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<div class="moz-cite-prefix">Pioneer, then - surely, you beat the
rush :).<br>
<br>
On 3/6/24 1:53 PM, Douglas McIlroy wrote:<br>
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<div dir="ltr">Very kind words from Brantley and Clem. It's an
interesting notion to regard Unix as gestational until it came
out in public talks (1973) and was exported to universities.<br>
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<div>Maybe I could claim to have laid the groundwork for Unix
by causing Multics to be written in PL/I, a language big and
sprawling, like the project itself. That unintentionally
provided plenty of stimulus for thinking small. Ken was
absolutely on his own when he began to fiddle with building
a tiny operating system on the GE 645. I heard about it only
after the fact.
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<div>After Multics, I ran interference to keep our
once-burned higher management from frowning too much on
further operating-system research. I was aware that Ken,
Dennis and Rudd were discussing the subject down the hall
from my office, but I did not participate in the
discussions. At the same time, I was noodling over what
would later be called shell pipelines; but I did not come
up with the vivid term "pipe" or a halfway workable
syntax for another three years. While these actions may
have contributed to a welcoming environment for Unix, they
in no way "started" it.</div>
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<div>Doug</div>
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<div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Wed, Mar 6, 2024 at
10:03 AM Brantley Coile <<a
href="mailto:brantley@coraid.com" target="_blank"
moz-do-not-send="true" class="moz-txt-link-freetext">brantley@coraid.com</a>>
wrote:<br>
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style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">It
all depends on how you define "started." <br>
<br>
Your contributions to it was done while it was still in the
maternity ward of the hospital in which it was birthed. I
would argue, at length if need be, but I suspect it's not
needed, that you indeed "started to develop it." Did only Ken
started it. Who was in the room when Ken outlined the file
system? You're finger prints are all over everything from
very, very early. <br>
<br>
From a quarter the way into the 21st century, you certainly
appear to have started to develop it.<br>
<br>
Just my humble opinion. my disclaimer is that I've always held
your contributions in very high regard.<br>
<br>
Brantley<br>
<br>
> On Mar 6, 2024, at 9:55 AM, Douglas McIlroy <<a
href="mailto:douglas.mcilroy@dartmouth.edu" target="_blank"
moz-do-not-send="true" class="moz-txt-link-freetext">douglas.mcilroy@dartmouth.edu</a>>
wrote:<br>
> <br>
> > When Rudd, Doug, Ken, Dennis, et al start to develop
UNIX<br>
> <br>
> Although I jumped into Unix as soon as it was born, I was
not one of those who "start[ed] to develop it".<br>
> <br>
> Doug<br>
<br>
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