Armando Stettner's original Unix license plate.
1. The state motto of New Hampshire, which appears on that state's
automobile license plates.
2. A slogan associated with Unix in the romantic days when Unix
aficionados saw themselves as a tiny, beleaguered underground tilting
against the windmills of industry. The "free" referred specifically
to freedom from the {fascist} design philosophies and crufty
misfeatures common on competing operating systems. Armando Stettner,
one of the early Unix developers, used to give out fake license
plates bearing this motto under a large Unix, all in New Hampshire
colors of green and white. These are now valued collector's items. In
1994 {DEC} put an inferior imitation of these in circulation with a
red corporate logo added. Compaq (half of which was once DEC)
continued the practice.
Armando Stettner's original Unix license plate.
[glossary]