IRIX
| IRIX-tan | |
| |
| Character Information | |
|---|---|
| Common Names | IRIX |
| Other Names | 4D1 (formerly) |
| Human Name(s) | Ayame Shoki (書記菖蒲) Airiki (藍利器) (art name) Irix Clark |
| Faction | Linux Unix Consortium |
| Lineage | UNIX System V with BSD extensions |
| Rival(s) | TBD |
| Appearance | |
| Height | 165 cm (5 ft 5 in) |
| Hair Color | Blue |
| Eye Color | Platinum |
| Weapon(s) | Illusions and sensory attacks |
| Design | |
| First Appearance | 2008-12-27 |
| Technical Information | |
| System Personified | IRIX |
| Developer(s) | Silicon Graphics, Inc. |
| Debut | 1988-05 |
| Latest release | 6.5.30 (2006-08-16) |
Technical details
IRIX (short for IRIS UNIX, originally called 4D1) is a System V UNIX-based operating system with 4.2BSD extensions, originally developed by Silicon Graphics Computer Systems in 1988 for its line of MIPS-based computers. It replaced GL2 (also known as the IRIS Workstation Software Distribution), which was used on their previous line of MC68000-based machines, and a third-party UNIX-based OS known as UMIPS or RISC/os (not to be confused with Acorn's RISC OS).
IRIX is especially famous for its strong support for symmetric multiprocessing, 3D graphics, video, and high-bandwidth data transfer; SGI machines saw common use in Hollywood special effects, video game development, scientific visualization, and AI research. It was also notable for being one of the first UNIX-based OSes to feature a GUI as default, shipping with the 4Dwm window manager and a custom Motif-designed desktop environment.
Character details
Physical
IRIX-tan is depicted as a woman of average height, light build, and medium endowment. She has long blue hair, which is usually swept into an elaborate, and elaborately decorated, updo. Her usual dress is equally outlandish: a gown with a deep V-neck bodice, huge collar, cape, and wide skirt, which is accentuated with metallic geometric jewelry and large, near-opaque shades styled somewhat like a domino masque. Her gowns are usually various shades of blue, but she has previously been seen wearing various cool colors and even black & purple and red. Sometimes, however, she is seen in casual outfits, usually those of the late 1980s or early ’90s.
Personality
IRIX-tan is quite reserved and professional, rarely showing emotion except to a few close friends. She is also perfectionistic, which shows in her dress and in her work. However, she is also quite creative, putting out many works of art, whether aided by her graphical sourcery or otherwise, under the art name Airiki (藍利器 “useful talent of indigo”).
IRIX-tan is an average chess player by UNIX Family standards. She also enjoys Pixar films, especially with Debian-tan, and yachting.
Abilities
IRIX-tan possesses the server and workstation skills one would expect of a member of the UNIX Family; however, she specializes in minor reality warping masquerading as graphical sourcery, and this is the source of her fame. She is capable of conjuring intricate visual and illusory constructions, running the gamut from spectacular light shows to highly-detailed virtual worlds. These constructs can be used to creative and peaceful ends, and indeed she is quite popular among artists, filmmakers, designers, & scientists for these very reasons. Just as well, however, they can be used to defensive or destructive ends, such as subjecting an attacker to sensory overload or trapping them in a nightmarish dreamscape. She is quite proud of her abilities and uses them throughout her daily life, which puts her at odds with the traditionalistic old-school UNIX systems, particularly UNIX-tan herself, who finds her daughter's visual shows distracting & bothersome, and makes a point of ignoring them at all costs.
IRIX-tan's masque-like shades are the source of her powers, both graphical and reality-affecting; should she attempt to do sourcery without, or simply not wear them for a protracted period of time, she will suffer migraines and eventually crash. After Rackable's buyout of SGI in 2009, production of replacement units ended, and so IRIX-tan hoards every pair she can get her hands on.
Relationships
Cray-1
IRIX-tan is one of the few microcomputer OS-tans to have a relationship of any recognizable sort with a mainframe OS-tan — namely Cray-1-tan — which began when SGI purchased Cray in 1996. Despite UNIX-tan's prohibition of mainframe worship, and Cray-1-tan's hatred of UNIX, the mainframe-tan sees IRIX-tan as a wayward follower, and is one of the few “mortals” in whose presence She will drop Her aloof demeanor. Since the buyout & subsequent spinoff of Cray, the two have bonded over their mutual love of art, aesthetics, and fashion design, which manifests in part in IRIX-tan wearing dresses made by Cray-1-tan.
Linux
IRIX-tan has a complicated relationship with Fedora-tan, SUSE-tan, and Linux-tan, as well as the Linux-based OS-tans in general. The four are friendly with one aother, but IRIX-tan does feel slighted by their status as replacements for her. She also shares with Debian-tan a love for Pixar films — they were produced using IRIX-tan's graphical sourcery and give a source of codenames for new releases of Debian.
While SGI has made several contributions to the code base of, and sourcery available to, Linux-based OS-tans, they are responsible in some part for SGI's downfall, as the strength of Linux- and BSD-based OS-tans' massively parallel sourcery began to meet or exceed IRIX-tan's own, eating into SGI's core markets and rendering her less commercially attractive. Linux also contributed to two other major blows to IRIX-tan's popularity: the porting of Maya, a popular 3D graphics application-tan, to it along with Mac OS X & Windows, and an abortive switch by SGI from the MIPS architecture to Itanium.
SCO UNIX
IRIX-tan harbors deep-seated hated for SCO UNIX-tan, owing to a vitriolic dispute in 2003 in which she publicly alleged that some of the source code that SGI had contributed to Linux-tan had been illegally copied from UNIX-tan. While analysts went over both OS-tans' code listings and discovered that no illegal copying had taken place, this did nothing to disabuse SCO UNIX-tan of the belief or increase the standings of IRIX- or Linux-tan in her estimation.
Windows NT, Windows 2000, and Red Hat
IRIX-tan's relationship with Windows NT-tan, Windows 2000-tan, and Red Hat Linux-tan is friendly, if at times contentious. They first met when SGI introduced a line of workstations that could run the latter three operating systems, and hit it off quickly, even though those workstations could be said to have been a mistake in retrospect. Additionally, IRIX-tan's relationship with NT- and 2000-tan is marred by NT-based OS-tans' creator-imparted instinctual disdain toward UNIX-based OS-tans, which manifests itself regularly, aggravating IRIX-tan.
Windows OS-tans
IRIX-tan is enraged by the institutionalized racism of the Windows Family, which paints the UNIX matriline as an underclass at best and subhuman at worst. This may, however, be changing of late, with developments such as Windows 10-tan's embrace of Linux, which is reflected in the creation of compatibility sourcery that allows her some access to Linux spells.
Appearances
Writing
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