[TUHS] UNIX/TS 4.x Findings

[segaloco via TUHS]

Thank you for the corrections and additions.  I've been back and forth on the naming, I hear it called USG UNIX 4 in some contexts, the literature just says "UNIX" until SysV which gets "UNIX System".  UNIX/TS is at the top of low.s in SysIII and SysV, but this could just be left over.

In one school of thought, calling it PWB 4 might be more accurate than any of these.  I recall reading elsewhere here in the mailing list that the name System III was chosen because it was believed Programmers WorkBench wouldn't be an appealing name marketing-wise.

If strictly documentation is to be followed, then this manual and my analysis represent "UNIX Release 4.1" for the 3B20S as dated June 1981.  Anything not directly pertaining to this, of course, is speculation and postulation.

- Matt G.

------- Original Message -------
On Thursday, February 9th, 2023 at 6:54 PM, Jonathan Gray <jsg at jsg.id.au> wrote:


> On Thu, Feb 09, 2023 at 01:32:21AM +0000, segaloco via TUHS wrote:
> 
> > Good day everyone, I'm emailing to start a thread on part of my larger
> > UNIX/TS 4.x project that is coming to a conclusion. Lots of info
> > here, so pardon the lack of brevity.
> 
> 
> according to Pirzada's thesis there was no UNIX/TS 4.x
> nov 1978 UNIX/TS 1.0
> feb 1979 UNIX/TS 1.1
> sep 1979 UNIX/TS 1.2 (VAX)
> early 1980 PWB and USG groups combine into
> "Microsystems and UNIX Development Laboratory"
> jun 1980 UNIX Release 3.0
> sep 1980 UNIX Release 3.1
> mar 1981 UNIX Release 4.0
> aug 1981 UNIX Release 4.1.1 for 3B-20
> dec 1981 UNIX Release 4.1.2
> jan 1982 System III, based on Release 3.0.1
> feb 1982 UNIX Release 4.2
> may 1982 UNIX Release 4.2.1
> oct 1982 UNIX Release 5.0
> jan 1983 System V, based on Release 5.0
> 
> "In August 1981, UNIX (denoted: 4.1.1[14]) was released for the
> WECo 3B-20s processor. It was meant only for the 3B machine and was
> basically 4.0 with hardware related changes. This release also marked
> the point where WECo became the official UNIX release agent (aking over
> from Bell Labs). An update (4.1.2) was released in December containing
> some memory management fixes and added on-line diagnostics.
> 
> 14. Release 4.1 never making it out of the door as it was not meant for
> floating point hardware."
> 
> > somewhere along the way the responsibility was shifted from Lab 364 (3.x)
> > to Lab 4542 (5.x).
> 
> 
> "A Bell Laboratories -wide reorganisation in January 1981 resulted in
> the UNIX Lab being renumbered. Release 4.0 was launched from this
> organization in March."
> 
> > SysV IPC appears to be largely there by 4.1, with only icprm missing
> > as far as I could tell.
> 
> 
> further changed in 4.2:
> 
> "Release 4.2 was launched in February 1982 for both the 3B & the DEC
> machines. It contained improvements to the data communications and
> networking software and more mature IPC."
> 
> > From 4.1 to 5.0 the largest changes I see thus far are the addition of
> > CB-UNIX init, generalization of COFF from a 3B-20 object format, and
> > otherwise just clerical, marketing, and accuracy improvements to the
> 
> literature.
> 
> "Much improved performance, a new file system, new init and getty (from
> CB/UNIX) and networking with other bits from BSD/UNIX were the main
> features of Release 5.0"
> 
> quotes from:
> Shamim Sharifuddin Pirzada
> A Statistical Examination of The Evolution of the UNIX System
> September 1988
> https://spiral.imperial.ac.uk/bitstream/10044/1/7942/1/Shamim_Sharfuddin_Pirzada-1988-PhD-Thesis.pdf
> 
> referenced in
> https://www.tuhs.org/Archive/Documentation/Emails/dmr_wkt.html