[TUHS] UNIX on (not quite bare) System/370

[Noel Chiappa]

    > From: Bakul Shah

    > There is a further para:

    >  Reducing external memory fragmentation to zero by utilizing the VAX-
    >  11/780 memory mapping hardware for scatter loading is high on the list
    >  of things to do in the second implementation pass.

I'm curious as to exactly what is meant by "external memory"? They must mean
memory on the Synchronous Backplane Interconnect:

  http://gunkies.org/wiki/Synchronous_Backplane_Interconnect

I.e. what most of us would call 'main memory'.

If this code didn't even allocate main memory by pages, instead of in
process-size blocks, it sounds like it's much like 32V (or is it 32V that's
being discussed; I thought this thread had moved on to the Reiser demand
paging version - my apologies it I've gotten lost).


Also, this note:

  http://gunkies.org/wiki/Talk:CB-UNIX

from Dale DeJager (which he kindly gave me permission to post) gives a fair
amount of detail on the relationship between the Research and CB/UNIX
versions, with a brief mention of USG - precisely the era, and relationships,
that are so poorly documented. Interestingly, he indicates that the early
versions of what later became CB/UNIX used something in the V1/V3 range (V4
was the first one in C), so it dates back earlier than most people apparently
assume.

If anyone else has any first-hand notes (i.e.from people who were there at the
time), about the relationship between all the early systems, for which the
author has given permiosssion to post it, please send it to me and I will
add it to the appropriate article on the CHWiki.

Probably the most needed is more about the roots of USG; Dale has filled in
CB/UNIX, and the roots of PWB are covered fairly well in the BSTJ article
on it:

  https://archive.org/details/bstj57-6-2177

at least, for PWB1. Anything that covers the later PWBs would likewise be
gratefully receied.


I suppose I should also write up the relationships of the later UNIXen - 32V
and its descendants too - any material sent to me about them will be most
gratefully received. (If anyone want a CHWiki account, to write it up
themselves, please let me know).

   Noel