A/UX

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A/UX
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Character Information
Common Names	A/UX
Other Names	"Space Cadet", Apple Unix
Faction	Wanderer Class (formerly in the Apple Family)
Lineage	Unix, BSD-System V hybrid branch
Appearance
Height	175 cm (5'9")
Hair Color	dark blue
Eye Color	blue-green
Weapon(s)	Super strength from cybernetics
Design
First Appearance	2007
Technical Information
System Personified	Apple Unix
Developer(s)	Apple Computer
Debut	1988
Latest release	v.3.1.1 (1995)

Technical details

A/UX (Apple Unix) is a Unix OS from Apple, first released in the late 1980's as an easy to use Unix OS that is compatible with the contemporary Mac OS. A/UX's GUI is nearly identical to contemporary Macintosh Finder, but modified to include Unix features. Also included is compatibility layer to emulate or run programs from System 6 (A/UX 1 and 2) or System 7 (A/UX 3.x).

In the command line, A/UX has a feature that makes filling out commands easy, and was designed to be the most user-friendly Unix OS. Its Unix ancestry is mostly from Unix System V, with features incorporated from BSD. A/UX wasn't very successful, and its hardware support was very limited.

Character details

General

A/UX is Apple's first attempt at a Unix-based OS with the Mac OS GUI. It is a server and network OS, one of its uses was to power the servers at NASA. A/UX-tan is represented as a tall and tanned woman with dark blue hair in curly pigtails, and has blue-green eyes. In her modern-day depictions, she wears a sporty outfit modeled after a stylized spacesuit, with matching moon boots.

Parts of her appearance and personality are based off of A/UX's codenames. Aside from being a reference to A/UX's prior use at NASA, she pilots a rocket ship and is an astronomer in reference to Pigs in Space. She likes to daydream and likes space travel, referencing another of A/UX's codenames- Space Cadet, which her peers use also use as a nickname to her when they see her zone out. Her bandana, and fondness of wrestling are a reference to Hulk Hogan, another codename.

Earlier in her life, when she still lived with the Apple Family, she wore her hair in a ponytail and wore a 1920's style business outfit. She used to be fairly reserved and professional.

Personality-wise, in the present day, A/UX-tan is very tomboyish, boisterous and a daydreamer; much more cheerful and extroverted than she used to be after getting a new lease on life. She is somewhat intimidating at a first glance, but can be helpful and is very straightforward, reference to the tools that make A/UX's command line easy to use.

Although she is a Unix-tan, she does not consider the Unices to be her family, but rather the Apple-tans who she lived with in her childhood and up to 1996. She has been a wanderer since then; she got evicted from the Apple family during the worst of the OS Wars because she was too costly to keep around. She still has close ties to the extended Apple Family, and visits on occasion.

Abilities and powers

A/UX-tan has super strength and stamina obtained through cybernetic enhancements and extensive training, turning her into a super soldier. She excels at melee combat. Unlike other Unices, she doesn't use sorcery in combat. It's possible that she doesn't the ability to use combat sorcery, so experimental cybernetics were used to grant her power.

Family and relationships

Within the Unix Family

A/UX-tan is low-ranked on the Unix family social hierarchy, since A/UX wasn't commercially successful, failed to secure a large server market share, and faded into obscurity after the Unix Wars. She would have also been better off in the hierarchy if she hadn't been neutral during the wars; if she would have lost anyways, at least she would have lost putting up a fight. Instead, her neutrality was interpreted as cowardice. Her being one of the first Unix OSes to value the GUI more than the command line also made it hard for her to be taken seriously by them.

The Unix-tans are her biological relatives, but she doesn't care for most of them and doesn't consider them her real family. Ever since her debut, however, she attends the Unix Family (now Linux/Unix Consortium) meetings out of obligation to show that she has no intention of being a traitor. Knowing that they hardly take her seriously, or even seem to notice her, she makes the best of the meetings by being the group clown.

In the present day, UNIX tolerates her for her sense of duty and loyalty, but is hardly acknowledged.

AIX

She resents, or for a long time resented AIX-tan. It was AIX's brief mercenary work for Apple in 1996 officially deemed A/UX-tan obsolete, having lost her last remaining job to her, and was the last factor that led to A/UX getting evicted from Apple.

User Space Gang

While nearly unacknowledged by the Unix-tans in the Linux/Unix Consortium, she is noticed by the User Space Gang. Although a proprietary OS and can never legally become open source, she's interested in their ideals and is an honorary member of their group.

Apple Newton

Newton-tan, a fellow Apple-tan that was also fired in the 90's, is frequently visits her.

The Apple-tans and Mac-tans

The early Apple-tans and the Classic Mac-tans are her stepsisters, and the Mac OSX-tans are estimated to be second-cousins. She considers the extended Apple Family to be her real family, and identifies with them the most. She gets along with them for the most part, though the more timid among them are nervous around her. The more boisterous, such as Macintosh System 6, Mac OS8, and OSX Cheetah are the most at-ease around her, and she has friendly rivalries with them.

History and background

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In her youth, A/UX-tan was trained to be very strict and professional with very high standards held to her since so much money was invested in her. She was prohibited from mingling with the general public, only allowed to be around very high-end users. She enjoyed being around the Apple-tans (especially Mac System 6-tan, who she also has a friendly rivalry with) but was discouraged from 'childish behavior' and often too busy trying to fulfill what her company wanted from her.

Although her pro-Apple stance was obvious, she was not considered a traitor to the Unices since she remained unaligned and did not participate in the Unix wars at all. However, by not participating in the Unix wars, she avoided competition in the battlefield but was out-competed by the other Unices in terms of popularity, attention and sales which ultimately led to her eviction.

A/UX-tan saw her eviction as a mixed blessing. She was sad that she had to leave the Apple family and for being such a burden but was happy that the strict dress codes and very high standards she was held to no longer applied and she finally had the freedom to do the things she has wanted to do all those years.

External links

• Wikipedia article on A/UX
• A/UX article on applefritter.com: A/UX, The Unix for the rest of us?