[TUHS] Anyone have a copy of POSIX.1 (IEEE 1003.1-1988) draft 6?

[David Anderson via TUHS]

Thank you! This is useful as a reference, but it looks like it's N+1 from the version we're after. At least according to https://mirrors.nycbug.org/pub/The_Unix_Archive/Unix_Usenet/mod.std.unix/1986-September/000097.html, "Draft 6" was only circulated electronically, and what would have been "draft 7" became the printed trial use standard. That also aligns with the datestamp on your print being 1986, whereas draft 6 appears to have been circulating in late 1985.

It does still provide a useful datapoint, which is that by "draft 7" the spec format was already different to what 1985 pdtar implemented. That further narrows down the window for when changes may have occurred.

On Fri, Oct 24, 2025, at 11:58, Skip Tavakkolian via TUHS wrote:
> I've put photos of Section 10 here:
> 
> https://photos.app.goo.gl/jU4Ug1i4eMaEwQuz6
> 
> On Thu, Oct 23, 2025 at 9:24 PM David Anderson via TUHS <tuhs at tuhs.org> wrote:
> >
> > A friend is digging into the history of the tar format and its variations. The GNU tar format originates from a non-compliant variation of POSIX ustar, which appears to have been inherited from John Gilmore's pdtar. And according to pdtar's source code, draft 6 of POSIX.1-1988 was the reference used to implement ustar. Thus, it would be interesting to peruse draft 6, and see if the variations stem from later changes to ustar, or ambiguities in the draft's wording, or what.
> >
> > Anyone happen to have an old printout or digital copy of that draft lying around? Allegedly the draft would have been in circulation circa 1985-1986.
> >
> > Cheers,
> > - Dave
>