OS-tan Theory Revival

[Bella]

WIP TIMELINE OF THE UNIX WARS, AND RESULTS THEREOF~
If anyone has any Unix-tans / events that they'd like to add to this list, let me know. I'm trying to make this as comprehensive as humanly possible, so the more info the merrier. Also, I basically threw this together in a couple of hours, so forgive any mistakes made.


...



1980s:
-Originated in the mid 1980s, when BSD and Unix-sama competed for social dominance.
--BSD tried to establish her own bloodline and culture as the dominant Unix line, and Unix-sama attempted to keep her foothold/bloodline in the social hierarchy.
---At this point, SunOS (later called Solaris) was still entirely BSD-based, and the BSD heir-apparent. Unix was voluntarily heirless at this time, but promoting herself (as SysV) and own direct descendants opposed to SunOS.

-In 1984, various Unix-employing corporations banded together to form X/Open Standards Group (X/Open).
--Unix was pleased by this consortium and wished to use it to her advantage. She saw a solution for her problem: a unification of hers' and BSD-tan's lines to put an end to the discord.

-In 1987, BSD agreed to this compromise, possibly to avoid reprisal by Unix, and SunOS underwent training / socialization into SysV culture.
--However, this turn of events upset other Unix factions, who were afraid that SunOS would become the dominant Unix and that they would be shut out of the Unix political process, or altogether destroyed.
-In 1987, MINIX-tan is born.

-In 1988, as a direct response to the SunOS-BSD-Unix alliance, the Open Software Foundation (OSF) was formed by DEC to create an "ultimate" Unix-tan, who would once more bring unity and harmony to the factions. They were sponsored by Apollo, Groupe Bull, HP and IBM among many others. HQ'd in Cambridge, they appeared to the public to be nothing more than an advocacy group. However, they created OSF/1-tan (later called Digital Unix, Tru64 Unix). Genetically-derived from BSD-tan, she planned to be free of any of Unix-tan's copyrighted source.
--OSF/1-tan was set up as the third major party in the Unix Wars (the others being BSD and Unix-tan herself). While a DEC-tan, she collaborated with many other companies within the OSF and planned to take down her competitors through cunning and with her real-time and multi-threading capabilities, powers that few Unices had at this time.
-In 1988, Unix International (UI) was set up by Unix and SunOS to counter OSF.
--UI and the OSF emerged the major players of the conflict, and the Unix Wars intensified.
---Public opinion began to turn on the Unices as the fighting became ever more vicious.
-QNX-tan drafted into the War as a medic.

-In 1989, Unix System Laboratories (USL) was founded by Unix. It began a series of offensives against BSD-tan, for alleged theft of Unix's "intellectual property".  BSD had to purge much of her (Research Unix) source during this time.
-SCO Unix-tan is born 1989.

1990s:
-Xenix-tan dies in battle in 1990 - 1991(?).
-GNU/HURD-tan debuts. She is set up to be the eminent GNU OS-tan, but various issues hinder her progress. 
-While Plan 9-tan had been born in the mid-1980s, Unix-tan didn't select her as heir until the last part of the decade. She was considered unsuitable as an heir by the majority of her peers.
--Traumatized by the fighting and sick of her mother's inability to stop it, Plan 9-tan rejected her heirship and fled Unix in 1991.
-OSF/1-tan's source was incorporated into AIX-tan in 1991.
-BSD-tan's preoccupation in the Unix Wars - and her shaky legal status - caused a power vacuum for a FOSS, Unix-like OS-tan.
--Linux-tan was created to "fill" this vacuum. By her creator's own admission, she probably wouldn't have been built if BSD-tan hadn't been entrenched in fighting.

-In 1992, Linux-tan began her travels in the outside world. She avoided the War and is able to go mostly undetected, since she was free of blood-relation to, or social-entanglements with, the Unices.
-In 1992, Unix, backed by USL, undertook a serious offensive against BSD.
--Unix and BSD were eventually able to peacefully reconcile their differences, but great damage had been done to the both of them by that time.

