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 2a885b81 for ; Thu, 16 Jan 2020 04:37:32 +0000 (UTC) Received: by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix, from userid 112) id 800139BFF9; Thu, 16 Jan 2020 14:37:31 +1000 (AEST) Received: from minnie.tuhs.org (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 8DDDA93DDD; Thu, 16 Jan 2020 14:37:01 +1000 (AEST) Received: by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix, from userid 112) id A13E493DDD; Thu, 16 Jan 2020 14:35:36 +1000 (AEST) Received: from cfcl.com (cpepool4cmts2-144.sanbrunocable.com [24.143.248.144]) by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 1FA8393D06 for ; Thu, 16 Jan 2020 14:35:36 +1000 (AEST) Received: from spot.local (spot.local [IPv6:fe80::d8:1da:d97:e8f9]) by cfcl.com (Postfix) with ESMTP id F21C97EC269; Wed, 15 Jan 2020 20:26:57 -0800 (PST) From: Rich Morin Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Mime-Version: 1.0 (Mac OS X Mail 13.0 \(3608.40.2.2.4\)) Date: Wed, 15 Jan 2020 20:26:57 -0800 Message-Id: <633DAB15-0F13-425E-9600-1125308C9E6A@cfcl.com> To: tuhs@minnie.tuhs.org X-Mailer: Apple Mail (2.3608.40.2.2.4) Subject: [TUHS] introduction and sales pitch... 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: , Errors-To: tuhs-bounces@minnie.tuhs.org Sender: "TUHS" I just found out about TUHS today; I plan to skim the archives RSN to = get some context. Meanwhile, this note is a somewhat long-winded = introduction, followed by a (non-monetary) sales pitch. I think some of = the introduction may be interesting and/or relevant to the pitch, but = YMMV... Introduction In 1970, I was introduced to programming by a cabal of social science = professors at SF State College. They had set up a lab space with a few = IBM 2741 (I/O Selectric) terminals, connected by dedicated lines to = Stanford's Wylbur system. I managed to wangle a spot as a student = assistant and never looked back. I also played a tiny bit with a PDP-12 = in a bio lab and ran one (1) program on SFSC's "production system", an = IBM 1620 Mark II (yep; it's a computer...). While a student, I actually got paid to work with a CDC 3150, a DEC = PDP-15, and (once) on an IBM 360/30. After that, I had some Real Jobs: = assembler on a Varian 620i and a PDP-11, COBOL on an IBM mainframe, = Fortran on assorted CDC and assorted DEC machines, etc. By the late 80's, my personal computers were a pair of aging LSI-11's, = running RT-11. At work (Naval Research Lab, in DC), I was mostly using = TOPS-10 and Vax/VMS. I wanted to upgrade my home system and knew that I = wanted all the cool stuff: a bit-mapped screen, multiprocessing, virtual = memory, etc. There was no way I could afford to buy this sort of setup from DEC, but = my friend Jim Joyce had been telling me about Unix for a few years, so I = attended the Boston USENIX in 1982 (sharing a cheap hotel room with Dick = Karpinski :-) and wandered around looking at the workstation offerings. = I made a bet on Sun (buying stock would have been far more lucrative, = but also more risky and less fun) and ended up buying Sun #285 from John = Gage. At one point, John was wandering around Sun, asking for a slogan that = Sun could use on a conference button to indicate how they differed from = the competition. I suggested "The Joy of Unix", which he immediately = adopted. This decision wasn't totally appreciated by some USENIX = attendees from Murray Hill, who printed up (using troff, one presumes) = and wore individualized paper badges proclaiming themselves as "The = of Unix". Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery... = (bows) IIRC, I received my Sun-1 late in a week (of course :-), but managed to = set it up with fairly little pain. I got some help on the weekend from = someone named Bill, who happened to be in the office on the weekend ... = seemed quite competent ... I ran for a position on the Sun User Group = board, saying that I would try to protect the interests of the "smaller" = users. I think I was able to do some good in that position, not least = because I was able to get John Gilmore and the Sun lawyers to agree on a = legal notice, edit some SUGtapes, etc. Later on, I morphed this effort into Prime Time Freeware, which produced = book/CD collections of what is now called Open Source software. Back = when there were trade magazines, I also wrote a few hundred articles for = Unix Review, SunExpert, etc. Of course, I continue to play (happily) = with computers... Perkify If you waded through all of that introduction, you'll have figured out = that I'm a big fan of making libre software more available, usable, etc. = This actually leads into Perkify, one of my current projects. Perkify = is (at heart) a blind-friendly virtual machine, based on Ubuntu, = Vagrant, and VirtualBox. As you might expect, it has a strong emphasis = on text-based programs, which Unix (and Linux) have in large quantities. However, Perkify's charter has expanded quite a bit. At some point, I = realized that (within limits) there was very little point to worrying = about how big the Vagrant "box" became. After all, a couple of dozen GB = of storage is no longer an issue, and having a big VM on the disk (or = even running) doesn't slow anything down. So, the current distro weighs = in at about 10 GB and 4,000 or so APT packages (mostly brought in as = dependencies or recommendations). Think of it as "a well-equipped = workshop, just down the hall". For details, see: - = http://pa.cfcl.com/item?key=3DAreas/Content/Overviews/Perkify_Intro/main.t= oml - = http://pa.cfcl.com/item?key=3DAreas/Content/Overviews/Perkify_Index/main.t= oml Sales Pitch I note that assorted folks on this list are trying to dig up copies of = Ken's Space Travel program. Amusingly, I was making the same search = just the other day. However, finding software that can be made to run = on Ubuntu is only part of the challenge I face; I also need to come up = APT (or whatever) packages that Just Work when I add them to the = distribution. So, here's the pitch. Help me (and others) to create packages for use = in Perkify and other Debian-derived distros. The result will be = software that has reliable repos, distribution, etc. It may also help = the code to live on after you and I are no longer able (or simply = interested enough) to keep it going. -r