The Rise of Unix. The Seeds of its Fall.

Summary

The video script narrates the history of Unix, from its inception as a solution to hardware-dependent code, through the Multics project, to its development by Bell Labs scientists Ken Thompson and Dennis Ritchie. It highlights Unix's spread through academic and computing communities, its revolutionary impact on the software industry, and the commercialization of Unix by companies like Sun Microsystems, leading to the rise of a powerful tech industry.

Takeaways

• 🚀 The inception of Unix was a response to the need for a platform that could develop software capable of handling different hardware efficiently and economically.
• 🎯 Unix's roots can be traced back to the Multics project, which aimed to create a general-purpose utility for sharing computer time among multiple users.
• 🌐 The Multics project was eventually abandoned due to slow progress and high costs, but the core ideas and team members lived on, leading to the creation of Unix.
• 🎮 Ken Thompson's space game 'Space Travel' was a catalyst for Unix's development, as it prompted the need to rewrite the game for a different computer system.
• 🔧 Unix's innovative file system and utilities abstracted away hardware differences, allowing users on any device to make changes to files, which became one of its defining features.
• 📈 Unix's popularity grew rapidly due to its affordability, ease of use, and the fact that it was written in the higher-level programming language 'C', which facilitated portability and modification.
• 📚 The AT&T Consent Decree played a significant role in Unix's spread by requiring AT&T to make its inventions available to the academic community at low or no cost.
• 🌍 Berkeley Unix, developed at UC Berkeley, introduced important features like virtual memory and became a leading edge Unix release, influencing the development of the Internet.
• 💡 DARPA's adoption of Unix as its universal computing environment further solidified Unix's role in networking and the development of Internet protocols.
• 🏢 The commercialization of Unix led to the rise of companies like Sun Microsystems, which played a key role in popularizing workstation computers and networking.
• 🛠️ Unix's evolution from a hobbyist project to a commercial industry reflects the growing recognition of software's potential as a powerful industry.

Q & A

What was the primary motivation behind the creation of Unix?

The primary motivation behind the creation of Unix was the need for a platform that could develop software capable of handling different hardware without the need to rewrite the code every time the computer was upgraded or changed.

What was the original project that led to the development of Unix?

The original project that led to the development of Unix was called 'Multiplexed Information and Computing Service' (Multics), a collaboration between scientists from Bell Labs, MIT, and General Electric.

What significant concept did the Multics project introduce that is still used today?

The Multics project introduced the concept of virtual memory, which allows secondary storage like a hard drive to be used as if it were part of the main memory (RAM), enabling the computer to handle more data.

Why did Bell Labs pull out of the Multics project?

Bell Labs pulled out of the Multics project due to the slow progress, excessive spending, and the absence of a workable product, as the project was following a vague plan with too few people involved.

How did the game 'Space Travel' contribute to the development of Unix?

The game 'Space Travel', written by Ken Thompson, was originally designed for the GE 635 computer. When the Multics project ended and the team lost access to the GE 635, Thompson rewrote the game for a graphics-capable PDP-7 minicomputer, which led to the development of a new file system and eventually Unix.

What was the significance of the file system developed by Ken Thompson and his team?

The file system developed by Ken Thompson and his team was significant because it abstracted away the differences between various computer hardwares, allowing anyone on any device to make changes to a file, which became one of Unix's key features.

Why was Unix's source code made available to universities at a low cost?

Unix's source code was made available to universities at a low cost due to the 1956 AT&T Consent Decree, which required AT&T to make its inventions available to the academic community at no charge or license them for fair and reasonable terms as part of a legal settlement in an anti-trust lawsuit.

How did the Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD) contribute to the spread of Unix?

The Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD) contributed to the spread of Unix by adding new features and utilities, such as a Pascal implementation and a wysiwyg text editor called 'ex', which later became 'vim'. This made BSD a popular variant of Unix that was widely requested and distributed.

What role did Unix play in the development of the Internet?

Unix played a significant role in the development of the Internet as it was chosen by DARPA to be the universal computing environment for their organization. The Unix 4.2BSD fully supported the Internet protocol stack TCP/IP, which was crucial in popularizing the Internet as we know it today.

How did the commercialization of Unix impact the industry?

The commercialization of Unix led to the growth of the software industry and the creation of numerous companies that developed and marketed Unix-based systems. It transformed Unix from a hobbyist and academic tool into a commercial product that powered the rapid growth of Silicon Valley and the technology sector.

What were some of the companies that commercialized Unix and contributed to its spread?

Some of the companies that commercialized Unix and contributed to its spread include Sun Microsystems, which popularized workstation computers with Unix OS; Mt. Xinu, which sold a commercially licensed version of BSD for DEC Vax minicomputers; Santa Cruz Operation, which sold Unix variants for x86 computers; and NeXT, which was founded by Steve Jobs and derived its operating system NeXTSTEP from BSD.