[lug] Old Unix, was Re: SGI Onyx 2

[Maxwell Spangler]

On Wed, 2010-03-31 at 16:50 -0600, Jeffrey Haemer wrote:
> Maxwell,

>         You couldn't do a lot with Unix back then (no X, no 3D, no
>         easy ipv4)
>         but you could do things.. right?

> Does "make a living" count?

> INTERACTIVE Systems Corporation was the first commercial UNIX vendor
> (1977). 

My first access to Unix was on a Cray supercomputer via dial-up.  I had
no idea what to do with it, but back then all the "Learn Unix" books
were pretty much focused on how to login and use ls to list your files
with wildcards, so it went nowhere for me.

My next access was on an ALTOS 8000 (Z80 4Mhz CPU) with a 10M HD and 8"
floppy.  Again, no idea what I could actually use it for as by that
point (many years after this machine's prime) a good 286 with DOS was
much more useful.

A few years later I got my first project working with SCO Unix and
things started to click.  I got hooked really fast and switched to Linux
because of networking and X -- things I couldn't afford from SCO.

I didn't remember the name PC/IX but I remembered the name Interactive
and always had a respect for them. SCO was like a Volkswagen of Unix and
while I was happy to be using it instead of Windows, it wasn't the sexy
Sun, SGI or NeXT system I'd wanted on my desktop.

-- 
Maxwell Spangler
========================================================================
        Linux, Unix and Database Administration
        Currently: Boulder, Colorado
        LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/maxwellspangler