Re: In and under

[Beverly Parks <bparks -at- HUACHUCA-EMH1 -dot- ARMY -dot- MIL>]

Douglas Thayer asks-->
   My colleague has posed the following questions, for which I have no
   authoritative answer:

   In the sentence, "XXX runs in the Windows environment and under UNIX,"
   is there any difference in usage between "in" and "under"? Could these
   be swapped without affecting the meaning of the sentence?
==================

This still isn't an authoritative answer, but the question is
intriguing, so I'll donate my two cents.

An environment is defined as "surroundings." Because
surroundings are something you are in (a part of?), you cannot
be under them or on them. For that reason, I think to operate
*in* an environment is more correct than under one.

If we substitute UNIX for what it is--an operating system (or:
system)--I think we can apply the same logic (convoluted though
it may be). If you were to say something was operating *in* a
system, that implies to me that the something is actually _part_
of the system. However, if the system is controlling you (or it)
in some way, then you are operating under [the purview of] that
system.

Ergo, "in" and "under" can not be swapped in the example
provided.

Bev Parks
Parks School of Unconventional Logic

    =*=  Beverly Parks =*= bparks -at- huachuca-emh1 -dot- army -dot- mil  =*=
   =*=  "Unless otherwise stated, all comments are my own. =*=
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