Questions tagged [unix]
For questions about the Unix operating system.
1
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4answers
154 views
What happens when a terminal (like a VT100) is connected to a computer?
I'm wondering what's the sequence of actions when a terminal (like a VT100) is plugged into a serial port of a computer? Especially, how the connection of this terminal is detected, and how the ...
12
votes
1answer
333 views
Why does AT&T syntax use * and $?
In a comment to an answer about AT&T assembly syntax, another-dave asked the following:
DEC used #foo for an immediate operand in -11 assemblers; the Unix guys apparently preferred $foo, which ...
3
votes
1answer
165 views
What was the first publication documenting AT&T syntax assembly language?
What was the first publication to document what is (now) known as AT&T syntax assembly language?
21
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1answer
2k views
Process model in early UNIX
I heard recently that the process model in very early variants of UNIX was quite a bit different to the fork/exec model used nowadays.
How did it differ from the current state?
1
vote
1answer
218 views
Netscape has detected a /.netscape/lock file
My computer is saying that my netscape file is being used by a host that says it is located in Boulder Colorodo. It is coming from a wierd IP address. I just plugged my ethernet cable to use the ...
44
votes
10answers
7k views
Why was preemptive multitasking so slow in coming to consumer OS's?
Preemptive (rather than cooperative) multitasking was a highly-touted feature for PC's in 1996, with its inclusion in Windows 95 for the first time. It was also highly-touted for 2001 Macs when ...
10
votes
2answers
513 views
Origin of “tarball”
It seems to be common (at least among my section of the world's *NIX users) to refer to "tape archives" made with GNU tar or similar as "tarballs". I always thought this was a slightly odd choice, ...
1
vote
0answers
187 views
How do I compile C code with the IRIX X Window System?
I have typed out a rather large file in C code that is defining OpenGL graphics and will draw a triangle on the screen. While I know all of the functions of the X Windowing System, I do not know how ...
3
votes
0answers
157 views
Where did /usr/mdec come from?
On UNIX, the boot code is traditionally found in the directory /usr/mdec. Some modern UNIX variants keep this tradition up (e.g. OpenBSD) while others have changed the directory layout (e.g. FreeBSD)....
60
votes
2answers
7k views
Why did Unix use slash as the directory separator?
The Unix designers came from the GE/MIT Multics project, and Multics inspired some Unix features. In particular, Multics has a hierarchical filesystem, and so does Unix.
On Multics, pathnames were of ...
6
votes
1answer
404 views
On the use of the “Code Improver”
Very early C compilers, (mostly K&R C, as seen in UNIX V6, or this compiler for the Atari ST called "Megamax C") came with a "code improver". This was apparently a separate binary, named c2, and ...
3
votes
0answers
118 views
a learning gomoku in Lisp
Years ago I played a version of gomoku that was written in Lisp that learned as you played. After a few rounds, it became nearly unbeatable. This was on Unix System III on a small PDP-11.
I have ...
43
votes
2answers
9k views
Why is Windows using CRLF and Unix just LF when Unix is the older system?
Windows and MS-DOS use for new lines the control characters CR-LF (carriage return, line feed), while unix uses just LF.
As far as I know CR-LF made sense for systems controlling an real teletyper, ...
16
votes
5answers
2k views
What determines which architecture an a.out executable runs on?
The ELF file format has an e_machine field in the header, which specifies which ISA the executable expects. And the e_ident structure also has an EI_OSABI field that specifies which ABI the executable ...
29
votes
2answers
5k views
Why was UNIX never backported to the PDP-7?
Originally, UNIX was written in PDP-7 assembly, and then in PDP-11 assembly, but then when UNIX V4 began to be re-written in C in 1973 and was run mostly on the PDP-11.
So far as I can tell, there ...
1
vote
1answer
245 views
File system performance and the Unix API
A 1994 book called 'The Design and Implementation of a Log-structured file system' contains the claim "We have implemented a prototype log-structured file system called Sprite LFS; it outperforms ...
3
votes
2answers
237 views
Setting up and using UUCP (with analog modems)
These days, of course, we have the Internet, but back in the day, there was Unix to Unix Copy - UUCP. In its heyday it was a terrific way to get email and other simple data moving across the world, ...
13
votes
1answer
2k views
How many lines of code were in the first Unix version (with the Thompson shell)?
How many lines of code were in the first Unix version (with the Thompson shell)?
Given that the modern Linux kernel has about 15 million lines of code, I do wonder of the amount with the first Unix ...
74
votes
14answers
14k views
How did people use ed?
ed was the standard Unix editor, and is present on all POSIX certified systems (though it's not installed by default in Debian, FWIW).
It's a line editor (meaning, you can't see all the text at a ...
38
votes
2answers
22k views
Why were the /\ (min) and the \/ (max) operators abandoned in the C language?
In the UNIX V7 version of the C language (but not yet in the V6 version), there were the /\ (min) and the \/ (max) operators. In the source of the scanner part of the compiler,
case BSLASH:
if (...
