[TUHS] Questions regarding early Unix contributors

Norman Wilson norman at oclsc.org
Fri Oct 2 02:37:10 AEST 2015


Dave Horsfall:

  Oh, and I also wrote many articles for AUUGN, and presented the original 
  Unix paper at a DECUS conference, just to stir up the VMSoids.

=====

Do you mean the first UNIX-related paper ever at a DECUS?  If so,
do you mean DECUS Australia or DECUS at all?  I'm pretty sure there
was UNIX-related activity in DECUS US in 1980, probably earlier, and
am quite sure there was by 1981 when I was on the sidelines of what
eventually became the UNIX SIG.

It was initially called the Special Software and Operating Systems SIG,
because DECUS US leadership always included a somewhat stodgy subgroup
who were more afraid of offending Digital's marketing people than of
serving the membership.  So we ended up with a code name.

Since there were in fact Digital technical and marketing people supporting
the new SIG, it was only a couple of years before the name was fixed.

Norman Wilson
Toronto ON
(Lived in Los Angeles and then New Jersey during that period)



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