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author | mms <michal@sapka.me> | 2024-05-28 22:54:14 +0200 |
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committer | mms <michal@sapka.me> | 2024-05-28 22:54:14 +0200 |
commit | 12b576d58e143b0eabdcb2fde6ec08afa7485878 (patch) | |
tree | 116ecf34709fba44ca7dc7191c55d7a0a63c646e /content/unix-history | |
parent | 5ed3c0a18535270e0dd9a1afa6b120f486203562 (diff) |
feat: unix hist as single art
Diffstat (limited to 'content/unix-history')
-rw-r--r-- | content/unix-history/01_multics.md | 19 | ||||
-rw-r--r-- | content/unix-history/02_unix.md | 19 | ||||
-rw-r--r-- | content/unix-history/_index.md | 204 |
3 files changed, 242 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/content/unix-history/01_multics.md b/content/unix-history/01_multics.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..dd84f34 --- /dev/null +++ b/content/unix-history/01_multics.md @@ -0,0 +1,19 @@ ++++ +title = "History of BSD part I: Multics" +author = ["Michał Sapka"] +date = 2024-03-09T21:03:00+01:00 +categories = ["unix-history"] +draft = false +weight = 1002 +abstract = "BSD history starts with Multics" +shortname = "Part I: Multics" +link = "part-ii-multics" +aliases = ["/bsd/history/01_multics/"] +[menu] + [menu.bsd-history] + weight = 1002 + identifier = "history-of-bsd-part-i-multics" + name = "Multics" ++++ + +I have published new chapter of the Unix History diff --git a/content/unix-history/02_unix.md b/content/unix-history/02_unix.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0100ada --- /dev/null +++ b/content/unix-history/02_unix.md @@ -0,0 +1,19 @@ ++++ +title = "History of BSD part II: Unix" +author = ["Michał Sapka"] +date = 2024-03-16T21:00:00+01:00 +categories = ["unix-history"] +draft = false +weight = 1003 +abstract = "How Unix came to be?" +shortname = "Part II: Unix" +link = "part-ii-unix" +aliases = ["/bsd/history/02_unix/"] +[menu] + [menu.bsd-history] + weight = 1003 + identifier = "history-of-bsd-part-ii-unix" + name = "Unix" ++++ + +I have published new chapter of the Unix History diff --git a/content/unix-history/_index.md b/content/unix-history/_index.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..15ae9e3 --- /dev/null +++ b/content/unix-history/_index.md @@ -0,0 +1,204 @@ ++++ +title = "Unix history" +author = ["Michał Sapka"] +date = 2024-03-09T21:03:00+01:00 +categories = ["bsd"] +draft = false +weight = 1001 +primary_menu = "bsd" +aliases = ["/bsd/history//"] +[menu] + [menu.bsd] + weight = 1001 + identifier = "unix-history" ++++ + +## Part 1: Multics {#part-1-multics} + + +### Origins of time-sharing {#origins-of-time-sharing} + +Let's start our journey back when dinosaurs roamed the earth, engineers wore ties, and Barbie was first gaining popularity - the 60s. +Nowadays, we have grown accustom to companies selling devices at lower profit margins - with most profit coming from software subscriptions. +But 70 years ago it was the complete opposite. +Companies bought expensive computers, huge machines, and what was running on them was of lesser value. +And I really mean _expensive_. +An IBM System/360 Model 20, presented in 1964, could have been bought starting from USD 62,710 (USD 622,626 adjusted for inflation) or rented for USD 1280 (USD 12,708 adjusted)[^fn:1]. +Sellers earned a lot from the devices. +But, naturally, companies making all those investments wanted a nice return. +This led to the creation of _time-sharing_. + +{{< img-c "ibm-360.jpg" "https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/gadgets/5-reasons-love-mad-mens-new-star-ibm-360-n101716" >}} +IBM 360 in an official photoshoot. +{{< /img-c >}} + +This concept seems natural now: multiple processes were able to share computer resources, so multiple applications could run at the same time. +Applications could even run for different users. +Ergo, time-sharing allowed for multi-user multitask processing. +This is in stark contrast to batch-processing, where only a single program would be able to compute at any particular time. +An example of such processing would be EDSAC, the first electronic computer[^fn:2]. +I won't go into detail of time-sharing, but you can read more in "Time sharing in large computers", C. Strachey, 1959. +But what is important here is how it was used. +All computation happened on a single, large server. +End users would use _computer terminals_ which were _multiplexed_ into that server, called a _mainframe_. +What is multiplexing you ask? +Simply said, it's a way to combine different signals into a shared medium. +It was used extensively for land-line telephony, where all signals were transferred over shared wires. + +{{< img-c "edsac.jpg" "https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/analysis/rebuilding-edsac-the-first-real-computer/" >}} +EDSAC, the "first computer". +{{< /img-c >}} + + +### Multics {#multics} + +Let's jump to 1969. + +_Multics (MULTiplexed Information and Computing)_ was an early time-sharing operating system developed by _MIT_, _General Electrics_ and _Bell Labs_. +It pioneered many of innovations which are still widely used in the computing systems of today: hierarchical file system, redirection as interprocess communication, or the existence of a shell[^fn:3], as well as memory pages, memory protection, or the ability for a single machine to use multiple CPUs and memory[^fn:4]. +It was however also huge, both in terms of memory usage (the resident kernel could occupy a huge part of memory living not enough for applications) and code size (it consisted of about 1,5k source modules)[^fn:3]. +_Multics_ was experimental and therefore ambitious, complex - designed by trial and error. +It was delivered late, early on had performance problems, and in 1969 _Bell Labs_ withrew from the project[^fn:5]. + +{{< img-c "multics-login.png" "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multics#/media/File:Multics-Login.png" >}} +Multics login screen. +{{< /img-c >}} + +{{< img-c "thompson-ritchie.jpg" "https://computerhistory.org/blog/discovering-dennis-ritchies-lost-dissertation/" >}} +Ken Thompson and Denis Ritchie. +{{< /img-c >}} + +Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, Douglas McIlroy, and Joe Ossanna, frustrated with their experiences with _Multics_ Operating System are starting to work on their own alternative. +Their work will become one of the most beloved computer products of all time - _UNIX_. +The team armed with previous experience set up to create simple, manageable OS that would still fulfill all the requirements _Multics_ was to fulfill. + +Currently, however, they have problems convincing _Bell Labs_ management to get them a new computer. +This has not stopped them from designing the system on black blackboards and paper. + + +## Part II: Unix {#part-ii-unix} + + +### Bell Labs {#bell-labs} + +Let's pause here and discuss a few things. + +_Bell Labs_ was a research institute founded by no other, but the famous Alexander Graham Bell in 1876. +It is known as one of the most innovative places ever conceived. +It was the birthplace of radio astronomy, the transistor, the laser, the photovoltaic cell, the charge-coupled device (CCD), information theory, and the programming languages B, C, C++, S, SNOBOL, AWK, AMPL, and the UNIX operating system. +The work completed there was awarded 10 times with a Nobel Prize[^fn:6]. + +But it wasn't all pretty. +AT&T (owner of the lab) was _the_ telephone company in the USA. +It had the _de facto_ monopoly for most of the 20th century. +This led to a consent decree with US Government under which AT&T was forbidden to branch out to other markets. +This agreement happened in 1956 and will be very important for our story[^fn:7]. + +Another cool tidbit: back then computer screens as we know them now were yet to be invented. +There were ways for computer to present information on a screen, but it was not feasable to present information back to the user in real time. +The monitor was a separate machine and an _assembly_ code to light up individual pixels would need to be sent every time to it. +If the user wanted to see what the edited document looked like, the only way to achieve that was via a printer. +Try to print a page every few lines - let alone every character. +Even the bravest of the brave would not escape the anger of the finance department. + + +### Getting a computer {#getting-a-computer} + +After this short intermission, let's return to _UNIX_. + +The popular history of _UNIX_ goes as follows: +Ken Thompson finds a PDP-7 microcomputer, starts playing with it and suddenly realizes that he has created a new operating system. + +What he actually wanted to do, was to play a damn game. +A completely reasonable reason to revolutionize the industry if you ask me. + +Ken was a huge fan of _Space Travel_, but it was only available on mainframes. +And since those costed an arm and a leg, end users were paying for time they used. +A single game of _Space Travel_ could cost Ken USD 50-75[^fn:8]. +Luckily, he was able to find a discarded PDP-7 from another department[^fn:7]. + +{{< img-c "space-travel.png" "https://www.uvlist.net/game-164857-Space+Travel" >}} +Space Travel +{{< /img-c >}} + +What the PDP-7 was, was a refrigerator size 18bit monstrosity[^fn:7]. +It was at the time a 5-year-old and obsolete[^fn:5] leftover from an ended research into audio-psychology. +No one cared what would happen to this particular machine. +Have I mentioned just how stinky rich the _Bell Lab_ was? +So, Ken