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 34d00948 for ; Thu, 10 Oct 2019 23:35:35 +0000 (UTC) Received: by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix, from userid 112) id 20C1E9B844; Fri, 11 Oct 2019 09:35:34 +1000 (AEST) Received: from minnie.tuhs.org (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 1E1E294703; Fri, 11 Oct 2019 09:35:21 +1000 (AEST) Received: by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix, from userid 112) id E5F7594703; Fri, 11 Oct 2019 09:35:20 +1000 (AEST) Received: from mail.bitblocks.com (ns1.bitblocks.com [173.228.5.8]) by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id D6DB293DBB for ; Fri, 11 Oct 2019 09:35:19 +1000 (AEST) Received: from mob.bitblocks.com (mob.bitblocks.com [192.168.125.11]) by mail.bitblocks.com (Postfix) with ESMTP id 9E40A156E80B for ; Thu, 10 Oct 2019 16:35:12 -0700 (PDT) From: Bakul Shah Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Mime-Version: 1.0 (Mac OS X Mail 12.4 \(3445.104.11\)) Date: Thu, 10 Oct 2019 16:35:12 -0700 References: <20191010205546.GA29154@minnie.tuhs.org> To: The Eunuchs Hysterical Society In-Reply-To: <20191010205546.GA29154@minnie.tuhs.org> Message-Id: <91EB49CE-EF4F-4F0D-9734-2710ABC84E2F@bitblocks.com> X-Mailer: Apple Mail (2.3445.104.11) 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: , Errors-To: tuhs-bounces@minnie.tuhs.org Sender: "TUHS" On Oct 10, 2019, at 1:55 PM, Warren Toomey wrote: > > All, we had another dozen TUHS suscribers to the list overnight. Welcome. > A reminder that we're here to discuss Unix Heritage, so I'll nudge you > if the conversation goes a bit off-topic. > > So I'll kick off another thread. What was your "ahah" moment when you > first saw that Unix was special, especially compared to the systems you'd > previously used? > > Mine was: Oh, I can: > + write a simple script > + to edit a file on the fly > + with no temporary files (a la pipes) > + AND I can change the file suffix and the system won't stop me! > > I was using TOPS-20 beforehand. > > Cheers, Warren Being an OS student I had read "The Unix Timesharing System" paper by Ritchie and Thompson and had wanted to use Unix years before I actually had the chance. I don't remember an "Aha!" moment but I took to it like a duck to water. Most everything felt just so comfortable and right. It was very much as I had imagined it to be. Prior to it I had used TSO, TOPS-10, VM/CMS and VMS. And CP/M @home.