A to Z of the UNIX World

by Douglas Spencer

Computer Systems Administrator,

Anderman and Company Ltd.

(Written while waiting for dinner to finish cooking)

A is for Apple who sent us our Macs,
D is for DEC, and they sold us a Vax.
C is the language in which we write source, and
B is our sort, which is Broken, of course.

E is an Error when code is compiled,
F is a Fork for creating a child,
G is the Getty that sits on the line, and
H is a Hangup whic:^?{^Zo^?{bD^]NO CARRIER

I is the Interconnection of kit,
J is the Joy when the cables all fit.
K is for KERMIT, to copy a file, and
L are the Lines that we drop all the while.

M is the MODEM we use from our home,
N are the Nights which we spend on the 'phone,
O is the Output we get from the host, and
P are the Phone Bills we get in the post.

Q for SIG QUIT makes our process abort,
R is the Reason sigquit should be caught.
S is the Signal we catch and ignore, and
T is the Trap which we miss, and dump core.

U is for UNIX -- I hope that is clear,
V is the Visual editor here.
W stands for the Windows we use, and
X for the windowing system we choose.

Y is for YACC, quite a specialist tool,
Z for the snores from the programming pool.