From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Return-Path: X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.4 (2020-01-24) on inbox.vuxu.org X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-0.8 required=5.0 tests=DKIM_ADSP_CUSTOM_MED, DKIM_INVALID,DKIM_SIGNED,FREEMAIL_FORGED_FROMDOMAIN,FREEMAIL_FROM, HEADER_FROM_DIFFERENT_DOMAINS,HTML_MESSAGE,MAILING_LIST_MULTI autolearn=ham autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 Received: from minnie.tuhs.org (minnie.tuhs.org [50.116.15.146]) by inbox.vuxu.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 15FFE2F49D for ; Wed, 4 Dec 2024 14:06:11 +0100 (CET) Received: from minnie.tuhs.org (localhost [IPv6:::1]) by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id E97F143CD6; Wed, 4 Dec 2024 23:06:05 +1000 (AEST) Received: from mail-ej1-x62f.google.com (mail-ej1-x62f.google.com [IPv6:2a00:1450:4864:20::62f]) by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 7514C43CD4 for ; Wed, 4 Dec 2024 23:05:59 +1000 (AEST) Received: by mail-ej1-x62f.google.com with SMTP id a640c23a62f3a-aa51b8c5f4dso943874766b.2 for ; Wed, 04 Dec 2024 05:05:59 -0800 (PST) DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=gmail.com; s=20230601; t=1733317557; x=1733922357; darn=tuhs.org; h=cc:to:subject:message-id:date:from:in-reply-to:references :mime-version:from:to:cc:subject:date:message-id:reply-to; bh=F+nJ3oI+8cBZTjXNnndrs7XUTCvieal3nPbb6zzaKUM=; b=d7XwPHxCvzzwON8+VBq2x73np+t0bYwcqaOhXT57VgeRviLs6GEdFhB8D6/P+/IMfK Clb+ieVEFEmtcYicmB44F22t0Hg+23cgDX2Ej/CPUR2rmSuDI5+zC3hzjRfuQLYZGXMU Fl3Q+VBdpuTfoPw5agHpHi/jtv4WK1vZnNeUBVbpsPYqd1VAq3rzVmRNusdkyh51wnfo dWJHft6s/b1nviL9zwWHYxyDTimWgUu13eH3ZJKDS4qyVIYf8bhxRA7CcMNl8xqyfmLc 3C1S7M9yoVaSIkwhCtCOGBSvj7JQe97CsVVEYi6cnREOZVKGOAerMssVJCYlUbsKmD0s qY6w== X-Google-DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=1e100.net; s=20230601; t=1733317557; x=1733922357; h=cc:to:subject:message-id:date:from:in-reply-to:references :mime-version:x-gm-message-state:from:to:cc:subject:date:message-id :reply-to; bh=F+nJ3oI+8cBZTjXNnndrs7XUTCvieal3nPbb6zzaKUM=; b=FUqTZlVGm8OATV6ZJuBauwaUv/9XWkd9fTT9HEazG+tA/jy7NpGYFsHEJ+1adbsCoK kwWa/KSWMva2rKp7PoEUsLjm8AO/x2KurOLMA93M9Xd4lS8x94blRTw6lHE1G/Sfy8ga LCKSgJxm1MMa3EpzST39HkQ93y66C+vV+pntVS1/ye8WLDeEf28pfIjqHwAmJWQ38/xV w76gWlBmZx9wEhjOGPT8ab2mJy/KBepzCARKlXI1sTyPN1jMQMYlkTEB6gtO+JEmMKaQ joNrVNmy36Ca6chmU32HHQEQSBKSCR4lZ03jZIMboKQejVasuM7ffBIZM/pb85tRV7eG LMGA== X-Gm-Message-State: AOJu0YzZjdqCy6hdTnhvmlS2/IIdOAABgtgihyfi5cgEr7VtMY5loTgV k3P0r9C9rsjvuMl8sVxXCjw7B+3Q8IPUFUbN7x5yQ6di20uEdFljtoyKmFWQPSnpDLWT8JhDNGl aRdOfqzs02zbNfDNsReUg0mf/EyedYg== X-Gm-Gg: ASbGncvP3lzzKixXuWWCTT3P2w52F2THJQoV5VZBReJQrnaoVqDH7gZ9P+GooQLkJ7E UMalq2Xx+hK5zmtwMD8P2hwILLXZvv8La X-Google-Smtp-Source: AGHT+IHTQXvNzvzRoUcRaZ+mlaAF5SD7WsZxJ+/Gj7InefsokYDiL//X5BC6BqqeBh8IitlzU4aONRgvcHPm8At0l6c= X-Received: by 2002:a17:906:308f:b0:aa5:241a:dc71 with SMTP id a640c23a62f3a-aa5f7eedff9mr447809366b.41.1733317556992; Wed, 04 Dec 2024 05:05:56 -0800 (PST) MIME-Version: 1.0 References: <568FD44F-01FB-441B-846B-7D42C3A8E1FB@canb.auug.org.au> In-Reply-To: <568FD44F-01FB-441B-846B-7D42C3A8E1FB@canb.auug.org.au> From: Marc Donner Date: Wed, 4 Dec 2024 08:05:45 -0500 Message-ID: To: sjenkin@canb.auug.org.au Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="00000000000044846b0628717163" Message-ID-Hash: HMKH77RODRDGJSIXRGLLOQG6TFHHKSZO X-Message-ID-Hash: HMKH77RODRDGJSIXRGLLOQG6TFHHKSZO X-MailFrom: marc.donner@gmail.com X-Mailman-Rule-Misses: dmarc-mitigation; no-senders; approved; emergency; loop; banned-address; member-moderation; header-match-tuhs.tuhs.org-0; nonmember-moderation; administrivia; implicit-dest; max-recipients; max-size; news-moderation; no-subject; digests; suspicious-header