From nobody@FreeBSD.ORG  Tue Sep  5 02:30:20 2000
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Date: Tue,  5 Sep 2000 02:30:20 -0700 (PDT)
From: enderle@mdn.de
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To: freebsd-gnats-submit@FreeBSD.org
Subject: Little correction of hier(8)
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>Number:         21057
>Category:       docs
>Synopsis:       Little correction of hier(8)
>Confidential:   no
>Severity:       non-critical
>Priority:       low
>Responsible:    freebsd-doc
>State:          closed
>Quarter:        
>Keywords:       
>Date-Required:  
>Class:          change-request
>Submitter-Id:   current-users
>Arrival-Date:   Tue Sep 05 02:40:01 PDT 2000
>Closed-Date:    Wed Sep 27 03:45:42 PDT 2000
>Last-Modified:  Wed Sep 27 03:54:39 PDT 2000
>Originator:     Steven Enderle
>Release:        4.1-STABLE
>Organization:
mdn Hbner GmbH
>Environment:
>Description:
My you add a note to hier(8), that /usr comes from unix system resources
not from user?

Just to make the manpage more complete ....
>How-To-Repeat:
man 8 hier
>Fix:
<     /usr/    contains the majority of user utilities and applications
>     /usr/    unix system resources, contains the majority of user utilities and applications


>Release-Note:
>Audit-Trail:

From: Nik Clayton <nik@freebsd.org>
To: enderle@mdn.de
Cc: freebsd-gnats-submit@FreeBSD.org
Subject: Re: docs/21057: Little correction of hier(8)
Date: Tue, 5 Sep 2000 14:15:15 +0100

 On Tue, Sep 05, 2000 at 02:30:20AM -0700, enderle@mdn.de wrote:
 > My you add a note to hier(8), that /usr comes from unix system resources
 > not from user?
 
 I've always wondered what 'usr' stood for.  Do you have a cite for that
 definition?
 
 N
 -- 
 Internet connection, $19.95 a month.  Computer, $799.95.  Modem, $149.95.
 Telephone line, $24.95 a month.  Software, free.  USENET transmission,
 hundreds if not thousands of dollars.  Thinking before posting, priceless.
 Somethings in life you can't buy.  For everything else, there's MasterCard.
   -- Graham Reed, in the Scary Devil Monastery
 

From: Salvo Bartolotta <bartequi@inwind.it>
To: freebsd-gnats-submit@FreeBSD.ORG
Cc: enderle@mdn.de
Subject: FW: Re: docs/21057: Little correction of hier(8)
Date: Fri, 08 Sep 2000 08:56:17 GMT

 [ first sent to -doc; I just forgot to also send to gnats *mea maxima=20
 culpa* ]
 
 
 Dear FreeBSD doc'ers,
 
 In my quest for the Holy Grail, ahem, for the origin of the /usr
 "acronym", I received the following letter from Chris Coleman:
 
 --------------------- Forwarded Message -------------------------
 
 At the moment, I cannot recall where I got that tid bit of
 information. Regardless of whether it originally stood for "user" or
 not, calling it "User" would confuse new users..  Currently, the Unix
 System Resources live there and that is what it should be called.
 (IMHO)
 
 I may be alone in this definition, but that definition is at least 4
 years old. I never questioned it.  (Although, I may not be alone,
 because I have been propigating that definition for the last 3-4
 years.)
 
 I found this definition in my searching, which may be more correct.
 
 Mount point for sharable user commands, libraries, and documentation.
 http://www.kelley.iu.edu/shyu/hpguide.html#files
 
 Still, I'd prefer to keep using the Unix System Resources as a good
 acronym to help people remember and distinguish between "user" files
 and "system" files.
 
 Feel Free to forward this to -doc if it helps any.
 
 Chris Coleman
 Daemon News
 http://www.daemonnews.org
 Bringing BSD together
 
 ------------------- End of Forwarded Message -------------------------
 
 Best regards,
 Salvo
 
 
 
 
 

From: Mark Ovens <marko@freebsd.org>
To: freebsd-gnats-submit@FreeBSD.ORG
Cc: doc@freebsd.org, Salvo Bartolotta <bartequi@inwind.it>
Subject: Re: docs/21057: Little correction of hier(8)
Date: Tue, 19 Sep 2000 00:47:37 +0100

 On Fri, 08 Sep 2000 08:56:17 GMT, Salvo Bartolotta wrote:
 
 > Dear FreeBSD doc'ers,
 >        
 > In my quest for the Holy Grail, ahem, for the origin of the /usr
 > "acronym", I received the following letter from Chris Coleman:
 >        
 > --------------------- Forwarded Message -------------------------
 >        
 > At the moment, I cannot recall where I got that tid bit of
 > information. Regardless of whether it originally stood for "user" or
 > not, calling it "User" would confuse new users..  Currently, the Unix
 > System Resources live there and that is what it should be called.
 > (IMHO)
 >        
 > I may be alone in this definition, but that definition is at least 4
 > years old. I never questioned it.  (Although, I may not be alone,
 > because I have been propigating that definition for the last 3-4
 > years.)
 >        
 > I found this definition in my searching, which may be more correct.
 >        
 > Mount point for sharable user commands, libraries, and documentation.
 > http://www.kelley.iu.edu/shyu/hpguide.html#files
 >        
 > Still, I'd prefer to keep using the Unix System Resources as a good
 > acronym to help people remember and distinguish between "user" files
 > and "system" files.
 >        
 > Feel Free to forward this to -doc if it helps any.
        
