[TUHS] DG UNIX History

[Paul Ruizendaal]

> Date: Sat, 12 Nov 2022 17:56:24 -0800
> From: Larry McVoy <lm at mcvoy.com>
> Subject: [TUHS] Re: DG UNIX History
> 
> It sounds like they could have supported mmap() easily.  I'd love to see
> this kernel, it sounds to me like it was SunOS with nicely done SMP 
> support.  The guy that said he'd never seen anything like it before or
> since, just makes me want to see it more.

> I know someone who was friends with one of the kernel guys, haven't talked
> to her in years but I'll see if I can find anything.

Following on from the exchange on TUHS about DG-UX, it would seem to me that the (Unix) unified cache was invented at least three times for Unix:
- John Reiser at AT&T
- At Sun
- At DG

As to the latter I could find two leads that might help you finding out more. It would seem that this unique Unix is specifically DG-UX version 4:

https://web.archive.org/web/20070930212358/http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-9202012_ITM

and

Michael H. Kelly and Andrew R. Huber, "Engineering a (Multiprocessor) Unix Kernel", Proceedings of the Autumn 1989 EUUG Conference, European Unix Systems User Group, Vienna, Austria, 1989, pp. 7- 19.

The unified cache isn’t mentioned, but it would seem that the multiprocessor redesign might have included it. Maybe the author names are helpful. I could not find the paper online, but there was a web page suggesting that a paper copy still exists in a (university?) library in Sweden.

=====

Publication: DG Review 

Publication Date: 01-NOV-88
Author: Huber, Andrew R. 


DG-UX 4.00: DG's redesigned kernel lays the foundation for future UNIX systems. (includes related article on DG-UX 4.00's file system and an excerpt from Judith S. Hurwitz's 'Data General's UNIX strategy: an evaluation' report)

COPYRIGHT 1988 New Media Publications 

DG/UX 4.00 

Revision 4.00 of Data General's native UNIX operating system siginificantly enhances the product and adds unique capabilities not found in other UNIX implementations. This article reviews the goals of DG/UX 4.00 and discusses some of its features. 

When DG released DG/UX 1.00 in March, 1985, it was based on AT&T's System V Release 2 and incorporated the Berkeley UNIX file system and networking. 

As DG/UX grew, it continued to incorporate functions of the major standard UNIX systems, as illustrated in the following timeline: 

* DG/UX 1.00 March, 1985 Based on System V Release 2 and Berkely 4.1. 

      Included Berkely 4.2 file system and TCP/IP (LAN). 

* DG/UX 2.00, September, 1985 Added Berkeley 4.2 system calls. 

* DG/UX 3.00, April 1986 Added support for new DG hardware. 

* DG/UX 3.10 March, 1987 Added Sun Microsystem's Network File System.sup.(R) Added X Windows. 

* DG/UX 4.00, August, 1988 Re-designed and re-implemented kernel and file system.



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