started rewriting the game for that PDP-7 as _GECOS Space Travel_. + +Porting the game proved challenging and difficult to debug, so they developed a system for PDP-7 to make developing the game easier. +This was how _PDP UNIX_ was born[^fn:9]. +A guy wanted to play a god-damn game and now bankrupt in the process[^fn:7] + +Labs management was very happy with this turn of events as _UNIX_ was something to show after the _Multics_ fiasco. +They allowed Ken to get himself a _PDP-11_ and port _UNIX_ to it. +It was a cheaper machine compared to _PDP-7_, but it was also 16bit - which was a nice change. +Officially, the new system would allow for document preparation for patent applications[^fn:5]. +The biggest benefit however was the popularity of this machine - over the next decades it could be seen everywhere across enterprise America. +You can buy a working one from _eBay_ today. +It won't be easy nor cheap, but definitely possible. + +{{< img-c "pdp-7.jpeg" "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PDP-7#/media/File:Pdp7-oslo-2005.jpeg" >}} +PDP-7 +{{< /img-c >}} + +{{< img-c "thompson-ritchie-pdp11.jpg" "https://www.bell-labs.com/institute/blog/invention-unix/" >}} +Ken Thompson and Denis Ritchie working on the legendary PDP-11. +{{< /img-c >}} + + +#### Unix 1 {#unix-1} + +So here we are, November 1971, and _UNIX 1_ for _PDP-11_ is released[^fn:10] + +A year later Ken notes: + +> +> +> [...]the number of UNIX installations has grown to 10, with +> more expected. None of these has exactly the same complement of +> hardware or software. Therefore, at any particular installation, +> it is quite possible that this manual will give inappropriate +> information. [...] Also, not all installations have the latest versions of all the software.'' +> +> -- Unix Programmers Manual, Second Edition. Thompson Ken, Ritchie Denis, 1972 + +Note, that this is 10 mainframes across _Bell Labs_, so user count was significantly higher. + +It's also worth to talk about release cycle. +UNIX was in constant development, and each installation would use current snapshot at the moment of installation. +This is why Ken notes that each part of _UNIX_ could differ between installations. +What is also important is that due to licensing of _UNIX_ (or rather lack of thereof), each installation would be accompanied by full source code. +Administrators were able to modify the system. +Crazy times. + +Still, in June 1972 the 2nd Edition of _UNIX_ was released and every 7–8 months a new release was out. + +In November 1973, a 4th Edition was released, and it was the first one released to Universities. +It made quite the buzz, and first user groups started forming under the _USENIX_ name[^fn:7]. +It's worth to mention that this version was rewritten in C, as previous versions which were created in Assembly +This made it the first portable _UNIX_, as it could be recompiled to any compared, as long as it also had a C compiler[^fn:5]. + +The system was presented by Ken and Denis during the _4th Symposium on Operating System Principles_ the same year, +and a year later Ken and Dennis publish the first paper on _UNIX_ - "The UNIX Time-Sharing System" in the _Communications_ journal of ACM. + +{{< img-c "unix-tech-journal.jpg" "https://leancrew.com/all-this/2011/10/dennis-ritchie-unix-and-clarity/" >}} +Bell System Technical Journal cover. +{{< /img-c >}} + +The word was out and _UNIX_ became known outside of _Bell Labs_. + +In the next episode of History of BSD: the scariest creature of them all. +Lawyers. + +[^fn:1]: [IBM 360 Model 20 Rescue and Restoration: Machine Overview](https://ibms360.co.uk/?p=902) +[^fn:2]: [First Operating System -- Part One](http://blog.wovenmemories.net/2023/10/30/First.Operating.System_Part.1.html) +[^fn:3]: [Multics --- {W}ikipedia{,} The Free Encyclopedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multics) +[^fn:4]: [Mark Allen - Before Unix: An Early History of Timesharing Systems](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYb6WqWBTE0) +[^fn:5]: [The early days of Unix at Bell Labs - Brian Kernighan (LCA 2022 Online)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECCr_KFl41E) +[^fn:6]: [Bell Labs --- {W}ikipedia{,} The Free Encyclopedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell_Labs) +[^fn:7]: [The hidden early history of unix the forgotten history of early unix](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuzeagzqwrs) +[^fn:8]: [UVL](https://www.uvlist.net/game-164857-Space+Travel) +[^fn:9]: [Living Computer Museum](https://livingcomputers.org/Blog/Restoring-UNIX-v0-on-a-PDP-7-A-look-behind-the-sce.aspx) has a real PDP-7 running _PDP Unix_ if want to chek it. +[^fn:10]: The 50th anniversary of this event was very big for a small group of fans. |