[ih] Ping Eduardo A. Suárez (was Re: What is the origin of the root account?)

[jack at 3kitty.org (Jack Haverty)]

Yep.  My undergrad work was on Multics, writing the code generator
part of a compiler.  Yes, that experience helped with understanding
Unix to do the TCP work..

However, Ritchie also said:  "In fact. a good case can be made that it
(Unix) is in essence a modern implementation of M.I.T.'s CTSS system."
 See D.M.Ritchie, "A Retrospective", Bell System Technical Journal
July-August 1978.  I worked on CTSS too, so that also probably helped
me understand the innards of Unix.  As I recall though, CTSS preceded
Multics.  I think.  It's been a long time.

Multics was on the computer floor at MAC, adjacent to our PDP-10
(running ITS).  Multics generated so much heat that the air
conditioning system always overcooled our PDP-10 area.  Sometimes we
expected snow.  After a day in that room pulling memory bus cables, I
got pneumonia.  When the Multics machine moved out, the room
temperature rose to more comfortable levels.  I guess one major
advance of Unix over Multics was that Unix required far less air
conditioning :-J

/Jack Haverty


On Wed, Apr 17, 2013 at 8:06 PM, Bill Ricker <bill.n1vux at gmail.com> wrote:
> Yes, Unix was inspired by Multics, and borrowed much -- Dennis Ritchie was
> Bell's person at MIT MAC until they withdrew (and Mike Padlipsky's
> officemate iirc); originally spelled Unics, meaning "One of whatever Multics
> is many of" (or a castrated Multics).
>
> (The shell having syntax that made pipes scriptable rather than only being
> compiled as in Multics was the major advance in Bell Unix; other differences
> from were scaling back.)
>
> ( Multics directly influenced VMS and PR1MOS as well; most other OS's were
> indirectly influenced. )
>
> -- Bill
>
>