CC: TUHS X-Mailman-Version: 3.3.6b1 Precedence: list Subject: [TUHS] Re: After 50 years, what has the Impact of Unix been? List-Id: The Unix Heritage Society mailing list Archived-At: List-Archive: List-Help: List-Owner: List-Post: List-Subscribe: List-Unsubscribe: --00000000000044846b0628717163 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable I would add one more important impact: making data a first class component of the computing environment. With the notion of pipes it became possible to operate on data quickly and flexibly. There was nothing new from a fundamental capability point of view, but the ease with which one could construct pipelines enabled rapid experimentation and encouraged the development of pipe-able components to add to the tool set. I may not have articulated this as well as it deserves. Marc =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D nygeek.net mindthegapdialogs.com/home On Wed, Dec 4, 2024 at 3:43=E2=80=AFAM wrote: > I was looking at the question of =E2=80=9Cimpact of Unix" and thought tha= t: > > initiating (Portable) Open Source Software including the BSD > TCP/IP & Berkeley sockets libraries, > the Unix -> Minix -> Linux -> Android sequence > and BSD -> NeXtstep -> OS/X -> iOS sequence, > plus running the Top 500 supercomputers and most of the Top 500 > websites, > including the infrastructure for trillion dollars companies, > Facebook, Amazon (Netflix uses them), and Google > plus so many embedded Linux / NetBSD based appliances > even going into space - on small experiments or driving SpaceX=E2= =80=99s > Falcon 9 & presumably Starship, > > would be a slam-dunk for =E2=80=9Creally high impact=E2=80=9D > - dominating everywhere important, except Windows desktops. > > Unix wasn=E2=80=99t just a =E2=80=99research project=E2=80=99, it was the= result of years of work > by a team of very capable, professional programmers, > who weren=E2=80=99t looking for kudos or recognition, nor trying to add e= very > conceivable =E2=80=98feature=E2=80=99 possible, but the inverse: > > how _small_ could it be and still be enough. > > When it left the Labs, Unix wasn=E2=80=99t just =E2=80=9CPerformant=E2=80= =9D, it came with a very > useful set of tools for creating other tools (=E2=80=98developing=E2=80= =99) > and while the kernel wasn=E2=80=99t perfect (some =E2=80=98panic=E2=80=99= s), it was of =E2=80=9CProduction > Quality=E2=80=9D. > > For v6, I believe there were patches for 50-100 bugs circulating, perhaps > the first demonstration of =E2=80=9Cno bug is intractable with =E2=80=98m= any eyeballs=E2=80=99=E2=80=9D. > > All that in under 5 years of =E2=80=98development=E2=80=99, with the =E2= =80=9Cinitial release=E2=80=9D > stable & performant enough for cash-strapped Universities > to gamble their reputations & budgets on running it. > Imagine the grief academics would=E2=80=99ve got if their basic teaching = systems > failed continuously! > > This adoption path pushed Unix through another barrier: > > =E2=80=99Security=E2=80=99 - with a lot of bright, bored & curio= us students > banging on it as hard as they could for bragging rights. > > How long, in releases or years, did it take for other O/S=E2=80=99s to hi= t the > =E2=80=9Cvery stable=E2=80=9D benchmark? > > I don=E2=80=99t know enough of Linux to answer that definitively, the *BS= D=E2=80=99s grew > there through usage and contribution, > while Microsoft NT derivates widely suffered =E2=80=9CBlue Screen of Deat= h=E2=80=9D for > years. > > Even now, MS-Windows has serious Security / compromise issues, like the > highly visible, global =E2=80=9CCrowdstrike=E2=80=9D event. > Not a break-in or takeover, but an own-goal from Security perimeter > control. > > =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D > > I now think Unix has had a much larger, direct and important impact > > - the C language and associated tools & libraries > that begat modern toolchains and endless portability > across platforms. > > In 1991, Bill Plauger had a year sabbatical at UNSW in Sydney, > and happened to say : > =E2=80=9CC is wallpaper - people expect it everywhere=E2=80=9D. > > C gained formal recognition with the POSIX standard, satisfying > conservative users / enterprises that it wasn=E2=80=99t the work of a bun= ch of > Hippies or ill-disciplined Hackers. > > Even Microsoft wrote 32-bit Windows NT in C, I presume starting by writin= g > it=E2=80=99s own compiler and toolchain to start. > > Borland, Watcom and many others - including Microsoft - offered (Visual) = C > compile & build environments for Windows, > directly responsible for creating the =E2=80=99shrink-wrap=E2=80=99 third= party software > market that drove sales of Windows and x86 machines. > > Nobody had seen a market for a billion systems before, nor sold 300M+ > CPU=E2=80=99s in a single year. > > People don=E2=80=99t buy Silicon Chips or nice Boxes, they buy Applicatio= ns that > solve their problems: > > Software drives Sales of Hardware > - something that IBM deeply understood first with first the 1401 > line, then 360-series. > > > The other =E2=80=99small=E2=80=99 achievement of C and Unix was creating = the market for > RISC chips. > MIPS in the mid-1980=E2=80=99s was only able to design and build the firs= t > commercial RISC chip > because it knew it could port Unix to it and find an immediate market > - not at zero-cost, but a tiny fraction of what every other Vendo= r > had done before > reinventing the wheel from scratch to provide incompatibl= e > O/S & tools for their hardware. > > Unix on MIPS not only came with a host of proven software, that a large > pool of people knew how to use, > but it arrived as =E2=80=9CProduction Quality=E2=80=9D - the porting team= had to test > their parts - compiler, linker, libraries - hard, but could trust the > existing high-quality codebase. > > In "A New Golden Age for Computer Architecture=E2=80=9D, 2019 by Hennessy= & > Patterson, > make an aside: > > In today's post-PC era, x86 shipments have fallen almost 10% per > year since the peak in 2011, > while chips with RISC processors have skyrocketed to 20 billion. > > Today, 99% of 32-bit and 64-bit processors are RISC. > > i suggest this goes back to PCC followed by the MIPS R2000 - made possibl= e > by Dennis=E2=80=99 C language. > > The 1977 invention of =E2=80=98pcc=E2=80=99 and rewriting of Unix for cro= ss-machine > portability was the first time I=E2=80=99m aware of this being done. > ( Miller @ UoW did a one-off hack, not to devalue his work, he ported, > didn=E2=80=99t invent a multi-target portable compiler ) > > One of the effects of =E2=80=9Cportable C=E2=80=9D was creating whole new= industries for > third party software developers > or enabling niche products, like CISCO routers and the many embedded > devices. > > C and Unix came with the tools to create new languages and new tools. > AWK, sed (!) and shells are obvious examples, with Perl, Python & PHP ver= y > big in Internet of 2000. > > C was a new class of language - a tool to create tools. > It creates a perfect mechanism to bootstrap any new language, tool or > product, > allowing to be refined & used enough to become reliable before being made > self-hosting. > > Very widely used languages such as Python are written in C. > ORACLE achieved its market dominance by providing =E2=80=98portability=E2= =80=99 - exactly > the same on every platform. > Underpinned by portable C. > > The original 1127 team went on to create other systems and languages, > not the least