[TUHS] Re: Early supported UNIX manual

[segaloco via TUHS <tuhs@tuhs.org>]

On Sunday, January 7th, 2024 at 7:27 AM, Phil Budne <phil@ultimate.com> wrote:
> Not that I can tell you an easy name for what to call it!

I've just been referring to these as "PGs" for short, so USG PGII.  The MERT manual on the archive is visually similar to this one, as one would expect since it is based on PGIII.  Very very cool to see this finally, thanks Al!  One more down, I believe someone on list has confirmed ownership of a PGIII manual as well, but I'm not sure if the very first issue even had print manuals distributed.  Program Generic is a bit obscure given the earliness of it but my understanding is that it served both as the standard supported UNIX for computer users in the Bell System *and* as the standard base for UNIX-based projects that weren't butted right up against research (e.g. MERT.)  I've seen this "Generic" nomenclature used for other such things in Bell System literature, representing a "stock" version of some technology prior to differentiation into separate products.  It's actually used later in UNIX releases too, a 3B20S document refers to the UNIX Release as the time as "the latest Generic(sic)".  I believe this capitalization points to similar naming influences.

First thing I looked for but couldn't find is a reference to what macro package was used for these documents.  You can see the same style in both the PGII program description document and the MERT 0 manual.  I suspect there's some connection between this and the OSDD package but that's currently just an assumption based on this also looking somewhat BSP-ish in select code, date, etc presentation in the header.  The existence of the program description document leads me to believe there were other such secondary documents distinct from the Volume 2 documents, but this is just a hunch.  Either way, this'll certainly help my manual diffing efforts!

- Matt G.