TUHS October 2017

tuhs@tuhs.org

65 participants
54 discussions

by norman＠nose.cita.utoronto.ca

I've assembled some notes from old manuals and other sources on the formats used for on-disk file systems through the Seventh Edition: http://www.cita.utoronto.ca/~norman/old-unix/old-fs.html Additional notes, comments on style, and whatnot are welcome. (It may be sensible to send anything in the last two categories directly to me, rather than to the whole list.)

2 years, 7 months

/bin/true (was [TUHS] basic tools / Universal Unix)

by Ron Natalie

My favorite reduction to absurdity was /bin/true. Someone decided we needed shell commands for true and false. Easy enough to add a script that said "exit 0" or exit 1" as its only line. Then someone realized that the "exit 0" in /bin true was superfluous, the default return was 0. /bin/true turned into an empty, yet executable, file. Then the lawyers got involved. We got a version of a packaged UNIX (I think it was Interactive Systems). Every shell script got twelve lines of copyright/license boilerplate. Including /bin true. The file had nothing but useless comment in it.

7 years

Re: [TUHS] basic tools / Universal Unix

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: Ralph Corderoy > Then the real definition, ending in an execution of the empty `q'. > qq/4$^Ma2^[@qq Gah. That reminds me of nothing so much as TECO (may it long Rest in Peace). Noel

7 years, 1 month

Trouble wih TUHS rsync

by Dave Horsfall

Am I the only one having trouble? I mirror the site, and I'm now seeing: aneurin# tuhs + rsync -avz minnie.tuhs.org::UA_Root . rsync: failed to connect to minnie.tuhs.org (45.79.103.53): Operation timed out (60) rsync error: error in socket IO (code 10) at clientserver.c(125) [Receiver=3.1.2] + rsync -avz minnie.tuhs.org::UA_Applications Applications rsync: failed to connect to minnie.tuhs.org (45.79.103.53): Operation timed out (60) rsync error: error in socket IO (code 10) at clientserver.c(125) [Receiver=3.1.2] Etc. -- Dave Horsfall DTM (VK2KFU) "Those who don't understand security will suffer."

7 years, 1 month

Re: [TUHS] basic tools / Universal Unix

by Norman Wilson

I too remember TECO. In my TOPS-10 days I was quite a whiz at it. Then I encountered UNIX and ed, and never looked back. Cryptic programmability is fun, but a simple but well-chosen set of commands including the g/v pair made me more efficient in the end. it could just be that ed is a better fit for the shape of my brain. C struck me similarly. Norman Wilson Toronto ON (Actually in the Bay Area for a few days for LISA, in case any UNIXtorians want to meet up.)

7 years, 1 month

Re: [TUHS] basic tools / Universal Unix

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: Dave Horsfall > I'm glad that I'm not the only one who remembers TECO Urp. I wish I _didn't_ remember TECO! "TECO Madness: A moment of convenience, a lifetime of regret." - Dave Moon (For those who didn't catch the reference, here: https://www.gammalyte.com/tag/reefer-madness/ you go.) Noel

7 years, 1 month

Re: [TUHS] basic tools / Universal Unix

by Clem Cole

On Mon, Oct 16, 2017 at 12:39 PM, Jon Steinhart <jon(a)fourwinds.com> wrote: > > I have a similar and maybe even more extreme position. When I was a > manager > I placed restrictions on the tools and customizations for members of my > team. > My goal was to make sure that any team member could go over to any other > team > member's desk and get stuff done. And I think this loops back to what started some of this threat. The idea of a programmer with 'good taste.' Rob (and Brian) railed on BSD in cat -v considered harmful <http://harmful.cat-v.org/cat-v/> and ‘*Program Design in the UNIX Environment*’ (pdf version <http://harmful.cat-v.org/cat-v/unix_prog_design.pdf>, ps version <http://harmful.cat-v.org/cat-v/unix_prog_design.ps>) but the points in it was then and are still now, fresh: What is it that you need to get the job done - to me, that is Doug's "Universal Unix" concept. When I answer questions on quora about learning Linux and other UNIX derivative, I still point them at their book: *The Unix Programming Environment <http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/013937681X?ie=UTF8&tag=catv-20&linkCode=as…>* I would say, if the can login into the system and complete the exercises in UPE without having to make changes, you are pretty close to Doug's "Universal UNIX" environment. And if you can use the tools, without having to think about them and they pretty much are what you rely upon everyday, you are getting close to my ideal of 'good taste.' Clem

7 years, 1 month

First ARPAnet transmission

by Dave Horsfall

Of interest to the old farts here... At 22:30 (but which timezone?) on this day in 1969 the first packet got as far as "LO" ("LOGIN"?) then crashed. More details, anyone? -- Dave Horsfall DTM (VK2KFU) "Those who don't understand security will suffer."

7 years, 1 month

Re: [TUHS] Charles Forsyth on putting Unix on a diet.

by Norman Wilson

Chris Torek: You're not perpendicular to your own surface? :-) === I'm not as limber as I used to be. Besides, I'm left-handed, so what use would I have for right angles? Norman Wilson Toronto ON (I don't wish to know that)

7 years, 1 month

Re: [TUHS] Charles Forsyth on putting Unix on a diet.

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: Steve Nickolas > I personally believe a lot of code in modern operating systems is larger > than the task requires. The "operating" is superfluous. Noel

7 years, 1 month

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TUHS October 2017