being a new Software Engineering tool, =E2=80=9CGo=E2=80=9D= / golang, > addressing a whole slew of deficiencies in the C/C++ approach and > > We=E2=80=99d have no Internet today without Apache written in C and being= ported > to every environment. > > Also, there=E2=80=99s a connection between C and =E2=80=98modern=E2=80=99= Software Engineering > - distributed Repositories, automated builds & regression tests, and th= e > many toolchains and tools used. > > They tended to be built in C to address problems (Open Source) developers > were finding with existing toolchains. > =E2=80=98make=E2=80=99 arose at Bell Labs to automate builds, along with = PWB and Writers > Workbench. > > There=E2=80=99s two questions / observations about 50 years of C in broad= use: > > - Just how much C is out there and used =E2=80=98in production=E2= =80=99? > > - C is =E2=80=98obviously=E2=80=99 a product of the 1970=E2=80=99= s, not reflecting needs > of modern hardware, networks, storage and systems, > but _what_ can replace it? > > There is simply too much critical code written in C to > convert it to another =E2=80=98better, modern=E2=80=99 language. > Any new language that is a simple 1:1 rewriting of C > cannot address any of the deficiencies, > while any incompatible language requires redesign and > reimplementation of everything - an unachievable goal. > > The Linux Kernel=E2=80=99s =E2=80=9Crust=E2=80=9D project shows the exten= t of the problem > - even with the best team of the best developers, its a mammoth > undertaking, with uncertain payoffs, unquantifiable effort & deadlines. > > My thesis is that portable, standard C: > > - not only co-evolved with other tools & needs to create the > Modern Software Engineering environment, the basis for multiple Trillion > dollar enterprises (FAANG) > but > - drove the biggest, most profitable software market ever seen > (Wintel) > - which drove sales volume of x86 chips (& DRAM, motherboards, > LAN, GPU, monitors, peripherals=E2=80=A6) over 2-3 decades, > - which drove Silicon Valley, paying for new generations of Fabs > and lowering chip prices further & further > - and eventually created the Fabless RISC CPU company, > which in the Post-PC era absolutely dominates chip sales. > > No Software, no Silicon=E2=80=A6 > > Gordon Moore, in an early comment on his 1968 startup with Robert Noyce, > said: > > =E2=80=9Cwe are the real revolutionaries" (vs Hippies & 1967 Summ= er of > Love). > > I think Ken & Dennis [ and 1127/ Bell Labs folk ] can say the same. > > =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D > > I=E2=80=99ve written some notes, with links to Programming Languages, esp= ecially > Jean Sammet=E2=80=99s Histories, > and would like some critiques, suggestions & corrections if people have > time and interest. > > Unix and C are intimately related - neither was possible or useful withou= t > the other. > > i think there=E2=80=99s an interesting article in there, but I=E2=80=99m = not sure I have > what it takes to write it, not in a finite time :) > Very happy to help anyone who does! > > Did-C-lang-create-modern-software-industry.txt > < > https://drive.google.com/file/d/1k936sgqHc-vHBvfCdLoSxFhdT9NaijU2/view?us= p=3Dsharing > > > > steve jenkin > 04 - dec - 2024 > > =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D > -- > Steve Jenkin, IT Systems and Design > 0412 786 915 (+61 412 786 915) > PO Box 38, Kippax ACT 2615, AUSTRALIA > > mailto:sjenkin@canb.auug.org.au http://members.tip.net.au/~sjenkin > > --00000000000044846b0628717163 Content-Type: text/html; charset="UTF-8" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
I would add one more important impact: mak= ing data a first=C2=A0class component of the computing=C2=A0environment.

With the notion of pipes it became possi= ble to operate on data quickly and flexibly.=C2=A0 There was nothing new fr= om a fundamental capability point of view, but the ease with which one coul= d construct pipelines enabled rapid experimentation and encouraged the deve= lopment of pipe-able components to add to the tool set.
I may not have articulated this as well as it deserves.
Marc

On Wed, Dec 4, 2024 at 3:43=E2=80=AFAM <sjenkin@canb.auug.org.au> wrote:
I was looking at the qu= estion of =E2=80=9Cimpact of Unix" and thought that:

=C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 initiating (Portable) Open Source Software incl= uding the BSD TCP/IP & Berkeley sockets libraries,
=C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 the Unix -> Minix -> Linux -> Android = sequence
=C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 and BSD -> NeXtstep -> OS/X -> iOS seq= uence,
=C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 plus running the Top 500 supercomputers and mos= t of the Top 500 websites,
=C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 including the infrastructure for trillion dolla= rs companies, Facebook, Amazon (Netflix uses them), and Google
=C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 plus so many embedded Linux / NetBSD based appl= iances
=C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 even going into space - on small experiments or= driving SpaceX=E2=80=99s Falcon 9 & presumably Starship,

would be a slam-dunk for =E2=80=9Creally high impact=E2=80=9D
=C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 - dominating everywhere important, except Windo= ws desktops.

Unix wasn=E2=80=99t just a =E2=80=99research project=E2=80=99, it was the r= esult of years of work by a team of very capable, professional programmers,=
who weren=E2=80=99t looking for kudos or recognition, nor trying to add eve= ry conceivable =E2=80=98feature=E2=80=99 possible, but the inverse:

=C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0how _small_ could it be and still be enou= gh.

When it left the Labs, Unix wasn=E2=80=99t just =E2=80=9CPerformant=E2=80= =9D, it came with a very useful set of tools for creating other tools (=E2= =80=98developing=E2=80=99)
and while the kernel wasn=E2=80=99t perfect (some =E2=80=98panic=E2=80=99s)= , it was of =E2=80=9CProduction Quality=E2=80=9D.

For v6, I believe there were patches for 50-100 bugs circulating, perhaps t= he first demonstration of =E2=80=9Cno bug is intractable with =E2=80=98many= eyeballs=E2=80=99=E2=80=9D.

All that in under 5 years of =E2=80=98development=E2=80=99, with the =E2=80= =9Cinitial release=E2=80=9D stable & performant enough for cash-strappe= d Universities
to gamble their reputations & budgets on running it.
Imagine the grief academics would=E2=80=99ve got if their basic teaching sy= stems failed continuously!

This adoption path pushed Unix through another barrier:

=C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0=E2=80=99Security=E2=80=99 - with a lot o= f bright, bored & curious students banging on it as hard as they could = for bragging rights.

How long, in releases or years, did it take for other O/S=E2=80=99s to hit = the =E2=80=9Cvery stable=E2=80=9D benchmark?

I don=E2=80=99t know enough of Linux to answer that definitively, the *BSD= =E2=80=99s grew there through usage and contribution,
while Microsoft NT derivates widely suffered =E2=80=9CBlue Screen of Death= =E2=80=9D for years.

Even now, MS-Windows has serious Security / compromise issues, like the hig= hly visible, global =E2=80=9CCrowdstrike=E2=80=9D event.
Not a break-in or takeover, but an own-goal from Security perimeter control= .

=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D

I now think Unix has had a much larger, direct and important impact

=C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 - the C language and associated tools & lib= raries
=C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0that begat mo= dern toolchains and endless portability across platforms.

In 1991, Bill Plauger had a year sabbatical at UNSW in Sydney,
and happened to say :
=C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 =E2=80=9CC is wallpaper - people expect it ever= ywhere=E2=80=9D.

C gained formal recognition with the POSIX standard, satisfying conservativ= e users / enterprises that it wasn=E2=80=99t the work of a bunch of Hippies= or ill-disciplined Hackers.

Even Microsoft wrote 32-bit Windows NT in C, I presume starting by writing = it=E2=80=99s own compiler and toolchain to start.

Borland, Watcom and many others - including Microsoft - offered (Visual) C = compile & build environments for Windows,
directly responsible for creating the =E2=80=99shrink-wrap=E2=80=99 third p= arty software market that drove sales of Windows and x86 machines.

Nobody had seen a market for a billion systems before, nor sold 300M+ CPU= =E2=80=99s in a single year.

People don=E2=80=99t buy Silicon Chips or nice Boxes, they buy Applications= that solve their problems:

=C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 Software drives Sales of Hardware
=C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0- something that IBM deeply understood fi= rst with first the 1401 line, then 360-series.


The other =E2=80=99small=E2=80=99 achievement of C and Unix was creating th= e market for RISC chips.
MIPS in the mid-1980=E2=80=99s was only able to design and build the first = commercial RISC chip
because it knew it could port Unix to it and find an immediate market
=C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 - not at zero-cost, but a tiny fraction of what= every other Vendor had done before
=C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 reinventing the whe= el from scratch to provide incompatible O/S & tools for their hardware.=

Unix on MIPS not only came with a host of proven software, that a large poo= l of people knew how to use,
but it arrived as =E2=80=9CProduction Quality=E2=80=9D - the porting team h= ad to test their parts - compiler, linker, libraries - hard, but could trus= t the existing high-quality codebase.

In "A New Golden Age for Computer Architecture=E2=80=9D, 2019 by Henne= ssy & Patterson,
make an aside:

=C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 In today's post-PC era, x86 shipments have = fallen almost 10% per year since the peak in 2011,
=C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 while chips with RISC processors have skyrocket= ed to 20 billion.

=C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 Today, 99% of 32-bit and 64-bit processors are = RISC.

i suggest this goes back to PCC followed by the MIPS R2000 - made possible = by Dennis=E2=80=99 C language.

The 1977 invention of =E2=80=98pcc=E2=80=99 and rewriting of Unix for cross= -machine portability was the first time I=E2=80=99m aware of this being don= e.
=C2=A0( Miller @ UoW did a one-off hack, not to devalue his work, he ported= , didn=E2=80=99t invent a multi-target portable compiler )

One of the effects of =E2=80=9Cportable C=E2=80=9D was creating whole new i= ndustries for third party software developers
or enabling niche products, like CISCO routers and the many embedded device= s.

C and Unix came with the tools to create new languages and new tools.
AWK, sed (!) and shells are obvious examples, with Perl, Python & PHP v= ery big in Internet of 2000.

C was a new class of language - a tool to create tools.
It creates a perfect mechanism to bootstrap any new language, tool or produ= ct,
allowing to be refined & used enough to become reliable before being ma= de self-hosting.

