Re: In & Under

[Stephen Victor <svictor -at- LGC -dot- COM>]

> Douglas Thayer wrote:
> >      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?

> I believe you have to think of operating systems like governments.
> (By analogy, the OS could be thought of as the computer's government, I
 guess.)
> For example, you would say "Taxes were raised under the Reagan
 administration."
> Using "in" instead of "under" would not have the same meaning.
> The same idea applies when talking about software working a particular
> way "under Unix" or "under Windows".

Hmmmm...since "Reagan administration" refers either to the group of officials
 making up the Reagan government or to the period of time in which Reagan was
 president, I would choose the pronouns "by" or "during" rather than "under" in
 your example sentence. To use your analogy of operating systems to governments,
 you could more correctly say "Ed Meese served as Attorney General in the Reagan
 Administration," thereby equating Meese and XXX. :)

> --
> Glenda Jeffrey                                     Email: jeffrey -at- hks -dot- com
> Hibbitt, Karlsson & Sorensen, Inc                  Phone: 401-727-4200
> 1080 Main St.                                      Fax:   401-727-4208
> Pawtucket, RI 02860



Again, my two cents' worth...

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Stephen P. Victor                                               svictor -at- lgc -dot- com
Landmark Graphics Corporation                http://www.cda.ulpgc.es/steve.html
15150 Memorial Drive
Houston, TX 77009 USA
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