howie Kaye ho...@columbia.edu
Columbia University hl...@cuvma.bitnet
Systems Group ...!rutgers!columbia!howie
Steve Kastin
A number of people expressed interest in obtaining the poster, so
here goes. I don't have their address, but on the poster, it says:
Unitech Software, Inc.
Reston Virginia
(703) 860-3000
Good luck -- just don't tell them I sent you.
-- Steve Kastin
Neil Hunt
>I think spice is a VLSI circuit design program, so that may be what
>oregano is intended to represent.
Oregano is not a spice; it is a herb ! Think harder, netters.
The scythe is definitely being used to reap zombie processes. That
was a term in common use on v6 systems, and is much more plausible
than clearing the window or hacking the kernel !
Neil/.
Evelyn C. Leeper
> I think spice is a VLSI circuit design program, so that may be what
> oregano is intended to represent.
Not to be difficult (well, okay, to be difficult), but oregano is an herb, not
a spice. But it is made from leaves...
Evelyn C. Leeper
(201) 957-2070
UUCP: ihnp4!mtgzy!ecl
ARPA: mtgzy!e...@rutgers.rutgers.edu
Xev Gittler
of it?
Xev Gittler
x...@hstbme.mit.edu or
x...@athena.mit.edu
Dave Horsfall
>| In article <13...@aecom.YU.EDU> ste...@aecom.YU.EDU (Steve Kastin) writes:
>|
>| > In particular:
>| > - the jar labeled "oregano"
>
>do something with a Berkeley-ism program called "spice" although I don't know
>what spice is!
SPICE is a circuit analysis program. At least, that was the only
reference I ever came across. Anyway, oregano is not a spice.
It's a herb. The difference? Herbs come from leaves etc, spices
from roots, bark etc. Probably not accurate, but close enough.
--
Dave Horsfall (VK2KFU) ACS: da...@astra.necisa.OZ
NEC Information Systems Aust. ARPA: dave%astra.n...@uunet.UU.NET
3rd Floor, 99 Nicholson St UUCP: {enea,hplabs,mcvax,uunet,ukc}!\
St. Leonards NSW 2064 AUSTRALIA munnari!astra.necisa.OZ!dave
amir vafaei
>|
>| > Several months ago, we got the "UNIX Magic" poster from Unitech, and
>| >we immediately tried to see how many little jokes it contained. Some
>| >were incredibly obvious (like the cat), while others were a little more
>| >subtle, like the pipes overhead, or the initials on the banner on the
>| >UNIX wizard's hat.
>|
>
How does one obtain the "UNIX Magic" poster?
Thanks.
These are to feed the line counter.
--
-Amir meccts!cnt!amir quest!cnt!amir
Dave Sill
> Several months ago, we got the "UNIX Magic" poster from Unitech, and
>we immediately tried to see how many little jokes it contained. Some
>were incredibly obvious (like the cat), while others were a little more
>subtle, like the pipes overhead, or the initials on the banner on the
>UNIX wizard's hat.
> But there are a few annoying things whose significance we can't figure out.
> In particular:
> - the jar labeled "oregano"
According to Unitech, this is from an anecdote about one of the
fathers of UNIX who liked to go camping in Canada. Once when he was
crossing the border back into the U.S., customs officials found what
appeared to be a stash of marijuana in his belongings. It turned out
to be oregano.
> - the farmer in the window, with the scythe
Is a hacker.
S. John Banner
>In article <6...@quincy.UUCP>, le...@quincy.UUCP (Lenny Tropiano) writes:
>> In article <53...@jade.BERKELEY.EDU>, cha...@eris.BERKELEY.EDU (Brent Chapman) writes:
>> | In article <13...@aecom.YU.EDU> ste...@aecom.YU.EDU (Steve Kastin) writes:
>> |
>> | > Several months ago, we got the "UNIX Magic" poster from Unitech, and
>> | >we immediately tried to see how many little jokes it contained. Some
>> | >were incredibly obvious (like the cat), while others were a little more
>> | >subtle, like the pipes overhead, or the initials on the banner on the
>> | >UNIX wizard's hat.
>
>This poster sound great! Where can I get one and how large is it?
>
>If you could supply with a name of a company / phone number / price it would
>be greatly appreciated.
>
>Scott
Me too please....
S. John Banner
...!uw-beaver!uvicctr!sol!sbanner1
...!ubc-vision!uvicctr!sol!sbanner1
ccsjb@uvvm
sban...@sol.UVIC.CDN
Thomas J Keller
several days ago, someone posted a phone number for the people who were
distributing the UNIX MAgig poster. I called them, and was informed that the
poster is no longer in print. They did indicate that they were receiving a
large volume of requests for it, and that they *MIGHT* re-publish it. They
took my name and address, and said they would inform me when and if the poster
was to be re-released.
I just now realized that I don't have the phone number available right
now, so I can't pass it on...*RATS*...sorry...
--
Tom Keller
VOICE : + 1 707 575 9493
UUCP : {ihnp4,ames,sun,amdahl,lll-crg,pyramid}!ptsfa!gilsys!mc68020
ra...@bnrmtv.uucp
Here is the address and phone number of UNITECH.
I called the most recent number posted a while back
and the people at UNITECH happily sent me an order
form to fill out ($7.00 per poster).
UNITECH Software, Inc.
