[TUHS] Article on BSD, etc history

[segaloco via TUHS]

On Monday, February 19th, 2024 at 12:03 PM, Åke Nordin <ake.nordin at netia.se> wrote:

> On 2024-02-18 15:12, Rich Salz wrote:
> 
> > https://www.abortretry.fail/p/the-berkley-software-distribution
> 
> 
> Thanks, appreciated.
> 
> Good read, seemingly fair balance between comprehensiveness and accessibility, no falsehoods that were obvious to me (but then I never had much insight).
> 
> --
> Åke Nordin ake.nordin at netia.se, resident Net/Lunix/telecom geek.
> 
> Netia Data AB, Stockholm SWEDEN 467O466Ol99#

>From the article:

> Eventually, Standiford reached out to Thompson, and Thompson
> would connect to the University’s 11/45 over a three hundred
> baud acoustic coupler to remotely debug crash dumps from New
> Jersey. I personally like to imagine that it was a Novation
> CAT 300, but I haven’t been able to find a model number of
> the modem, and I haven’t found any reference to what system
> Thompson was actually using. Plus, the Novation CAT 300
> wouldn’t be released for several years."

I find this curious and wonder if Ken or someone else would
have commentary on what sort of modem connection was actually
in use?  When I read that, my mind immediately went to the
300-baud WECo Data Set I've been experimenting with lately, I
would imagine Bell Laboratories researchers had access to the
cream-of-the-crop modem technologies coming out of WECo, or
perhaps even experimental designs not yet mass-produced by
WECo.  Just the speculation my mind went to though.

I know in later Bell System advertising and other visual
content it is all too common to see the smaller Data Set units
with their 6-button *500-series phones neatly nestled in next
to whatever terminal was in use.  Then going back further,
you had the large Data Set units that mounted up inside the
teletype frame.  I seem to recall Clem Cole mentioning to me
that the specifics of utilizing modems with terminals at the
time were a little odd potentially due to rules on who could
run wire for what in buildings, leading to modems being used
where a serial connection would make more sense or vice versa
but as with many things, I wasn't there and can't speak to
specifics.

- Matt G.