SGI Software Usability II (IRIX 5.1 memo)

[Don Hopkins]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SunOS#History <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SunOS#History>

The SunOS 3.x => 4.x transition was also the BSD 4.2 => 4.3 transition.

Sun operating system version numbers seemed to parallel the version of Unix it was based on for a while there, until it started spinning out of control and got sucked up into the System V death star. 

Sun UNIX 0.7: UniSoftUNIX v7
SunOS 1.x: 4.1 BSD
SunOS 2.x: 4.2 BSD
SunOS 3.x: 4.2 BSD + some 4.3 BSD and some System V
SunOS 4.x: 4.3 BSD + even more System V 
SunOS 5.0: SVR4

-Don


> On 12 Oct 2017, at 17:09, Don Hopkins <SimHacker at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> 
>> On 12 Oct 2017, at 16:59, Larry McVoy <lm at mcvoy.com <mailto:lm at mcvoy.com>> wrote:
>> 
>> That must have been really early on because by the time I got to Sun (4.0?
>> Maybe 4.1?) shared libraries worked properly.
> 
> Yeah, I remember that being a SunOS 3.x limitation. 4.x was a whole lot nicer! 
> 
> Wikipedia says: 
> 
> SunOS 4.0: Dec 1988: New virtual memory system, dynamic linking, automounter, System V STREAMS I/O. Sun386i support.
> 
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SunOS#History <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SunOS#History>
> 
> Then it all went downhill from there… ;(
> 
> -Don
> 
> http://www.art.net/~hopkins/Don/unix-haters/slowlaris/sunos-died.html <http://www.art.net/~hopkins/Don/unix-haters/slowlaris/sunos-died.html>
> 
> The Day SunOS Died
> 
> Lyrics by N. R. "Norm" Lunde.
> Apologies to Don McLean.
> 
> Remember when those guys out West
> With their longish hair and paisley vests
> Were starting up, straight out of UCB?
> They used those Motorola chips
> Which at the time were really hip
> And looked upon the world through VME.
> Their first attempt ran like a pig
> But it was the start of something big;
> They called the next one the Sun-2
> And though they only sold a few
> It soon gave birth unto the new
> Sun-3 which was their pride
> And now they're singing
> 
> [chorus]
> 
> "Bye, bye, SunOS 4.1.3!
> ATT System V has replaced BSD.
> You can cling to the standards of the industry
> But only if you pay the right fee -- 
> Only if you pay the right fee . . ."
> 
> The hardware wasn't all they sold.
> Their Berkeley port was solid gold
> And interfaced with System V, no less!
> They implemented all the stuff
> That Berkeley thought would be enough
> Then added RPC and NFS.
> It was a lot of code to cram
> Into just four megs of RAM.
> The later revs were really cool
> With added values like SunTools
> But then they took us all for fools
> By peddling Solaris . . .
> And they were singing,
> 
> [chorus]
> 
> They took a RISC and kindled SPARC.
> The difference was like light and dark.
> The Sun-4s were the fastest and the best.
> The user base was having fun
> Installing SunOS 4.1
> But what was coming no one could have guessed.
> The installed base was sound
> And software did abound.
> While all the hackers laughed and played
> Already plans were being made
> To make the dubious "upgrade" 
> To Sun's new Solaris . . .
> And Sun was singing,
> 
> [chorus]
> 
> The cartridge tapes were first to go --
> The CD-ROM's a must, you know
> And floppy drives will soon go out the door.
> I tried to call and ask them why
> But they took away my TTY
> And left my modem lying on the floor.
> While they were on a roll
> They moved the damned Control.
> The Ethernet's now twisted pair
> Which no one uses anywhere.
> ISDN is still more rare -- 
> The bandwidth's even less!
> But still they're singing
> 
> [chorus]
> 
> But worst of all is what they've done
> To software that we used to run
> Like dbx and even /bin/cc.
> Compilers now have license locks
> Wrapped up in OpenWindows crocks --
> We even have to pay for GCC!
> The applications broke;
> /usr/local went up in smoke.
> The features we've depended on
> Before too long will all be gone
> But Sun, I'm sure, will carry on 
> By peddling Solaris,
> Forever singing,
> 
> [chorus]
> 

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