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 34d09f62 for ; Fri, 17 Jan 2020 16:41:14 +0000 (UTC) Received: by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix, from userid 112) id AE2A09C0FC; Sat, 18 Jan 2020 02:41:13 +1000 (AEST) Received: from minnie.tuhs.org (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 723059C0F8; Sat, 18 Jan 2020 02:38:56 +1000 (AEST) Received: by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix, from userid 112) id D65079B842; Sat, 18 Jan 2020 02:38:53 +1000 (AEST) X-Greylist: delayed 2212 seconds by postgrey-1.36 at minnie.tuhs.org; Sat, 18 Jan 2020 02:38:47 AEST Received: from bagheera.alchemistowl.org (bagheera.alchemistowl.org [185.15.93.23]) by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 3F2319B842 for ; Sat, 18 Jan 2020 02:38:47 +1000 (AEST) X-Virus-Scanned: amavisd-new at bagheera.alchemistowl.org Received: from eolo.darkpackets.org (bisenoire.darkpackets.org [77.109.165.38]) (authenticated bits=0) by bagheera.alchemistowl.org (8.16.0.41/8.16.0.29) with ESMTPSA id 00HG1liw063976 (version=TLSv1.2 cipher=ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384 bits=256 verify=FAIL) for ; Fri, 17 Jan 2020 16:01:48 GMT From: Arrigo Triulzi Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Mime-Version: 1.0 (Mac OS X Mail 12.4 \(3445.104.11\)) Message-Id: Date: Fri, 17 Jan 2020 17:01:47 +0100 To: The Eunuchs Historic Society X-Mailer: Apple Mail (2.3445.104.11) Subject: [TUHS] On the origins of Linux - "an academic question" 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 originally asked the following on Twitter which was probably not the = smartest idea] I was recently wondering about the origins of Linux, i.e. Linux Torvalds = doing his MSc and deciding to write Linux (the kernel) for the i386 = because Minix did not support the i386 properly. While this is perfectly = understandable I was trying to understand why, as he was in academia, he = did not decide to write a =E2=80=9Cfree X=E2=80=9D for a different X. = The example I picked was Plan 9, simply because I always liked it but X = could be any number of other operating systems which he would have been = exposed to in academia. This all started in my mind because I was = thinking about my friends who were CompSci university students with me = at the time and they were into all sorts of esoteric stuff like = Miranda-based operating systems, building a complete interface builder = for X11 on SunOS including sparkly mouse pointers, etc. (I guess you = could define it as =E2=80=9Cthe usual frivolous MSc projects=E2=80=9D) = and comparing their choices with Linus=E2=80=99. The answers I got varied from =E2=80=9Cthe world needed a free Unix and = BSD was embroiled in the AT&T lawsuit at the time=E2=80=9D to =E2=80=9CPla= n 9 also had a restrictive license=E2=80=9D (to the latter my response = was that =E2=80=9Cso did Unix and that=E2=80=99s why Linus built = Linux!=E2=80=9D) but I don=E2=80=99t feel any of the answers addressed = my underlying question as to what was wrong in the exposure to other = operating systems which made Unix the choice? Personally I feel that if we had a distributed OS now instead of Linux = we=E2=80=99d be better off with the current architecture of the world so = I am sad that "Linux is not Plan 9" which is what prompted the question. Obviously I am most grateful for being able to boot the Mathematics = department=E2=80=99s MS-DOS i486 machines with Linux 0.12 floppy disks = and not having to code Fortran 77 in Notepad followed by eventually = taking over the department with X-Terminals based on Linux connected to = the departmental servers (Sun, DEC Alpha, IBM RS/6000s). Without Linux = they had been running eXeed (sp?) on Windows 3.11! In this respect Linux = definitely filled in a huge gap. Arrigo