[ih] What is the origin of the root account?

[Larry Sheldon]

On 4/11/2013 4:02 PM, Larry Sheldon wrote:
> On 4/11/2013 1:58 PM, Eduardo A. Suárez wrote:
>
>> this is off-topic, but perhaps anyone can help. What is the origin of
>> the root account in unix?
>
> It certainly is "history" although the "internet" part is a little weak
> since unix existed before the Internet did, I don't think unix had much
> to do with the development of the Internet except as the operating
> system on some hosts that were reachable in the early days.

The thread seems to have veered sharply off the topic on what I intended 
to be a throw-away intro.  Like veering off-topic never happened before.

For sure I think Unix was a major component of the early layers of the 
snowball that is The Internet--but I thought the initial development was 
done on IBMish and special purpose hardware--did the IMP's have an OS? 
And don't VAXen speak VMS (everyone I ever met did).

> Be fore I continue let me confirm for you all that I have no credentials
> whatever in the area and all I say is based on an accretion of hearsay,
> the result of working one, with, and for computers and networks of
> several kinds for several years in several "environments".

-- 
Requiescas in pace o email           Two identifying characteristics
                                         of System Administrators:
Ex turpi causa non oritur actio      Infallibility, and the ability to
                                         learn from their mistakes.
                                           (Adapted from Stephen Pinker)