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Editorial - Macrimination 
The World's No. 1 Distributor of Macnix
By Steve Sobek - Contributing Editor
Apparently, there are some folks who didn't read my column last week
on Zen and
your Macintosh.
The unenlightened leaders of a San Francisco company called The Open
Group have sued
Apple over its use of the name "Unix" in its advertising. The
company owns the license to the trademark and claims that Apple has been
using it without purchasing a license (how much that license would cost
Cupertino is not clear). Apple is arguing that that trademark is
invalid, because the use of the word "Unix" has become generic.
I'm not a legal expert, but as much as I hate to agree with the
jackals Apple hires as lawyers, Apple's got a point here.
The word Unix has taken on a life of its own since it was conceived
over 30 years ago. According to the "Unix Guru," there are at least 80 different
flavors of Unix out there, and I'm sure that there are probably
more. Some are commercial operating systems, like Mac OS X and Solaris.
But many others are Open Source and freely available to anyone.
It has become normal to refer to any of these flavors as being
"Unix," even though it's more accurate to call most of them Unix-based
operating systems. I don't know trademark laws are necessary, but this
lawsuit a little bit too much for me to stomach.
Here's a suggestion for Apple. If they lose the lawsuit, they should
just name Mac OS X's Unix underpinnings "Macnix." I can see it now, at a
future MacWorld Expo (or Create), Stevie J. gets up and says "Apple is
now the No. 1 vendor of Macnix in the world!"
Doesn't quite give the same feeling, does it? Most people don't know
what Unix is, but they do like to hear the name. They seem to be calmed
by the operating system's association with strength, robustness and a
cute penguin in a tuxedo.
I don't think most others in the Unix community (someone correct me in the forums if
I'm wrong) besides the executives at The Open Group really care
about Apple using the trademark. Infinite Loop has been amazingly giving
to the community with the open source Darwin
project and its sharing of the code that goes into the Safari Web rendering
engine.
If Apple loses the suit, it still has won when it comes to the good
will it has gained in the Open Source community over the last couple of
years.
Even if it's only the world's largest vendor of Macnix, not Unix.
Random Notes: When Apple dropped its
prices for the 12-inch and 17-inch PowerBooks recently, it
inspired a fierce conflict in my Mac-addicted soul. I had been thinking
of joining the portable world. Should I wait for the new machines sure
to come out this summer, or should I take advantage of the price drops
and make an investment now? Feeling that buying a new Mac at any time is
always a sound investment (if you don't believe me, just check out the
prices for even the fruity-colored iMacs on eBay), frugality won out and
I've been typing this column on a brand-spanking-new 12-inch PowerBook
connected to the Internet through my new Airport network. The PowerBook
deserves its "Firebook" nickname (I think the tops of my legs are much
less hairy than they were two days ago), but it is without a doubt the
best-looking and most-enjoyable computer I have ever had. Sure, if those
new faster 'Books come out soon, I might think of upgrading someday. But
for now, I'm very happy with my decision. ... Speaking of finding out
about new Mac models, our first chance is coming up June 23-27 in San
Francisco, as Apple holds its annual Worldwide Developers
Conference. Next week, I'll make some predictions of what we'll
see.
Steve Sobek is a journalist and Webmaster of United Mac. Reach him at ssobek@stevesobek.net.
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