-In 1993, UI and OSF merged, forming the Common Open Software Environment (COSE). This was done as a last-ditch attempt to stave off destruction at the hands of Microsoft, which had already been able to secure large sections of territory which once belonged to the Unices. Members of the COSE included Sun, SCO, USL, HP and IBM. DEC was not a founding member but later joined.
--Unix and her group USL were deposed from AT&T and her source rights sold off to Novell. She became a part of X/Open.

-BSD-tan became fully free of Unix-tan's code in 1994. About this time, her children started to gain popularity.
-FreeBSD-tan defected from the Unix faction after being drafted into the fighting.
-Solaris-tan's younger sister SpringOS-tan died, allegedly due to lack of medical treatment by QNX-tan.
-Linux-tan became more powerful and began to capture the attention of the Unix-tans, who feared she would usher in a new wave of fighting (this time between the Unices and Linuces - or worse, the pureblood Unices and Unix-likes).
-In response to Unix-tan's change of allegiance, OSF stopped funding OSF/1-tan.
--She was fully adopted by DEC and renamed Digital Unix in 1995.
-Plan 9-tan and various BSD descendants form the User Space Gang (USG)

-In 1995, Unix, fearful of displacement by the Linuces, captured Linux and offered to form an alliance with her.
--Linux agreed and the foundation of the Linux/Unix Consortium was laid.
-HP-UX, SCO Unix and UnixWare formed an alliance (3DA) in an attempt to create a new Unix standard. It was a failure and they parted ways by 1998.

-In 1996 X/Open and OSF merged forming the Open Group. They began the first meaningful steps toward lasting peace and reconstruction of Unix culture, but much damage had been done to the Unix name by then.

-In 1998, IBM, SCO and several other factions teamed up in an attempt to build an "ultimate" Unix-tan (Project Monterey). AIX-tan was chosen to lead this project. The project got out of hand, and many members defected to the Linux faction. IBM dropped out, instead opting to train Linux-tan. This effectively ended the venture.

2000s:
-In 2002, Unix-tan was made open source.
--Unix viewed this as a significant step in throwing off her past encumbrances. She began dabbling in work as a hobby system, and volunteered as a teaching system at MIT.
---She and Linux-tan became closer as a result. Arguably, the foundation of their later romantic relationship was laid at this time.

-In 2003, SCO Unix (still enraged over IBM's perceived betrayal in Project Monterey) sued IBM and began her long-running battle with Linux-tan.
--In the same year, SCO Unix attacked Red Hat-tan.
--She also went after Novell, the owners of Unix-tan's source, claiming that she herself is the rightful owner of said source.

-In 2008, Solaris-tan began dabbling in Open Sourcery.

...

There are some things I left out. For instance, Linux-tan's rise to power and her full role in the LUC isn't really explained. Nor are the root causes of the war, or the motives the Unix-tans had for fighting it, or concepts like the ownership of another OS-tan's source or how BSD-tan was able to rid herself of that old source code. I'd like to explain things further, but I really just wanted to throw this timeline together to get things straight in my mind.

And as I said at the beginning, info on what other Unices were doing at this time would be much appreciated.

[Bella]

WRY DOES NOBODY REPLY TO THIS THREAD ANYMORE?

Anyway I just had a thought involving the relation between computer-tans and programming languages. Basically, I'm thinking that if various computer functions = magic in OS-tan universe terms, and programming = formulating the spells that invoke these magics, then programming languages = various styles/schools of magic creation.

This would have interesting implications for programmers and OS-tans. For instance, creating a spell in BASIC would be simple enough that even a non-programmer could manage it, but the resulting magic wouldn't be particularly awe-inspiring or powerful. Whereas creating a spell in LISP would be difficult but has the benefit of being incredibly powerful (in the right hands). Some languages would be general-purpose, while others would be highly specialized for specific forms of magic. Some would be light and nimble (like C) while others would be complex and heavy enough that only powerful OS-tans could actually use them (LISP, historically).

Some OS-tans would only be able to handle spells created in certain languages, and others would be constrained by the speed / complexity of certain languages. Some computer-tans would be particularly well-known for their connections to certain languages - for instance, UNIX-tan and C, Multics-sama and PL/I, Emacs-kun and LISP or DTSS-tan and BASIC - with some OS-tans actually being created themselves with the language they're known for (UNIX+C and Multics+PL/I). Some computer-tans would be purpose built to practice sorcery in a certain language (LISP Machine-tan) while others would be able to handle almost any language thrown at them (almost any modern computer-tan).