5
votes
2answers
239 views
Could we change the baud rate for the two serial ports on a terminal and on a computer?
Say we have a terminal (for example: VT100) that is connected to a computer (for example: PDP-11), and UNIX V7 is installed on the computer.
The terminal will have a serial port that is connected ...
17
votes
2answers
696 views
Slash versus backslash as directory separator - what/who caused this rift?
MS DOS and derived systems use backslash \ for path separator and slash '/' for command parameters. Unix and a number of other systems used slash '/' for paths and backslash \ for escaping special ...
19
votes
3answers
670 views
What software stack could I use to get X10 (the version of X before X11) up and running on a modern system?
"What's the story behind the name "X11"?" showed up in the sidebar while I was browsing stackoverflow earlier and I noticed the question getting some high-signal answers, so I added a ...
51
votes
1answer
9k views
What's the story behind the name “X11”?
To this day on Linux configs and startup scripts for the GUI system are stored in /etc/X11. I remember this name appearing alone, or alongside others - XFree86, X.org, X - for as long as I had contact ...
48
votes
5answers
9k views
Why did base64 win against uuencode?
From the the two methods of encoding 8-bit data as human-readable ASCII, for a time, uuencode format was more popular. USENET 'binaries' groups were filled with uuencoded posts with whatever goodies ...
7
votes
1answer
374 views
Can you get the file descriptors of a process in UNIX V7?
In Linux, if I want to get the file descriptors of a process, I would go to the following directory:
/proc/<pid>/fd
But in UNIX V7, the /proc directory does not exist.
6
votes
1answer
193 views
Was job control supported in UNIX V7 or earlier?
Linux supports job control, i.e. you can start a process in the background, or make a foreground process run in the background, or make a background process run in the foreground, etc.
Did any V7 or ...
8
votes
2answers
310 views
Is there anything special about /dev/console?
I am using the SimH emulator to emulate a PDP-11 computer with UNIX V7 installed on it. So basically I am emulating something like this:
I issued the tty command to see on which TTY port my terminal ...
6
votes
2answers
522 views
Does ancient UNIX create a new shell process for each terminal?
In Linux, each terminal is associated with a new shell process. For example, here I have two xterm terminals, and each xterm terminal has an associated shell process:
I am wondering if in the old ...
7
votes
3answers
619 views
Is the SimH emulator available on macOS?
Is the SimH emulator available for macOS? I can't find it on their website: http://simh.trailing-edge.com/
What I am specifically interested in is to run UNIX V7 on a PDP-11 emulator.
4
votes
2answers
294 views
Does the “backspace” key places the cursor on a new line in UNIX V7?
I am running UNIX V7 using the SimH emulator. Whenever I press the "backspace" key, instead of the previous character being deleted, what happens is that the cursor is placed on a new line.
Is this ...
3
votes
1answer
237 views
Does UNIX V7 have a built-in file editor?
I can use cat to display the content of a file in UNIX V7, but I don't know how can I edit the content of a file.
Is there a built-in file editor in UNIX V7?
7
votes
1answer
209 views
How to get a list of processes on UNIX V7?
I am running UNIX V7 using the SimH emulator. I am trying to get a list of processes using ps, but I am getting the following error:
No namelist
So I tried the following fix (from this post):
cd /...
7
votes
2answers
177 views
Is the terminal number fixed?
Let's say that we have a PDP-11 computer with Unix installed on it and we have three terminals connected to it:
A terminal can use the tty Unix command to get the terminal number.
Now my question is:...
8
votes
1answer
250 views
“ps” returning “No namelist” on UNIX V7
I am using this emulator for UNIX V7: http://www.jbox.dk/sanos/pdp11.htm
When I type ps to get a list of processes, I get the following error:
11
votes
2answers
900 views
What is the version of Unix and the name of the computer it run on in this 1982 video?
I am learning about the history of computers, and based on what I know so far, Unix was run on a large computer, and in order to use it, you have to use a computer terminal.
Does anybody knows what ...
46
votes
5answers
8k views
Which Linux or BSD distributions do still support i386, i486 or i586 CPUs?
Unfortunately Debian kicked out Pentium 1 (i586) CPU support from its 32-bit PC port (named i386 for historic circumstances) for its next stable release Debian 9 Stretch. (Then again they complain ...
12
votes
2answers
764 views
How can I build Gameboy Development Kit 2.1.5 on a modern Unix/Mac platform?
Continuing with my quest to build the Infinity Game Boy Color source code, I am trying to build the Unix source of GBDK 2.1.5 on my macOS El Capitan machine.
Trying to make the files in the lib ...
8
votes
3answers
425 views
Was The Telemark Assembler available for the Unix or Mac Environments?
I'm trying to build the recently released Infinity Game Boy Color source code on my macOS El Capitan box. The original development environment was a Windows box, and I'm trying to modify the build ...
10
votes
1answer
443 views
How POSIX-compliant is Xenix?
Xenix was the most popular Unix flavour of the 80's. However, it was designed before the POSIX standards came to be, and its final version was released shortly after the first POSIX specification was ...
