It seems certain
that much of the success of UNIX follows from the readability, modifiability, and
portability of its software that in turn follows from its expression in high-level languages.
If you are a Linux enthusiast and are interested in what features from the early days of Linux
have survived, an interesting read is Dennis Ritchie??™s reprint of the first UNIX programmer??™s
manual (dated November 3, 1971). You can find it at Dennis Ritchie??™s Web site: http://cm
.bell-labs.com/cm/cs/who/dmr/1stEdman.html. The form of this documentation is
UNIX man pages??”which is still the primary format for documenting UNIX and Linux
operating system commands and programming tools today.
10
Linux First Steps Part I
What??™s clear as you read through the early documentation and accounts of the UNIX system is that
the development was a free-flowing process, lacked ego, and was dedicated to making UNIX excellent.
This process led to a sharing of code (both inside and outside of Bell Labs) that allowed rapid
development of a high-quality UNIX operating system. It also led to an operating system that AT&T
would find difficult to reel back in later.
To a Commercialized UNIX
Before the AT&T divestiture in 1984, when it was split up into AT&T and seven ???baby Bell??? companies,
AT&T was forbidden to sell computer systems.
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