[TUHS] Earliest Non-English UNIX?
Martin via TUHS
tuhs at tuhs.org
Thu Jan 29 01:07:07 AEST 2026
Hello,
I would like to mention here not a UNIX per-se but heavily inspired by
it, polish Operating System called CROOK written entirely in
K-202/MERA-400 assembly language during 1970s and 1980s in Gdansk
University of Technology: https://mera400.pl/Galeria
CROOK design was dictated by the same universal needs (multitasking,
multiuser support, a hierarchical file system, etc) that shaped UNIX. It
was build to work with both older peripherals (like tape readers) and
newer devices produced for the MERA-400 by companies like Amepol.
Development even influenced the design of the MX-16 processor upgrade
for the MERA-400.
A major digital archaeology project successfully recovered CROOK and
other software from original magnetic tapes, i.e:
https://hackaday.com/2017/03/03/raiders-of-the-lost-os-reclaiming-a-piece-of-polish-it-history/#more-245582
Team led by Jakub Filipowicz ( https://github.com/jakubfi ) preserved
this key piece of Polish IT history and actively documenting now all the
archaeology efforts related with hardware/software restoration of MERA400:
https://www.youtube.com/@MERA400
The recovered disk images of CROOK-5 are now available for use in the
EM400 emulator, i.e.:
https://mera400.pl/CROOK-5_-_obraz_dysku
Some basic specs of the machine:
- 16-bit asynchronous CPU, up to 1 million operations per second
- 48-bit hardware floating point
- 121 instructions
- 1Mword (2MB) total address space
- memory segmentation and paging: dedicated memory block for OS + 15
blocks for user programs
- 32 interrupts (maskable, 10 priority levels)
Kind Regards!
Martin
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