 I prefer Unix System Resources as well, however, in The Unix
 Programming Environment by Kernighan & Pike (1984) I find:
 
 p22:	    "On many systems, /usr is a directory that contains the
 	     directories of all the users of the system."
 
 p48:	    "/usr is often the top directory of the user filesystem
 	     (user is abbreviated to usr in the same spirit as cmp,
 	     ls, etc.)."
 
 p64 (Table 2.1):
 
 	     /usr	user file system
 
 p65:	     "/usr is called the `user file system', although it may
 	      have little to do with the actual users of the system."
 
 So, what is the correct answer? Should I commit this PR, or just close
 it. It shouldn't be left lying around.
 
 > Chris Coleman
 > Daemon News
 > http://www.daemonnews.org
 > Bringing BSD together
        
 > ------------------- End of Forwarded Message -------------------------
        
 > Best regards,
 > Salvo
        
 -- 
 		4.4 - The number of the Beastie
 ________________________________________________________________
 51.44N  FreeBSD - The Power To Serve http://www.freebsd.org
 2.057W  My Webpage http://ukug.uk.freebsd.org/~mark
 mailto:marko@freebsd.org                http://www.radan.com
 
 

From: Salvo Bartolotta <bartequi@inwind.it>
To: Mark Ovens <marko@freebsd.org>
Cc: freebsd-gnats-submit@FreeBSD.ORG, freebsd-doc@FreeBSD.ORG
Subject: Re: docs/21057: Little correction of hier(8)
Date: Wed, 20 Sep 2000 08:50:32 GMT

 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Original Message <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
 
 On 9/19/00, 12:47:37 AM, Mark Ovens <marko@freebsd.org> wrote regarding
 Re: docs/21057: Little correction of hier(8):
 
 
 > On Fri, 08 Sep 2000 08:56:17 GMT, Salvo Bartolotta wrote:
 
 > > Dear FreeBSD doc'ers,
 > >
 > > In my quest for the Holy Grail, ahem, for the origin of the /usr
 > > "acronym", I received the following letter from Chris Coleman:
 > >
 > > --------------------- Forwarded Message -------------------------
 > >
 > > At the moment, I cannot recall where I got that tid bit of
 > > information. Regardless of whether it originally stood for "user" or=
 
 > > not, calling it "User" would confuse new users..  Currently, the Uni=
 x
 > > System Resources live there and that is what it should be called.
 > > (IMHO)
 > >
 > > I may be alone in this definition, but that definition is at least 4=
 
 > > years old. I never questioned it.  (Although, I may not be alone,
 > > because I have been propigating that definition for the last 3-4
 > > years.)
 > >
 > > I found this definition in my searching, which may be more correct.
 > >
 > > Mount point for sharable user commands, libraries, and documentation=
 .
 > > http://www.kelley.iu.edu/shyu/hpguide.html#files
 > >
 > > Still, I'd prefer to keep using the Unix System Resources as a good
 > > acronym to help people remember and distinguish between "user" files=
 
 > > and "system" files.
 > >
 > > Feel Free to forward this to -doc if it helps any.
 
 > I prefer Unix System Resources as well, however, in The Unix
 > Programming Environment by Kernighan & Pike (1984) I find:
 
 > p22:      "On many systems, /usr is a directory that contains the
 >            directories of all the users of the system."
 
 > p48:      "/usr is often the top directory of the user filesystem
 >            (user is abbreviated to usr in the same spirit as cmp,
 >            ls, etc.)."
 
 > p64 (Table 2.1):
 
 >            /usr       user file system
 
 > p65:       "/usr is called the `user file system', although it may
 >             have little to do with the actual users of the system."
 
 > So, what is the correct answer? Should I commit this PR, or just close=
 
 > it. It shouldn't be left lying around.
 
 
 
 
 Dear Mark Ovens,
 
 You are [most probably] right; the evidence you have given should be
 the ultimate historical answer.
 
 Chris himself pointed out that he was not quite sure about the origin
 of the "acronym" in question.
 
 I was wondering whether something like the following would do: "...
 originally abbreviated to usr in the same terse/concise [Unix]
 style/spirit as ls, cmp etc.; subsequently reinterpreted as Unix
 System Resources. The latter meaning seems to be more appropriate to
 the current [Free]BSD filesystem layout [...]".
 
 Unless other evidence and comments are provided, something like the
 foregoing seems (to me) a sensible choice. But ... beware of my
 English, I am Italian, after all :-)
 
 Best regards,
 Salvo
 
 
 
 
State-Changed-From-To: open->closed 
State-Changed-By: marko 
State-Changed-When: Wed Sep 27 03:45:42 PDT 2000 
State-Changed-Why:  
I'm closing this without committing it. The various discussions that have 
taken place suggest that there is no real provenance for the origin of 
either meaning of "usr". Additionally, hier(7) does not aim to describe 
Unix history (the first line states it is a "sketch" of the filesystem). 

If anyone disagrees strongly enough, feel free to re-open this and make the 
commit. 


http://www.freebsd.org/cgi/query-pr.cgi?pr=21057 
>Unformatted:
