From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.4 (2020-01-24) on inbox.vuxu.org X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-1.1 required=5.0 tests=DKIM_SIGNED,DKIM_VALID, DKIM_VALID_AU,FREEMAIL_FROM,HTML_MESSAGE,MAILING_LIST_MULTI, T_SCC_BODY_TEXT_LINE autolearn=ham autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 Received: (qmail 22132 invoked from network); 9 Apr 2022 18:28:19 -0000 Received: from minnie.tuhs.org (45.79.103.53) by inbox.vuxu.org with ESMTPUTF8; 9 Apr 2022 18:28:19 -0000 Received: by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix, from userid 112) id A2D9E93D44; Sun, 10 Apr 2022 04:28:18 +1000 (AEST) Received: from minnie.tuhs.org (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 5E24293D2A; Sun, 10 Apr 2022 04:25:57 +1000 (AEST) Authentication-Results: minnie.tuhs.org; dkim=pass (2048-bit key; unprotected) header.d=gmail.com header.i=@gmail.com header.b="a11vuXlJ"; dkim-atps=neutral Received: by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix, from userid 112) id 7700593D2A; Sun, 10 Apr 2022 04:25:54 +1000 (AEST) Received: from mail-ej1-f43.google.com (mail-ej1-f43.google.com [209.85.218.43]) by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id BFC4F93D1B for ; Sun, 10 Apr 2022 04:25:53 +1000 (AEST) Received: by mail-ej1-f43.google.com with SMTP id r13so23261644ejd.5 for ; Sat, 09 Apr 2022 11:25:53 -0700 (PDT) DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=gmail.com; s=20210112; h=mime-version:references:in-reply-to:from:date:message-id:subject:to :cc; bh=ATN7LnEiu6IZUXpUjlKzmlOgbDtFtuzw7qMX3DQZFxM=; b=a11vuXlJbgX9la1GckXiXFSo2vHADGk6H61FRSwWH4R9QHia8B2Kdn6E0ns4zG0ckj 4z1+SwTP4xE72wI1eyahIKJYWZGgui0HSYa3sIWmuIiJzS8Jc/EnC/fU833qZWjrgbFO riIrtEBoRTQqcPpxLTfU2AmWsUhePt+c+WvPXYTr3JQlTbDS6WJhV0amcpOgiojegizG ZlXnjTjKdbYAAKijvEM+bLl0l7hYj9i+uy8BF3FkbVmnUyE6HsbAe2YA8tLjZexNbmiL cTpT7ZV19ljnYUxV8gsMefnwCwVkg+XXWr1sUz84XSmVKzcPS/K4TouuzzK0AghEaojk FVxg== X-Google-DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=1e100.net; s=20210112; h=x-gm-message-state:mime-version:references:in-reply-to:from:date :message-id:subject:to:cc; bh=ATN7LnEiu6IZUXpUjlKzmlOgbDtFtuzw7qMX3DQZFxM=; b=LQ1ch0dGEBP2ENHDEBZb/tvqSADse/i286gbpNZa8FIj4QFUActV55HlVQkP4Se1eZ GtF8K/fYi4kgAFWED9zScQEZb/DDpRphNab4Az01MUnW2wvRfzwt9rItOO7BrvzlUWbE 47+z2P+7TOiIYbOgfPfr1jBeKolR4a/50M1ZkDdEV5tubOD4YVQR0sAdW4IUyYzvJxVe R/VHmk6a+sL3CJJhs/Ws0sxMS8QwEtIe1WxLGqWN8gBkmBjcGcaGIxP9BW6cP1X9eUQG seDnYKm4gIdMWzqkW3/Sx3K+6t+h3ohH39ZuUh6IE+Nxy5kiy19iJrj/dg9gmfE0ZQOD UjVg== X-Gm-Message-State: AOAM530k4le3aASiNnroCe/MU11lcnE9In7IA9uA3eyqn8bffdza9BDo G8cAomX+XNL9hI1XjDfqV0CkzdDsFhBaJXaFfBEXOG3pqww= X-Google-Smtp-Source: ABdhPJyFcC8Ilk7O0ZPgML3mPgQmnxcylDoM6CeTYlcnnbXc4hJl4TVsl8b5bymdFsaavQi4Ao2JBFahAH2gOTgBFHM= X-Received: by 2002:a17:907:7d9e:b0:6df:9fe8:856a with SMTP id oz30-20020a1709077d9e00b006df9fe8856amr23278818ejc.373.1649528752186; Sat, 09 Apr 2022 11:25:52 -0700 (PDT) MIME-Version: 1.0 References: In-Reply-To: From: Ken Thompson Date: Sat, 9 Apr 2022 11:25:41 -0700 Message-ID: To: Douglas McIlroy Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="000000000000522a4c05dc3cd761" Subject: Re: [TUHS] {TUHS] Interesting Commentary on Unix from Multicians 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: , Cc: TUHS main list Errors-To: tuhs-bounces@minnie.tuhs.org Sender: "TUHS" --000000000000522a4c05dc3cd761 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8" vic was my department head upon my arrival at bell labs (june 1966). i went to my assigned office and found vic, in combat boots, in a lotus position on top of my filing cabinet. it is a vision that i will never forget. he had just come to introduce himself. On Sat, Apr 9, 2022 at 4:48 AM Douglas McIlroy < douglas.mcilroy@dartmouth.edu> wrote: > > Single Level Storage is an awesome concept and removes so many ugly > > hacks from algorithms that otherwise have to process data in files. > > This was Vic Vyssotsky's signature contribution to Multics, though in > typical > Vyssotsky fashion he never sought personal credit for it. Other awesome > Vyssotsky inventions: > > BLODI (block diagram), the first data-flow language, for sample-data > systems. > > Parallel flow analysis (later reinvented and published by John Cocke). Vic > installed this in Fortran to produce diagnostics such as, "If the > third branch of IF > statement 15 is ever taken, then variable E will be used before being set". > > Darwin, the original game of predation and self-reproduction among > programs. > Corewars.org keeps a descendant version going 60 years later. > > A minimum-spanning-tree algorithm quite different from the well-known > methods > due to his colleagues Bob Prim and Joe Kruskal, again unpublished. > > Not long ago on TUHS, Andrew Hume told how Vic found the same isolated bug > in > dc by mathematically generating hard cases that Andrew stumbled on by > accident, > > As you may infer, Vic is one of my personal computing heroes. > > Doug > --000000000000522a4c05dc3cd761 Content-Type: text/html; charset="UTF-8" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable

vic was= my department head upon=C2=A0my arrival=C2=A0at
bell labs (june = 1966). i went to my assigned office
and found vic, in combat boot= s, in a lotus position
on top of my filing cabinet. it is a visio= n that i will
never forget. he had just come to introduce himself= .


On Sat, Apr 9, 2022 at 4:48 AM Douglas McIlroy <douglas.mcilroy@dartmouth.edu= > wrote:
>= Single Level Storage is an awesome concept and removes so many ugly
> hacks from algorithms that otherwise have to process data in files.
This was Vic Vyssotsky's signature contribution to Multics, though in t= ypical
Vyssotsky fashion he never sought personal credit for it. Other awesome
Vyssotsky inventions:

BLODI (block diagram), the first data-flow language, for sample-data system= s.

Parallel flow analysis (later reinvented and published=C2=A0 by John Cocke)= . Vic
installed this in Fortran to produce diagnostics such as, "If the
third branch of IF
statement 15 is ever taken, then variable E will be used before being set&q= uot;.

Darwin, the original game of predation and self-reproduction among programs= .
Corewars.org keeps a descendant version going 60 years later.

A minimum-spanning-tree algorithm quite different from the well-known metho= ds
due to his colleagues Bob Prim and Joe Kruskal, again unpublished.

Not long ago on TUHS, Andrew Hume told how Vic found the same isolated bug = in
dc by mathematically generating hard cases that Andrew stumbled on by accid= ent,

As you may infer, Vic is one of my personal computing heroes.

Doug
--000000000000522a4c05dc3cd761--