Very widely used languages such as Python are written in C.
ORACLE achieved its market dominance by providing =E2=80=98portability=E2= =80=99 - exactly the same on every platform.
Underpinned by portable C.

The original 1127 team went on to create other systems and languages,
not the least being a new Software Engineering tool, =E2=80=9CGo=E2=80=9D /= golang,
addressing a whole slew of deficiencies in the C/C++ approach and

We=E2=80=99d have no Internet today without Apache written in C and being p= orted to every environment.

Also, there=E2=80=99s a connection between C and =E2=80=98modern=E2=80=99 S= oftware Engineering
=C2=A0 - distributed Repositories, automated builds & regression tests,= and the many toolchains and tools used.

They tended to be built in C to address problems (Open Source) developers w= ere finding with existing toolchains.
=E2=80=98make=E2=80=99 arose at Bell Labs to automate builds, along with PW= B and Writers Workbench.

There=E2=80=99s two questions / observations about 50 years of C in broad u= se:

=C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 - Just how much C is out there and used =E2=80= =98in production=E2=80=99?

=C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 - C is =E2=80=98obviously=E2=80=99 a product of= the 1970=E2=80=99s, not reflecting needs of modern hardware, networks, sto= rage and systems,
=C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 but _what_ can repl= ace it?

=C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 There is simply too= much critical code written in C to convert it to another =E2=80=98better, = modern=E2=80=99 language.
=C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 Any new language th= at is a simple 1:1 rewriting of C cannot address any of the deficiencies, =C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 while any incompati= ble language requires redesign and reimplementation of everything - an unac= hievable goal.

The Linux Kernel=E2=80=99s =E2=80=9Crust=E2=80=9D project shows the extent = of the problem
=C2=A0 =C2=A0- even with the best team of the best developers, its a mammot= h undertaking, with uncertain payoffs, unquantifiable effort & deadline= s.

My thesis is that portable, standard C:

=C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 - not only co-evolved with other tools & ne= eds to create the Modern Software Engineering environment, the basis for mu= ltiple Trillion dollar enterprises (FAANG)
but
=C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 - drove the biggest, most profitable software m= arket ever seen (Wintel)
=C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 - which drove sales volume of x86 chips (& = DRAM, motherboards, LAN, GPU, monitors, peripherals=E2=80=A6) over 2-3 deca= des,
=C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 - which drove Silicon Valley, paying for new ge= nerations of Fabs and lowering chip prices further & further
=C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 - and eventually created the Fabless RISC CPU c= ompany,
=C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 which in the Post-P= C era absolutely dominates chip sales.

No Software, no Silicon=E2=80=A6

Gordon Moore, in an early comment on his 1968 startup with Robert Noyce, sa= id:

=C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 =E2=80=9Cwe are the real revolutionaries" = (vs Hippies & 1967 Summer of Love).

I think Ken & Dennis [ and 1127/ Bell Labs folk ] can say the same.

=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D

I=E2=80=99ve written some notes, with links to Programming Languages, espec= ially Jean Sammet=E2=80=99s Histories,
and would like some critiques, suggestions & corrections if people have= time and interest.

Unix and C are intimately related - neither was possible or useful without = the other.

i think there=E2=80=99s an interesting article in there, but I=E2=80=99m no= t sure I have what it takes to write it, not in a finite time :)
Very happy to help anyone who does!

Did-C-lang-create-modern-software-industry.txt
=C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 <https://drive.google.com/file/d/1k936sgqHc-vHBvfCdLoSxFhdT9= NaijU2/view?usp=3Dsharing>

steve jenkin
04 - dec - 2024

=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D
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Steve Jenkin, IT Systems and Design
0412 786 915 (+61 412 786 915)
PO Box 38, Kippax ACT 2615, AUSTRALIA

mailto:sjenki= n@canb.auug.org.au http://members.tip.net.au/~sjenkin
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