Editing RSX-11 (section)

===Name and origins===
RSX-11 began as a port to the PDP-11 architecture of the earlier [[RSX-15]] operating system for the [[PDP-15]] minicomputer,<ref name="cutler-interview">{{cite interview |last=Cutler|first=Dave|subject-link=Dave Cutler|interviewer=Grant Saviers|title=Dave Cutler Oral History|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29RkHH-psrY |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/29RkHH-psrY| archive-date=2021-12-11 |url-status=live|publisher=Computer History Museum|date=2016-02-25|website=youtube.com|access-date=2021-02-26}}{{cbignore}}</ref> first released in 1971.<ref>RSX-15 release date taken  from:{{cite web
 |url=http://bitsavers.trailing-edge.com/pdf/dec/pdp15/DEC-15-GRQA-D_RSX15_1971.pdf
 |title= RSX-15 Real Time Executive reference manual
 |publisher=Digital Equipment Corporation
 |date=1971
 |access-date= 4 December 2017
 }}</ref>
The main architect for RSX-15 (later renamed XVM/RSX) was Dennis “Dan” Brevik.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.miim.com/faq/general.shtml|title=General FAQ|website=www.miim.com|access-date=2019-12-10}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
 |url          = http://www.demillar.com/RSX/lacroute.pdf
 |title        = Reference letter for Dan Brevick
 |last         = Lacroute
 |first        = Bernard
 |date         = 3 May 1982
 |language     = en
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20050118011030/http://www.demillar.com/RSX/lacroute.pdf
 |archive-date = 18 January 2005
 |url-status   = dead
 |access-date  = 4 December 2017
}}</ref>

Commenting on the ''RSX'' acronym, Brevik says:<ref>{{cite web
| url=http://www.miim.com/faq/general.shtml
| title=RSX FAQ, General
| access-date=4 December 2017}}</ref>
{{Blockquote
|text="At first I called the new system DEX-15.  It was an acronym for 'Digital's Executive - for the PDP-15.'  The homonymic relation between DEC, DEX and deques (used as the primary linkage mechanism in the kernel) appealed to my sense of whimsy.  People readily adopted the acronym without question.

	But in a short time I was asked to submit the choice to the corporate legal department for a trademark search and registration.  They sent me a memo that DEX was already trademarked by some paper company and I would have to rename the product.  I pointed out to them that software and paper mills didn't seem to have a hell of a lot of connection, but they wouldn't budge.

	So I sat down with pencil and paper, and in a few moments came up with better than a dozen candidate acronyms and names.  My purpose was to come up with a good acronym and then find some appropriate words to justify it.  For example, X always appealed to me as part of an acronym because it is pronounced so forcefully, inferring (at least to me) some power and drama.  I used a lot of X's.  These potential acronyms were submitted back to the legal department.  At the time I had no favorite.
	
In a week or so they came back with a subset of my list that they could accept as trademarks.  It was left to me to make the final choice.
	
Bob Decker and I met in my office one afternoon to discuss the choice.  Bob was a marketeer who worked for me.  I chalked all the candidates on the blackboard and we started going through them one by one, pronouncing each out loud, savoring the sound, trying to get the feel of each one.  After ten minutes or so we had narrowed down the selection to three.
	
Bob sat back in silence as I kept looking at each acronym, seeing how it flowed off my tongue, what impression it gave me, and most importantly, the overall feeling about it.  After three or four minutes a strong feeling came over me about one of them.  It really felt right.  I looked at Bob and announced, "It's RSX".  I went to the board and erased all the rest until the only writing left was RSX.  It even looked right.
	
I have absolutely no memory about the other candidate acronyms.  They are lost forever, I suppose.  Well, maybe there's just a chance that the legal department kept copies of the correspondence - after all they are lawyers and they seem to hold on to everything (especially my money).
	
Oh, by the way, the acronym stood for 'Real-Time System Executive.'  Years later that was changed to 'Resource Sharing Executive,' which I think is even better.

...And that is how RSX got its name, on the 3rd floor of building 5 in the old mill."|sign=|source=}}