[TUHS] June 8, 2026 – Vivian Voss – Where Unix Runs Today

[segaloco via TUHS]

On Monday, August 3rd, 2026 at 09:25, Charles H Sauer (he/him) via TUHS <tuhs at tuhs.org> wrote:

> I discovered https://vivianvoss.net/blog/where-unix-runs-today yesterday
> and sent the excerpts below to former AIX colleagues and others that
> might be interested. I forwarded that mail to Clem and Heinz this
> morning. Clem replied with a detailed commentary. Clem seemed to agree
> this might be worth posting here to liven things up.
> 
> Charlie
> 

I appreciate this, as being the nerd I am, I proselytize on UNIX's
influence and presence in most of our modern computing world to my
friends every so often.  Usually comes up because they ask about the
documentation stuff I study (I also host music events at my house so
plenty of folks have a chance to peruse the shelves.)  The other context
in which it comes up is when someone's cursing a POS terminal but I'll
let the technology's name speak for itself :)

Anywho, something I'm a bit tickled by is that there are various UNIX
and UNIX-like kernels down inside of various analog telephone
adapter (ATA) devices which then enable, among other things, Bell System
telephones to still interface with modern digital networks that have
left the 5ESS behind.  It's a bit poetic how it has all come together
that UNIX in 2026 continues to excel in telecommunications of all kinds.

Once upon a time, UNIX was a system running on a single PDP-7 at MHCC.
Today, I pick up the Western Electric 500D telephone at my desk and it
connects to a Grandstream ATA running some sort of Linux kernel to
compute which other telephone the various pulses I'm sending down a wire
mean I should connect to*.  A chunk of the compute has now moved from the
CO into a small black box on my desk no larger than a hamburger.  And
that small black hamburger runs something that talks to its client
software quite similarly to what Ken, Dennis, et. al. knew was the
type-design for a quality system that would outlast generational shifts
in implementation.  ANSI C and POSIX are both testaments to that...

- Matt G.

* - As an aside, I have not had a personal telephone in many years,
cellular or otherwise.  I have an assigned Android mobile for work but
that stays chained to my desk like the snarling, rabid animal it is.

Needless to say, the telephone I describe is a cool local network called
Telehamster (https://www.telehamster.net/) here in Bellingham.  The
network is simply a 10,000 line Grandstream network, with each line
being a 4-digit extension on the local network.  However, being a VoIP
thing, anyone globally can join the network.  This isn't an ad pitch by
the way, I'm just super jazzed on the project and enjoy the crossroads
it sits at re: unix, telephones, community, etc.  I like to celebrate
these sorts of projects!