[TUHS] Zilog Z80 Unix

Erik E. Fair fair-tuhs at netbsd.org
Thu Apr 20 11:42:42 AEST 2017


I have a memory of having seen a Zilog Z-80 (not Z8002 like the Onyx) based Unix, possibly v6, at a vendor show or conference - perhaps the West Coast Computer Faire (WCCF) in the late 1970s or early 1980s.

I recall asking the people in the booth how they managed without an MMU, and don't recall their answer. I do remember thinking that since Unix had "grown up" with MMUs to stomp on obvious pointer mistakes, the software ought to be relatively well-behaved ... you know: not trying to play "core war" with itself?

I searched the TUHS archives cursorily with Google to see if this has been previously mentioned, but pretty much all Z80 CPU references have for its use in "smart" I/O devices back in the day.

Does anyone else remember this Z80 Unix and who did it? Or maybe that it was a clone of some kind ... ?

	looking for a little history,

	Erik Fair



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