“*nix” means a Unix-like OS just generally (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%2Anix), like for example in “Minix” and “Xenix”. Sticking “OS” to the end of an OS name is also commonplace. However, the title on the page is “The Learnix Operating System”, so the actual name seems to be just “Learnix”.
It’s arguably Nix and NixOS who have unnecessarily stepped into the “*nix” namespace without adding a distinguishing prefix.
I feel like if I saw something just called "learn unix", I'd expect it to be teaching me how to use it generically, not implement it. Adding "OS" makes it clear to me that it's a dedicated OS for the purpose of learning (although it still wasn't clear to me that the goal was implement it so if anything I'd argue that the title is missing context, but the name of the OS isn't redundant).
So your argument is the first usage of a word gets exclusive rights to it? Firstly, that's not how human languages work. Secondly, this would invalidate the Unix claim to "nix" as it's been a word for hundreds of years prior to Unix being invented.
It is, but in IT context the association was strong, while Unixes decline and most of the systems with derived naming are historic. But anybody with a background in sysadmin for more than 10 years probably would still have the association. In ten years Linux will probably the only one remaining with the ux-naming (and MacOS X with the single X, which also serves as ten, following MacOS 9)
For that matter, if we're including the proprietary OSs, HP-UX is still kinda a thing and AIX is going strong. Of course, IIRC those are actual certified UNIX™ instead of unix-like... though I'd call that a subset, so still in scope IMO.
The linked trends suggest a revival of the term though.
> The people who do the "*nix" cargo cult thing have never seen a SunOS machine and don't even know what a HPUX is.
The meaning of words evolve over time though. Text is still broken into lines by "carriage return/line feeds" and is written on "hard disk" split up in "sectors".,. Over time people using these would not have seen a typewriter or even know what a platter is but may still use it to communicate effectively.
Illumos is still actively developed, open source, and can trace its lineage back to actual unix.
For that matter, we've had new members joining the family over the years; https://www.redox-os.org/ is, in their own words, "a complete Unix-like microkernel-based operating system written in Rust, with a focus on security, reliability and safety."
It’s arguably Nix and NixOS who have unnecessarily stepped into the “*nix” namespace without adding a distinguishing prefix.