From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Return-Path: X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.2 (2018-09-13) on inbox.vuxu.org X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-0.8 required=5.0 tests=HEADER_FROM_DIFFERENT_DOMAINS, MAILING_LIST_MULTI,RCVD_IN_DNSWL_NONE autolearn=ham autolearn_force=no version=3.4.2 Received: from minnie.tuhs.org (minnie.tuhs.org [45.79.103.53]) by inbox.vuxu.org (OpenSMTPD) with ESMTP id 9934caed for ; Mon, 26 Aug 2019 23:37:21 +0000 (UTC) Received: by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix, from userid 112) id 248309BB7B; Tue, 27 Aug 2019 09:37:20 +1000 (AEST) Received: from minnie.tuhs.org (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 9BD2B9B4F3; Tue, 27 Aug 2019 09:37:07 +1000 (AEST) Received: by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix, from userid 112) id 82EB69B4F3; Tue, 27 Aug 2019 09:37:05 +1000 (AEST) Received: from mcvoy.com (mcvoy.com [192.169.23.250]) by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 3F5479B4F2 for ; Tue, 27 Aug 2019 09:37:05 +1000 (AEST) Received: by mcvoy.com (Postfix, from userid 3546) id C050135E0A8; Mon, 26 Aug 2019 16:37:04 -0700 (PDT) Date: Mon, 26 Aug 2019 16:37:04 -0700 From: Larry McVoy To: Warner Losh Message-ID: <20190826233704.GR13570@mcvoy.com> References: <13c5c36e-c84d-e020-d09e-51c8c502dc6d@kilonet.net> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline In-Reply-To: User-Agent: Mutt/1.5.24 (2015-08-30) Subject: Re: [TUHS] If not Linux, then what? X-BeenThere: tuhs@minnie.tuhs.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.26 Precedence: list List-Id: The Unix Heritage Society mailing list List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Cc: TUHS main list Errors-To: tuhs-bounces@minnie.tuhs.org Sender: "TUHS" On Mon, Aug 26, 2019 at 05:27:14PM -0600, Warner Losh wrote: > On Mon, Aug 26, 2019, 5:14 PM Arthur Krewat wrote: > > > > > https://linux.slashdot.org/story/19/08/26/0051234/celebrating-the-28th-anniversary-of-the-linux-kernel > > > > Leaving licensing and copyright issues out of this mental exercise, what > > would we have now if it wasn't for Linux? Not what you'd WANT it to be, > > although that can add to the discussion, but what WOULD it be? > > > > I'm not asking as a proponent of Linux. If anything, I was dragged > > kicking and screaming into the current day and have begrudgingly ceded > > my server space to Linux. > > > > But if not for Linux, would it be BSD? A System V variant? Or (the > > horror) Windows NT? > > BSD was in decent enough shape at the time to run on PCs. Though it > fragmented early through no fault of Linux. And the AT&T lawsuit created a > lot of FUD in the area without actually protecting System V. It's unclear > if another thing would have popped up to fill the void... Linux flourished > in the confusion, but without it, it's hard to know if something else would > have been developed before the AT&T lawsuit settled. I've always wondered what would have happened if Sun had open sourced SunOS, I think it stood a pretty good chance of winning. Shoulda, woulda, coulda.