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=-0.7 required=5.0 tests=HEADER_FROM_DIFFERENT_DOMAINS, MAILING_LIST_MULTI,PLING_QUERY,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 cb9f7df1 for ; Fri, 11 Oct 2019 17:21:15 +0000 (UTC) Received: by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix, from userid 112) id 3A9B39B8D1; Sat, 12 Oct 2019 03:21:14 +1000 (AEST) Received: from minnie.tuhs.org (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id CBF69946B9; Sat, 12 Oct 2019 03:21:00 +1000 (AEST) Received: by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix, from userid 112) id 400B8946B9; Sat, 12 Oct 2019 03:20:59 +1000 (AEST) Received: from mcvoy.com (mcvoy.com [192.169.23.250]) by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id EE63193DBB; Sat, 12 Oct 2019 03:20:58 +1000 (AEST) Received: by mcvoy.com (Postfix, from userid 3546) id 9B43335E134; Fri, 11 Oct 2019 10:20:58 -0700 (PDT) Date: Fri, 11 Oct 2019 10:20:58 -0700 From: Larry McVoy To: Jim Geist Message-ID: <20191011172058.GC3783@mcvoy.com> References: <20191010205546.GA29154@minnie.tuhs.org> 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] What was your "Aha, Unix!" moment? 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: The Eunuchs Hysterical Society Errors-To: tuhs-bounces@minnie.tuhs.org Sender: "TUHS" On Fri, Oct 11, 2019 at 01:13:37PM -0400, Jim Geist wrote: > My college had a big schism between the computer services department that > serviced the whole school -- they ran an IBM 4341 with VM/SP -- and the > actual computer science department that ran UNIX on a VAX-11/780. Undergrad > classes were mostly on the mainframe and grad students used the VAX. I > learned C on the mainframe but was able to talk my way into a UNIX account > and started seeing how much more elegant things were. Our CS department had a mainframe as well, also a handful of 11/750s and 11/780s. The compiler class was taught on the mainframe, the prof had a lex/yacc clone he had written and wanted us to use that. My buddy Rob Netzer and I had 3B1 (Unix PC) or maybe 2, I think I had one as well, and we asked the prof if we could do the class on those. Rob had to write the lex/yacc clone to be compat with the profs, he did and we happily avoided using the mainframe. We were very sold on Unix by then.