There's the matter of how programming language-tans fit into this, but I guess i'll save my musings on that subject for later.

[NejinOniwa]

various computer functions = magic in OS-tan universe terms, and programming = formulating the spells that invoke these magics, then programming languages = various styles/schools of magic creation.

Don't forget - there's also the code that make these spells up; which is, in essence, the "lifeforce" (mana?) of the OS-tanverse. But yeah, those are pretty much what I'm working after in my canon as well.

[Chocofreak13]

if code = lifeforce, then we could assume that the spells come from the -tan/-kun themselves, such as the magic in Maburaho (though hopefully not as literal). (if the effects from Maburaho WERE the same as on the OS-tans, however, that might be an interesting plot point for a story. for those who don't feel like looking it up, people who use up all their magic in the show turn to ash.)

i agree with the programming language magic schools, though. but would -tans be able to belong to more than one school? or would they have to choose a particular path to complete before going for another, if they could at all?

[NejinOniwa]

We've already established that an OS-tan lives off her code pool, which she also uses for spells. Since it's constantly replenished, they probably can't exactly kill themselves off like that...probably.

[Chocofreak13]

wouldn't that depend on the base of the OS? after all, i doubt that the older ones would have a large code pool to work with?

[NejinOniwa]

And in those cases, we improvise.

But there's really quite few cases of in-verse "magically powerful" OSes that don't have a large code pool due to DYNASTIC INHERITANCE and all that. There's SAGE, who is a...special case, and then there's...really not many else.

[Aurora Borealis]

Sorry I haven't replied, but the Unix Wars timeline looks about spot-on! I had wondered what was it that sparked the Wars, and with the upbringing Solaris-tan had, and her pivotal role in the Wars, no wonder why she is so spoiled! I had also wondered when QNX-tan got drafted. Although she's a Unix-like, I wonder who drafted her, and for which side? Another Unix-like that was around in the 80's is OS-9. QNX's history has a dark side to it; she hated the Unices, and reveled in having one of them (SpringOS) at her mercy. Even better is that SpringOS was the younger sister of one of the most high-profile Unices, and possibly motivated by spite, might have deliberately let SpringOS die. If that happened, QNX has regretted it, and doesn't want to fight again, and devotes her life to building machinery and saving lives.

Starting from the roots of the Unix Wars, what was it that motivated BSD to make her own culture and be disrespectful to her mother?

[Bella]

@Nej: SAGE and Multics are both -tans who had little in the way of inherited code-base. However, Multics underwent unusually intense magical training and SAGE drew power from her radar systems / peripherals / anyone and everyone computery around her.

Sorry I haven't replied, but the Unix Wars timeline looks about spot-on! I had wondered what was it that sparked the Wars, and with the upbringing Solaris-tan had, and her pivotal role in the Wars, no wonder why she is so spoiled! I had also wondered when QNX-tan got drafted. Although she's a Unix-like, I wonder who drafted her, and for which side? Another Unix-like that was around in the 80's is OS-9.

I don't know who drafted QNX into the war but was hoping you may have some ideas (she is your character after all). Any idea what OS-9's role in the Unix Wars was (if she had any at all)?

Starting from the roots of the Unix Wars, what was it that motivated BSD to make her own culture and be disrespectful to her mother?

The conflict arose due to differences in their upbringings, personalities, goals and plain greed. BSD-tan had a far easier life than Unix ever knew and it really changed her perspective on things. She never liked Unix's draconian practices and wanted to make the Unix community less austere in general. As well, she disliked Unix's increasingly closed-up nature and wanted to revive freedom and openness within the community. There were also the social and power reasons - BSD simply wanted to be the dominant member of the Unix hierarchy, and Unix-tan simply wasn't willing to give up her position.

[NejinOniwa]

Special case, as I was saying.

Then on my end of the spectrum there's Ruka, who is powerful mainly because of the rule of cool (I mean, doomsday weapon, come on) and storyline purposes, and the OMEGA peeps who are so because necromancy. But I'm getting ahead of myself now, aren't I. -v-

[Bella]

YES YOU ARE *prods Nej to write / post writings moar*

Also WMGs caused by Emacs culture research / just talking with Stew a minute ago....

