We need a new UNIX-like moment in OS research. BeOS had interesting ideas in the 90s, but every single new OS now has to be "crippled" by POSIX to support *NIX, or else it has no critical mass to grow.<p>I'd like to see a MIT-licensed non-POSIX OS with a capable enough POSIX subsystem that would be eventually discarded as all software gets on board.
Unix was ahead of its time in its inception, but that same basic design fails to address many of the current challenges we face as software developers and users, hence the proliferation of package managers, the mind-blowing complexity of userland middleware, the thousands of CLI tools each with tens of options and modes.<p>The simplicity of the basic Unix API means that much of the complexity is shifted elsewhere – in libraries, in middleware, in applications. Moreover, there is considerable overlap of functionality between many of these components.
There is thing to say for simplicity.<p>At varsity we had the misfortune to using Sperry 1100 Univac system ... all I can remember it sure had a lot of "@" in it's JCL to get anything done.<p>Third year we got a NCR "Tower" Unix system ... what a joy in comparison.
Don't miss The Unix Game (linked halfway down on the page)!<p><a href="https://www.unixgame.io/unix50" rel="nofollow">https://www.unixgame.io/unix50</a>
"Development started in 1969
First manual published internally in November 1971[1]
Announced outside Bell Labs in October 1973"
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unix" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unix</a><p>I am confused: what would be the birthday of unix? Would that be an initial release or the start of development?
Going to plug for the SDF people and the cool <a href="http://unix50.org/" rel="nofollow">http://unix50.org/</a> project<p>Ever want to know what Unix v1 was like on the PDP-11?
Is it really today (Oct 22)? Not that I care about the specific date, I'm just wondering if there's a particular story as to why this date. It'd be cool to hear if it exists.<p>A lot of other stories mention "summer".
e.g. <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2019/08/unix-at-50-it-starts-with-a-mainframe-a-gator-and-three-dedicated-researchers/" rel="nofollow">https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2019/08/unix-at-50-it-starts...</a>