[abbreviation for `Berkeley Software Distribution'] a family of
{Unix} versions for the {DEC} {VAX} and {PDP-11} developed by Bill
Joy and others at {Berzerkeley} starting around 1977, incorporating
paged virtual memory, TCP/IP networking enhancements, and many other
features. The BSD versions (4.1, 4.2, and 4.3) and the commercial
versions derived from them (SunOS, ULTRIX, and Mt. Xinu) held the
technical lead in the Unix world until AT&T's successful
standardization efforts after about 1986; descendants including
Free/Open/NetBSD, BSD/OS and MacOS X are still widely popular. Note
that BSD versions going back to 2.9 are often referred to by their
version numbers alone, without the BSD prefix. See also {Unix}.
[glossary]
[Reference(s) to this entry by made by: {Berzerkeley}{creeping featurism}{daemon book}{Death Star}{fossil}{holy wars}{kernel-of-the-week club}{Python}{software bloat}{Sun}{tunafish}{Unix}{VAX}{Version 7}{vi}{wheel}]