Unix

From Linux 101

1 All Hail UNIX !
2 1969
3 1971
4 1973
5 1975
6 1979
7 1980
8 1982
9 1983
10 1984
11 1984
12 1986
13 1987
14 1988
15 1989
16 1989
17 1990
18 1991
19 1992
20 1993
21 Late 1993
22 1994
23 1995
24 1996
25 1997
26 1998
27 1999
28 2001
29 2002
30 Notes

All Hail UNIX !

Pronounced yoo-niks, UNIX is a popular MultiUser multi-user, MultiTasking multitasking OperatingSystem operating system developed at BellLabs Bell Labs in the early 1970s. UNIX uses cryptic command names and is generally user-unfriendly.

UNIX was one of the first OperatingSystem operating systems to be written in a high-level programming language, namely C. This meant that it could installed on virtually any computer for which a C Compiler C compiler existed. This natural portability combined with its low price made it a popular choice among universities. (It was inexpensive because antitrust regulations prohibited BellLabs Bell Labs from marketing it as a full-scale product. How times change eh [Bill] ?)

Bell Labs distributed the operating system in its source language form, so anyone who obtained a copy could modify and customize it for his own purposes. By the end of the 1970s, dozens of different versions of UNIX were running at various sites.

After its breakup in 1982, ATT AT&T began to market UNIX in earnest. It also began the long and difficult process of defining a standard version of UNIX. To date, there are two main dialects of UNIX; one produced by ATT AT&T known as SystemV System V and one developed at Berkley Berkeley University and known as BSD4.x, x being a number from 1 to 3.

XOpen claim UNIX - the worldwide Single UNIX Specification integrating XOpen X/Open Company's XPG4, IEEE's Posix Standards and ISO C. Through continual evolution, the Single UNIX Specification is the defacto and dejure standard definition for the UNIX system application programming interfaces.

XOpen also clam [this] to be the definative Unix History Since it began to escape from ATT AT&T's Bell Laboratories in the early 1970's, the success of the UNIX operating system has led to many different versions: recipients of the (at that time free) UNIX system code all began developing their own different versions in their own, different, ways for use and sale. Universities, research institutes, government bodies and computer companies all began using the powerful UNIX system to develop many of the technologies which today are part of a UNIX system.

Computer aided design, manufacturing control systems, laboratory simulations, even the Internet itself, all began life with and because of UNIX systems. Today, without UNIX systems, the Internet would come to a screeching halt. Most telephone calls could not be made, electronic commerce would grind to a halt and there would have never been "Jurassic Park"!

By the late 1970's, a ripple effect had come into play. By now the under- and post-graduate students whose lab work had pioneered these new applications of technology were attaining management and decision-making positions inside the computer system suppliers and among its customers. And they wanted to continue using UNIX systems.

Soon all the large vendors, and many smaller ones, were marketing their own, diverging, versions of the UNIX system optimized for their own computer architectures and boasting many different strengths and features. Customers found that, although UNIX systems were available everywhere, they seldom were able to interwork or co-exist without significant investment of time and effort to make them work effectively. The trade mark UNIX was ubiquitous, but it was applied to a multitude of different, incompatible products.

In the early 1980's, the market for UNIX systems had grown enough to be noticed by industry analysts and researchers. Now the question was no longer "What is a UNIX system?" but "Is a UNIX system suitable for business and commerce?"

Throughout the early and mid-1980's, the debate about the strengths and weaknesses of UNIX systems raged, often fuelled by the utterances of the vendors themselves who sought to protect their profitable proprietary system sales by talking UNIX systems down. And, in an effort to further differentiate their competing UNIX system products, they kept developing and adding features of their own.

In 1984, another factor brought added attention to UNIX systems. A group of vendors concerned about the continuing encroachment into their markets and control of system interfaces by the larger companies, developed the concept of "open systems."

Open systems were those that would meet agreed specifications or standards. This resulted in the formation of XOpen X/Open Company Ltd whose remit was, and today in the guise of The Open Group remains, to define a comprehensive open systems environment. Open systems, they declared, would save on costs, attract a wider portfolio of applications and competition on equal terms. XOpen X/Open chose the UNIX system as the platform for the basis of open systems.

Although UNIX was still owned by ATT AT&T, the company did little commercially with it until the mid-1980's. Then the spotlight of XOpen X/Open showed clearly that a single, standard version of the UNIX system would be in the wider interests of the industry and its customers. The question now was, "which version?".

In a move intended to unify the market in 1987, ATT AT&T announced a pact with Sun Sun Microsystems, the leading proponent of the Berkeley derived strain of UNIX. However, the rest of the industry viewed the development with considerable concern. Believing that their own markets were under threat they clubbed together to develop their own "new" open systems operating system. Their new organization was called the Open Software Foundation (OSF). In response to this, the ATT AT&T/Sun faction formed UNIX International.

The ensuing "UNIX wars" divided the system vendors between these two camps clustered around the two dominant UNIX system technologies: ATT AT&T's SystemV System V and the OSF system called OSF1 OSF/1. In the meantime, XOpen X/Open Company held the center ground. It continued the process of standardizing the APIs necessary for an open operating system specification.

In addition, it looked at areas of the system beyond the operating system level where a standard approach would add value for supplier and customer alike, developing or adopting specifications for languages, database connectivity, networking and mainframe interworking. The results of this work were published in successive XOpen X/Open Portability Guides.

XPG 4 was released in October 1992. During this time, XOpen X/Open had put in place a brand program based on vendor guarantees and supported by testing. Since the publication of XPG4, XOpen X/Open has continued to broaden the scope of open systems specifications in line with market requirements. As the benefits of the XOpen X/Open brand became known and understood, many large organizations began using XOpen X/Open as the basis for system design and procurement. By 1993, over $7 billion had been spent on XOpen X/Open branded systems. By the start of 1997 that figure has risen to over $23 billion. To date, procurements referencing the Single UNIX Specification amount to over $5.2 billion.

In early 1993, ATT AT&T sold it UNIX System Laboratories to Novell which was looking for a heavyweight operating system to link to its NetWare product range. At the same time, the company recognized that vesting control of the definition (specification) and trademark with a vendor-neutral organization would further facilitate the value of UNIX as a foundation of open systems. So the constituent parts of the UNIX System, previously owned by a single entity are now quite separate

In 1995 SCO bought the UNIX Systems business from Novell, and UNIX system source code and technology continues to be developed by SCO.

In 1995 XOpen X/Open introduced the UNIX 95 brand for computer systems guaranteed to meet the Single UNIX Specification. The Single UNIX Specification brand program has now achieved critical mass: vendors whose products have met the demanding criteria now account for the majority of UNIX systems by value.

For over ten years, since the inception of XOpen X/Open , UNIX had been closely linked with open systems. XOpen X/Open , now part of The Open Group, continues to develop and evolve the Single UNIX Specification and associated brand program on behalf of the IT community. The freeing of the specification of the interfaces from the technology is allowing many systems to support the UNIX philosophy of small, often simple tools , that can be combined in many ways to perform often complex tasks. The stability of the core interfaces preserves existing investment, and is allowing development of a rich set of software tools. The Open Source movement is building on this stable foundation and is creating a resurgence of enthusiasm for the UNIX philosophy. In many ways Open Source can be seen as the true delivery of Open Systems that will ensure it continues to go from strength to strength.

Unix

From Linux 101

Contents

All Hail UNIX !

1969

1971

1973

1975

1979

1980

1982

1983

1984

1984

1986

1987

1988

1989

1989

1990

1991

1992

1993

Late 1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2001

2002

Notes

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