And before that, TENEX/TOPS-20 on the DECSYSTEM-20. But that's slightly before my time. (By the time I entered the CMU Ph.D. program, very few DECSYSTEMs were left, being replaced by 11/780s and then a plethora of microvaxen. Running VMS, but also BSD 4.1 with lots of 4.2 patches.)
VMS certainly was better engineered... but you NEEDED those big blue binders. It took me several days with those binders to figure out how to get uncooked keyboard input. On Fri, Nov 1, 2024 at 5:16 PM Bill Degnan via cctalk <cctalk@classiccmp.org> wrote: > For a few year VMS was the OS of the "internet". I remember wondering in > 1991 or 1992 if UNIX would still be around by 2000 > > On Fri, Nov 1, 2024, 4:42 PM Johan Helsingius via cctalk < > cctalk@classiccmp.org> wrote: > > > UNIX might have been unobtainium in your home, but a lot of BBS's > > used UUCP to get email and USENET connectivity, and a huge amount > > of students had modem access to an UNIX computer at their university. > > > > Julf > > > > > > On 10/24/24 04:36, Doug Jackson via cctalk wrote: > > > Yes, UUCP was literally a thing, but UNIX was unobtanium in the early > > > computing eral - The world of the University Minicomputer. > > > > > > It certainly wasn't even vaguely accessible by a hobbyist running a > > > Z80 or 6800 in the late 70's. > > > > > > I vividly remember being able to take home a NEC 80386 computer from > > > my day job (I worked for a computer store selling NEC machines) during > > > the Christmas shutdown between 1987/1988 - It had SCO Xenix installed > > > and a new graphical system (To SCO) called 'XWindows' Unheard of - I > > > did a heap of learning. > > > > > > That was probably the point where a UNIX like operating system became > > > accessible to people. Then 386BSD arrived (1993) and Linux came (1991) > > > into the scene and suddenly unix was everywhere - I still remember my > > > first stack of installation media for freeBSD - something like 10 > > > 1.4MB floppies for the Binaries, and another 10 for the source files. > > > > > > So - yea, UUCP was around, but it wasn't alive in hobbyist circles. > > > > > > Kindest regards, > > > > > > Doug Jackson > > > > > > em: d...@doughq.com > > > ph: 0414 986878 > > > > > > Follow my amateur radio adventures at vk1zdj.net > > > > > > > > > On Thu, 24 Oct 2024 at 11:39, Bill Gunshannon via cctalk > > > <cctalk@classiccmp.org> wrote: > > >> > > >> > > >> > > >> On 10/23/2024 3:22 PM, Fred Cisin via cctalk wrote: > > >>> On Wed, 23 Oct 2024, Robert Feldman via cctalk wrote: > > >>> > > >>>> Ward Christensen, Early Visionary of Social Media, Dies at 78 > > >>>> > > >>>> > > > https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/21/technology/ward-christensen-dead.html?unlocked_article_code=1.UU4.nswM.540OUXuySX84&smid=url-share > > >>> > > >>> Thank you for sharing that. > > >>> > > >>> > > >>> The author, presumably a heavy Reddit, TikTok and Facebook user, > seemed > > >>> to have never heard about existence of computers before internet, nor > > >>> about any computer to computer connections other than internet. He > > does > > >>> not seem to know about anything except CBBS,and that solely because > it > > >>> "resembles Facebook". > > >>> "Early Visionary of Social Media" > > >>> > > >>> > > >>> It is an adequately detailed story of his life, and mostly about CBBS > > >>> ("a forerunner of Reddit, TikTok and Facebook") > > >>> > > >>> A dozen paragraphs about CBBS, but XMODEM barely rated a mention, and > > >>> even there, only about its use on CBBS: > > >>> > > >>> "In 1977, he developed a protocol, called XMODEM, for sending > computer > > >>> files across phone lines; it was later used on C.B.B.S." > > >>> . . . "For decades, his license plate read, XMODEM." > > >>> > > >> > > >> Which had already been done with UUCP in 1976. > > >> > > >> bill' > > >> > > >
