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Back in the Day: Unix, Minix and Linux

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31–36 of 36 posts

Re: Back in the Day: Unix, Minix and Linux

#31
post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> it's basically been assimilated into every distribution of BSD. So that should be called GNU/BSD right, anyway why haven't I heard about the LiGNUx naming before is it some kind of pseudostallmanism?

Doesn't every major GNU tool have a clean-room implementation in BSD? Or I guess it would be more correct to say that BSD and GNU are both clean-room implementations of the original UNIX tools. Just thinking of the oft-posted, "Why GNU grep is fast" article.[0] [0] https://lists.freebsd.org/pipermail/freebsd-current/2010-Aug...

I'm not sure there are any major "gnu tools"? There are gnu flavored posix tools.

I'm not saying the gnu project isn't great (and I can't stand being constrained to posix tools without gnu extensions) - but the tools are generally from unix/posix?

Re: Back in the Day: Unix, Minix and Linux

#32
post #30
post #23

"Since nowadays GNU without Linux isn't hugely helpful, it's basically just been assimilated into core Linux and just about every distro of Linux includes GNU utilities or GNU versions of common UNIX-born tools." Nowadays, GNU compiler collection with or without Linux can be hugely helpful. e.g., it's basically just been assimilated into "core BSD" and just about every distribution compiles with GCC. Even in the case…

AFAIK freebsd has depricated gcc in favour of clang, and openbsd as well. Not sure about netbsd - I think there was some experiments with pcc?

AFAIK, still can compile FreeBSD, OpenBSD, NetBSD or DragonflyBSD for all architectures using GCC.

Re: Back in the Day: Unix, Minix and Linux

#33
> PARC had computers where multiple programs were on the screen simultaneously in "windows", and there was a pointer device used to control them—so cool. Doug Englebart was inspired too; he went back to Stanford Research Institute and invented the mouse to make control of those windows easier.

Is that right? Doug Englebart invented mouse in 1963. Unlikely PARC had any windowing system capable machine around that period.

UPDATE: PARC was founded 1970. So the influence should definitely be inversed.

Re: Back in the Day: Unix, Minix and Linux

#34
post #30
post #23

"Since nowadays GNU without Linux isn't hugely helpful, it's basically just been assimilated into core Linux and just about every distro of Linux includes GNU utilities or GNU versions of common UNIX-born tools." Nowadays, GNU compiler collection with or without Linux can be hugely helpful. e.g., it's basically just been assimilated into "core BSD" and just about every distribution compiles with GCC. Even in the case…

AFAIK freebsd has depricated gcc in favour of clang, and openbsd as well. Not sure about netbsd - I think there was some experiments with pcc?

Yeah well, but clang still has ugly corners. Take for example recent FPU bug on FreeBSD i386. GCC does not have it.

Re: Back in the Day: Unix, Minix and Linux

#35
post #11
post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

MINIX was special because the book was used in many universities to teach operating system principles. MINIX also one of the few affordable Unix-like operating systems you could run on your own PC, and it came with full source (except for the compiler) Linus was running MINIX when he created Linux. And finally there the famous discussion by Linus and Andy Tanenbaum (the creator of MINIX) about how operating systems s…

Minix also runs Intel Management Engine in ring -3 on every CPU where it is enabled. That makes it one of the most deployed OS in the world.

Although this is Minix3 AFAIK which is quite different from the original Minix, with more BSD derived code, and designed for production not teaching.

Re: Back in the Day: Unix, Minix and Linux

#36
post #33

> PARC had computers where multiple programs were on the screen simultaneously in "windows", and there was a pointer device used to control them—so cool. Doug Englebart was inspired too; he went back to Stanford Research Institute and invented the mouse to make control of those windows easier. Is that right? Doug Englebart invented mouse in 1963. Unlikely PARC had any windowing system capable machine around that peri…

Yes, it's completely backwards. http://worrydream.com/EarlyHistoryOfSmalltalk/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKg1hTOQXoY
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