The Daemon, the GNU and the Penguin, by Dr. Peter H. Salus

The Daemon, the GNU and the Penguin, by Dr. Peter H. Salus - Errata

by Pamela Jones
Groklaw

May 13 2005

The Daemon, the GNU and the Penguin

By Peter H. Salus

Some Errata

One of the "problems" of writing is that your readership can be quite notable. I have received clarifying comments from two of the major "participants."

With regard to Chapter 2 (UNIX), Dennis Ritchie has pointed out the following (as well as a few minor points):

"'AT&T Bell Labs' is correct, I guess, but BL didn't really start using that name until divestiture, and AT&T wanted the prominent branding. Of course we were a part of AT&T (via WECo), so it's not wrong."
"Doug wasn't heavily involved in Multics at the time, and he was always pursuing other things as well (including, course, being Ken's boss)."
"I don't think 'UNICS' was ever committed to paper... A couple of years ago I checked again with Brian and Peter N, and Brian admits to Unix, Peter denies it. Like you I thought that it must have been Peter because of the punsterish tendencies, and may have written that, but it seems not to be true. I suppose leaving the air of mystery has some virtue, though."
"Bob [Morris] retired several years ago from NCSC."

I also received two pieces of mail from Richard Stallman, one pointing out that: "It was only in senior year [in high school] that I was using a computer."

Moreover, I wrote "He [RMS] has frequently said that 'Software wants to be free'."

Richard writes: "I don't believe I ever said those particular words. ... What I say is that software should be free; that is to say, its users should have freedom."

I have received other comments and addenda from several notables (e.g. Rob Kolstad and Mike O'Dell). All will be incorporated into the next full version.

I am really gratified that the most eminent workers in the field have been reading my work and have taken the time to write to me.

PHS

01:55 PM EDT