[TUHS] Fwd: A request to the TUHS mailing list about an IEEE Milestone for UNIX Level Six Source Code and Commentary

[Warren Toomey via TUHS]

All, I've just received this e-mail from Paul Leopardi. It's detailed 
but please read it all if you can. I think TUHS should definitely get 
behind this nomination for an IEEE Milestone.


Rather than flood the TUHS list and/or Paul with details, can you look 
at this repository: 
https://github.com/DoctorWkt/IEEE_Milestone_Lions_Commentary


edit the Readme.md and/or add new documents, and issue pull requests.


Thanks, Warren



-------- Forwarded Message --------
Subject: 	A request to the TUHS mailing list about an IEEE Milestone for 
UNIX Level Six Source Code and Commentary
Date: 	Thu, 23 Jul 2026 02:28:54 +0000
From: 	Paul Leopardi <Paul.Leopardi at anu.edu.au>
To: 	wkt at tuhs.org <wkt at tuhs.org>
CC: 	Paul Leopardi <paul.leopardi at computer.org>, Ambarish S Natu 
<ambarish.natu at gmail.com>



Hello Warren,
I'm Paul Leopardi, a former student of John Lions and currently the Life 
Member Affinity Group coordinator of the IEEE ACT Section.

I have been in contact with Gernot Heiser at UNSW and with the IEEE 
ACTand NSW Sections as well as IEEE Australia Council about preparations 
for an application for an IEEE Milestone for the two John Lions books 
published by UNSW in 1977, both the UNIX Source Code Level Six and the 
Commentary. The milestone would be "UNIX Level Six Source Code and 
Commentary" The milestone ceremony would likely coincide with the John 
Lions Distinguished Lecture in 2027, and the plaque would be likely to 
be in the John Lions Garden.

See https://ethw.org/Milestones:IEEE_Milestones_Program and
https://ieeemilestones.ethw.org/Milestone_Guidelines_and_How_to_Propose_a_Milestone

As part of my researtch for the IEEE Milestone application, with the 
help of AI agents, I put together a brief history of the Lions books, 
including their inception and impact. You can see this at
https://sites.google.com/site/paulleopardi/essays

The history is probably overly detailed, but to qualify for an IEEE 
Milestone, an event must be a key historical achivement. To date there 
is no IEEE Milestone for UNIX and very few for software, let alone 
operating systems. An example of a milestone for an operating system is 
https://ethw.org/Milestones:The_CP/M_Microcomputer_Operating_System,_1974

The IEEE Milestone evidence bar is quite high, instead of citations, it 
requires the full text of cited references. To this end I would like to 
post the following to the TUHS mailing list, most likely after paraphasing:

---ooo0ooo---

Seeking TUHS archival assistance & primary evidence: IEEE Milestone 
nomination for John Lions’ UNIX V6 Commentary

Hi everyone,

In consultation with Ambarish Natu (IEEE ACT Section), I am currently 
working to finalize an **IEEE Milestone proposal** to formally recognize 
John Lions’ 1977 work at UNSW — *A Commentary on the Sixth Edition UNIX 
Operating System* — and its foundational role in operating systems 
education, open systems culture, and global software engineering.

To ensure our submission package to the IEEE History Committee is 
historically watertight and backed by primary evidence, we are seeking 
specific assistance from the TUHS community:

### Actionable Evidence Requests for TUHS:

1. **UNSW Tape Archive Verification (`UNSW/88` & `UNSW/106`):**
    * Has anyone inspected the file trees of the `UNSW/88` or `UNSW/106` 
distributions in the TUHS archive for early administrative tools (such 
as `give`, `submit`, or `ausam` modules) to confirm when these utilities 
first entered the UNSW codebase?

2. **Verification of 1977 Physical Artifacts:**
    * We have access to physical copies of the Third Printing of both 
volumes — *Source Code* (in its original pink cover) and *Commentary* 
(in its original orange cover), both dated 1977. We would welcome 
community confirmation that these UNSW Third Printing volumes constitute 
sufficient primary physical evidence for the 1977 Lions books in the 
IEEE dossier.

3. **1994–1998 PUPS / SCO / P2P Archival Records:**
    * Any surviving correspondence, memos, or Usenet petition logs from 
the 1994–1996 Salus/Lions/Ritchie Novell-SCO negotiations, or the 
1996–1998 Toomey/Schultz/Dion Johnson $100 Ancient UNIX licence 
campaign, to further enrich our documentation of early UNIX preservation 
milestones.

4. **Western Electric / AT&T Licensing Memos (1977–1978):**
    * Primary copies or scans of 1977–1978 correspondence between Bell 
Labs / Western Electric and UNSW regarding the prohibition of external 
commentary distribution, or internal Bell Labs memos referencing Lions' 
book.

5. **Early International Samizdat Artifacts:**
    * Primary documentation or recollections regarding early samizdat 
distribution timelines at international universities (e.g. early 
Berkeley CS 162 syllabi, UK/European Unix groups, or Japanese 
translation initiatives prior to the 1998 ASCII release).

6. **Supporting Statements & Endorsements:**
    * Short supporting statements or endorsement letters from Unix 
pioneers, early AUUG founders, or academics who used the *Commentary* in 
university courses during the 1970s–1990s to attach to the official IEEE 
History Committee submission package.

The complete 45-source **Narrative History** (1974–2026) and 
bibliography are published online for review at:
**https://sites.google.com/site/paulleopardi/essays**

Thank you all for your extraordinary dedication to preserving UNIX history.

All the best, Paul Leopardi
https://sites.google.com/site/paulleopardi/essays