Simple processes that perform a well-defined job. Programs which can be easily modified by people other than the developer. Composable pieces. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unix_philosophy.
Perhaps it was "too unix". Too simple processes performing too narrowly specified jobs. It made the whole apparatus difficult to put into operation because of all the moving parts. It'd be like a precision watch that keeps great time, but if somebody just handed you a box of 300 springs and gears, you'd probably prefer a quartz crystal.
By that description, no popular software was working 'the UNIX way' in the '90s and '00s. I avoiding dealing with the abominations of Sendmail and Named for that reason.
