The Jargon File (version 4.4.7, 29 Dec 2003):
HP-SUX
/H?P suhks/, n.
Unflattering hackerism for HP-UX, Hewlett-Packard's Unix port, which
features some truly unique bogosities in the filesystem internals and
elsewhere (these occasionally create portability problems). HP-UX is often
referred to as ?hockey-pux? inside HP, and one respondent claims that the
proper pronunciation is /H?P ukkkhhhh/ as though one were about to spit.
Another such alternate spelling and pronunciation is ?H-PUX? /H-puhks/.
Hackers at HP/Apollo (the former Apollo Computers which was swallowed by HP
in 1989) have been heard to complain that Mr. Packard should have pushed to
have his name first, if for no other reason than the greater eloquence of
the resulting acronym. See sun-stools, Slowlaris.
The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (30 December 2018):
HP-SUX
/H-P suhks/ An unflattering
hackerism for HP-UX which features some truly unique
bogosities in the file system internals and elsewhere (these
occasionally create portability problems). HP-UX is often
referred to as "hockey-pux" inside HP, and one respondent
claims that the proper pronunciation is /H-P ukkkhhhh/ as
though one were about to spit. Another such alternate
spelling and pronunciation is "H-PUX" /H-puhks/. Hackers at
HP/Apollo (the former Apollo Computers which was swallowed by
HP in 1989) have been heard to complain that Mr. Packard
should have pushed to have his name first, if for no other
reason than the greater eloquence of the resulting acronym.
Compare AIDX, buglix, Telerat, Open DeathTrap,
ScumOS, sun-stools.
[Jargon File]
(1997-05-12)