From: ggm@algebras.org (George Michaelson)
Subject: [TUHS] 2018: eighteen months to the Unix 50th anniversary
Date: Wed, 10 Jan 2018 15:23:04 +1000 [thread overview]
Message-ID: <CAKr6gn3Cr4mcuxyE9+r=Q1rffpE5-TvsVdfePDw+u+F-c-5=6g@mail.gmail.com> (raw)
In-Reply-To: <CANCZdfojZpZMk4Cu-gy2_XX_6gySCg67xEMx_-sZtoU5dATTkQ@mail.gmail.com>
I'm probably a bit of a simpleton about this stuff. I feel like my
engagement with UNIX has been a succession of mind-blown moments.
1978: shown a piped command. mind blown. What.The.Holy.Hell. I cannot
understand this. I entered the room with punched cards. How does this
even work.
1979: shown how to write macros. mind blown.
This.Is.Not.A.Program.This.is.a.meta.program. What reads this? a pre
processor. whats that. mind officially blown. I cannot understand.
WHERE IS MY CODE
1981: made to read about the design of the IBM 360 monotonically
rising clock. mind blown. How.Can.Every.Computer.Not.Have.Had.This.
What does time even mean? what is negative time? Whats the granularity
of time? I DONT UNDERSTAND WHY I DONT UNDERSTAND
1982: I start work on systems where I have su privilege and can change
the time. Mind blown I.Can.Tell.Lies.About.Time How come? How come
there isn't some magic once-only pass through hardware abacus
rat-in-a-cage machine I can't lie about ITS ALL LIES mind blown.
1984: I start doing NTP and see emails from Dave Mills. Mind blown.
He.Is.Not.Typing.English.As.I.Understand.It.This.Is.The.Goon.Show mind
blown. But.. in a good way. People can make fun of themselves and
write real code? Time is fuzzy? Time has properties? People are
thinking about 2039? Mind blown. I don't even believe I will be alive
in 2039 given "star wars" and "protect and survive"
I really like 1/1/1970. its been like a constant in my life. If it
turned out to be 1969 I'd be ok but I have to say.. a bit .. somewhere
inside.. a small squirrel inside Searles 'chinese box' is saying...
mind... blown...
next prev parent reply other threads:[~2018-01-10 5:23 UTC|newest]
Thread overview: 19+ messages / expand[flat|nested] mbox.gz Atom feed top
2018-01-09 0:30 Warren Toomey
2018-01-09 0:39 ` Dave Horsfall
2018-01-09 2:16 ` Noel Hunt
2018-01-09 2:38 ` Dave Horsfall
2018-01-09 7:30 ` Kevin Bowling
2018-01-09 18:09 ` Warner Losh
2018-01-10 3:34 ` Greg 'groggy' Lehey
2018-01-10 4:11 ` Warner Losh
2018-01-10 5:23 ` George Michaelson [this message]
2018-01-10 6:25 ` Kevin Bowling
2018-01-10 6:53 ` Greg 'groggy' Lehey
2018-01-10 10:57 ` Warren Toomey
2018-01-10 16:53 ` Grant Taylor
2018-01-10 13:23 ` Andy Kosela
2018-01-10 23:48 ` Dave Horsfall
2018-01-11 0:06 ` George Michaelson
2018-01-11 22:08 ` Robert Brockway
2018-01-11 1:22 Noel Chiappa
2018-01-11 21:45 ` Clem Cole
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