1800 Alexander Bell Drive Suite 101
Reston, Virginia 22091
703-860-3000
(VA sales tax is 4.5%!? 7% out here in Silicon Valley seems a bit steep...)
Tell 'em USENET sent ya!
Have fun,
--
Eric B. Rapin UUCP: {3comvax,amdahl,ames,csi,hplabs}!bnrmtv!rapin
Bell-Northern Research, Inc. ARPA: bnrmtv!ra...@ames.arpa
Mountain View, California
--------------------------
Frederick M. Avolio
Wouldn't it be a kick if, due to the popularity of the poster (and the
long-time promised second poster in a series...) that UNITECH could
just stop selling software products (UBACKUP, USECURE, etc)?
("Saunders, how do you explain this jump in revenues at the end of
FY87? Posters?!?")
Fred
m...@sfmin.uucp
Oh, come on. It's a kernel hacker!
--
-- Marty McGowan SF 1-332 (*)
...!attunix!mcg (201-522 | 8-272)-6431(*)
AT&T, 190 River Rd. Summit NJ 07901
(*) new 3/16/87
Nigel Horne
>Oh, come on. It's a kernel hacker!
>--
> -- Marty McGowan SF 1-332 (*)
> ...!attunix!mcg (201-522 | 8-272)-6431(*)
> AT&T, 190 River Rd. Summit NJ 07901
> (*) new 3/16/87
Correct. I too had heard the theories about reaping child processes and all
that. But appartenly the guy who *drew* the picture (through UniTECH) says it's
a kernel hacker.
But I *still* don't know what the strange shapes out of the seashell are, or
what the liquid is in the shell.
-Nigel
--
--
Nigel Horne, Director of Quality and Programmes, UniSoft Ltd.
<n...@root.co.uk> G1ITH Fax: (01) 726 2750
Phone: +44 1 606 7799 Telex: 885995 UNISFT G BT Gold: CQQ173
Kurt L. Reisler
>In article <8...@sfmin.UUCP> m...@sfmin.UUCP writes:
>>Oh, come on. It's a kernel hacker!
>
>that. But appartenly the guy who *drew* the picture (through UniTECH) says it's
>a kernel hacker.
>
>But I *still* don't know what the strange shapes out of the seashell are, or
>what the liquid is in the shell.
>
Could it be the "goo" that binds so much of our "hacked kernels"
together? :-) And the structure in the shell could be a sort of network
representation.
Kurt Reisler (703) 359-6100
============================================================================
UNISIG Chairman, DECUS US Chapter | Hadron, Inc.
..{uunet|sundc|rlgvax|netxcom|decuac}!hadron!klr | 9990 Lee Highway
Sysop, Fido 109/74 The Bear's Den (703) 671-0598 | Suite 481
Sysop, Fido 109/483 The Pot of Gold (703) 359-6549 | Fairfax, VA 22030
============================================================================
Lenny Tropiano
|>In article <5...@root44.co.uk> n...@root44.UUCP (Nigel Horne) writes:
|>>But I *still* don't know what the strange shapes out of the seashell are, or
|>>what the liquid is in the shell.
|>>
|>
|>Could it be the "goo" that binds so much of our "hacked kernels"
|>together? :-) And the structure in the shell could be a sort of network
|>representation.
|>
I think it might be "core", since the shell core handles the message "core
dump" ? Only a theory.
-Lenny
--
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Greg Hackney 214+464-2771
>what the liquid is in the shell.
>-Nigel
I always saw the wizard stirring in the seashell as a guru using
"csh" to "make" a new kernel. Note the "hook" in the kernel.
The shapes appear to be circuit board etchings, maybe the magic interface
between software and hardware.
--
Greg
Charles Lambert
>[...]
>But I *still* don't know what the strange shapes out of the seashell are, or
>what the liquid is in the shell.
I've not seen the poster, but I'm not surprised the C-shell produces strange
shapes.
(A confirmed Bourne shucker)
Neil Winton
>what the liquid is in the shell.
It occurred to me the other day, perhaps the strange liquid is Source (it
seems appropriate that a Wizard would be brewing that up :-). As for the
odd shapes, they've always reminded me of PCB tracks (but what has hardware
got to do with such a totally portable operating system as UN*X :-).
Neil
E-mail (UUCP) nwi...@axion.UUCP NWi...@axion.bt.co.uk ...!ukc!axion!nwinton
Organisation British Telecom Research Laboratories (RT3134)
Snail Mail BTRL, Rm 23 B68, Martlesham Heath, IPSWICH IP5 7RE, UK
Telephone +44 473 646079 (or +44 473 643210)
-------- You're never alone with a rubber duck... --------
Geoff Kimbrough
<In article <5...@root44.co.uk> n...@root44.UUCP (Nigel Horne) writes:
<>But I *still* don't know what the strange shapes out of the seashell are, or
<>what the liquid is in the shell.
<It occurred to me the other day, perhaps the strange liquid is Source (it
<seems appropriate that a Wizard would be brewing that up :-). As for the
<odd shapes, they've always reminded me of PCB tracks (but what has hardware
--
Geoffrey Kimbrough -- Director of Dangerous Activities
INTERACTIVE Systems Corporation, Santa Monica, California
sdcrdcf!ism780c!geoff || seismo!ism780c!geoff || ima!geoff
"Every morning I read the obituaries, if I'm not listed, I go to work."