# What is SSH

The **Unix philosophy**, originated by [Ken Thompson](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Thompson), is a set of cultural norms and philosophical approaches to [minimalist](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minimalism_(computing)), [modular](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modularity_(programming)) [software development](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_development). It is based on the experience of leading developers of the [Unix](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unix) [operating system](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operating_system). Early Unix developers were important in bringing the concepts of modularity and reusability into software engineering practice, spawning a "[software tools](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_tools)" movement. Over time, the leading developers of Unix (and programs that ran on it) established a set of cultural norms for developing software; these norms became as important and influential as the technology of Unix itself, and have been termed the "Unix philosophy."

The Unix philosophy emphasizes building simple, compact, clear, modular, and [extensible](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extensibility) code that can be easily maintained and repurposed by developers other than its creators. The Unix philosophy favors [composability](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Composability) as opposed to [monolithic design](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monolithic_application).