[TUHS] The UNIX System: Making Computers More Productive

[Cyrille Lefevre]

Hi,

Don't remember if this was already posted to this list, so, just in case 
it wasn't...

The UNIX System: Making Computers More Productive

http://techchannel.att.com/play-video.cfm/2012/2/22/AT&T-Archives-The-UNIX-System

In the late 1960s, Bell Laboratories computer scientists Dennis Ritchie 
and Ken Thompson started work on a project that was inspired by an 
operating system called Multics, a joint project of MIT, GE, and Bell 
Labs. The host and narrator of this film, Victor Vyssotsky, also had 
worked on the Multics project. Ritchie and Thompson, recognizing some of 
the problems with the Multics OS, set out to create a more useful, 
flexible, and portable system for programmers to work with.

What's fascinating about the growth of UNIX is the long amount of time 
that it was given to develop, almost organically, and based on the needs 
of the users and programmers. The first installation of the program was 
done as late as 1972 (on a NY Telephone branch computer). It was in 
conjunction with the refinement of the C programming language, 
principally designed by Dennis Ritchie.

Because the Bell System had limitations placed by the government that 
prevented them from selling software, UNIX was made available under 
license to universities and the government. This helped further its 
development, as well as making it a more "open" system.

This film "The UNIX System: Making Computers More Productive", is one of 
two that Bell Labs made in 1982 about UNIX's significance, impact and 
usability. Even 10 years after its first installation, it's still an 
introduction to the system. The other film, "The UNIX System: Making 
Computers Easier to Use", is roughly the same, only a little shorter. 
The former film was geared towards software developers and computer 
science students, the latter towards programmers specifically.

The film contains interviews with primary developers Ritchie, Thompson, 
Brian Kernighan, and many others.

While widespread use of UNIX has waned, most modern operating systems 
have at least a conceptual foundation in UNIX.

Release date: 02/22/2012

http://wpc.5C42.att-acdn.net/005C42/techchannel/10959/videos/10959_AA11180_Unix_FL8_576x432_700K.flv

Regards,

Cyrille Lefevre
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