THEORY: Emacs-kun is attempting to evolve into something bigger/better than a text editor
...and may be attempting to become an OS-kun at some point. Okay, while there have been schemes to make Emacs into an experimental operating system (Google Emacs Native Operating System), this is mostly inside-jokey and a play on the old EMACS IS A GREAT OS, IT ONLY LACKS A DECENT TEXT EDITOR crack, but Emacs-kun has picked up an unusually wide range of abilities over the years (considering that he can be considered a web browser-, media player-, newsreader-, email client-, game system- and shell-kun, among other things). Coupled with his general tendency toward überarrogance and rhetoric-of-grandeur, it doesn't really seem out-of-character for him.

THEORY: Fancy!SAGE is a figment of Normal!SAGE's mind
Stew got me thinking about this with an offhand comment about my SAGE-tan stickers (which he is now in possession of). Basically, there are two separate modern SAGE-tan interpretations: god-level super-manipulator in one hell of a fancy outfit and insane amnesiac who spends all day yelling at the kids/birds to stay the hell off of her lawn. I propose that God!SAGE is just a figment of Normal!SAGE's imagination. Whether or not this is her true self or some crazed delusion will be left up to interpretation....

[NejinOniwa]

Well, seeing as she lost most of her nodes - or at least the ones she knew about - she'd be unable to accept the fact that she once was as powerful as that, imo, and thus she's dissociated that part of herself into a separate personality.

[Bella]

If you believe the god!SAGE = figment of normal!SAGE's mind then yes, I suppose that would be a good way of looking at it. IDK if i fully support the theory, but it's something to think about - especially given how purposefully-ambiguous the SAGE canon is.

Also, remind me again where we go to discuss OS-tan names? I've been trying to pick some for the Unices and their allies ... usually when they're my personal characters, I just go ahead and pick a name, but some of these aren't mine (or I only helped create them)....

I'm leaning toward Hera for HURD-tan (visual similarity), Marta / Marcia for MERT-tan (again, visual/audio similarity), Fiammetta or Ignatia for Inferno-tan (name origins meaning "flame" :p), Soleil for Solaris (name means "sun", and IIRC Solaris-tan had a similar human-name in one of Stew's stories...) and Minnie for MINIX-tan (sounds similar and evokes the concept of smallness). Surnames I'll have to give more thought to, though I usually turn to creator names or in-story family names (i.e., all the research Unices have the surname "Bell") first.

I'd like to give some of the Linux-tans names too - some write themselves, more or less (Debian = Debora, Gentoo = Jennifer, SuSE = Susanne or some variant thereof) but others are trickier - I'd like to give Ubuntu-tan a name, for instance, but my cursory inspections of Bantu names haven't turned up any good leads and I haven't looked into other native South African language names yet. Unless we just cop out and call her "Ubuntu" (and even then we'll still need a surname). >>

[Nichi]

@Bella: I believe the topic was "NEEDED: Your Input" for character names. Speaking of, I've considered trying to come up with some for the -tans I've made pages for (Especially Neptune, since she is kind of "my" character at this point)

On a different note, I has theory. While reading about D&D video games, I ended up stumbling onto something interesting, which lead to this:

PDP-10-tan enjoys role playing games
The reason is that one of the earliest computer RPGs is Dungeon; which was designed for the PDP-10. It wasn't very popular in its day, but the fact it exists shows that she might have a love of role playing games...and maybe she tries to rope the other DEC-tans into joining her ^^;

[Bella]

Please do! Plenty of -tans still need names, and it's not really as if there's any set convention regarding who gets to name whom. Stew, Aurora, Nej and I have all picked names for characters that aren't ours, and the naming of "canon" characters is still pretty much fair game.

PDP-10-tan enjoys role playing games
The reason is that one of the earliest computer RPGs is Dungeon; which was designed for the PDP-10. It wasn't very popular in its day, but the fact it exists shows that she might have a love of role playing games...and maybe she tries to rope the other DEC-tans into joining her ^^;

Considering that it fits right in with an old theory I had regarding the DEC-tans having a fondness for tabletop gaming, consider it added to my story canon! ^.^