Unix

= The Rise of Unix = toc [|Unix] is a computer operating system that was developed in 1969 by AT&T employees at Bell Labs. Its name comes from “UNiplexed Information and Computing Service,” and was built as a response to “Multics,” an operating system designed by MIT, AT&T, and GE for the GE-645 mainframe computer. Its own history ties in with the rise of Open Source Software. A few Bell Labs employees became frustrated by Multics’ problems and limitations, and went on to develop Unix which could support many simultaneous users and sponsor a computer “fellowship.” Unix's popularity "is due to many factors, including its ability to run a wide variety of machines, from micros to supercomputers, and its portability -- all of which led to its adoption by many manufacturers" (Bell-Labs, 2002). It encourages interoperability and software sharing among its users, and as its usefulness bloomed, AT&T distributed Unix to academic institutions and the government. Unix reshaped computing in that is was centered more around networks than individual computers, and subsequently made a large impact in the development of the Web. There are now many variants of Unix, with Linux being one of the most popular and widely used. The Unix philosophy is well-expressed by one developer's phrase that "the idea that the power of a system comes more from the relationships among programs than from the programs themselves" (Taylor, D., 2005).

Beginnings
The history of Unix is almost as classic as the system itself. In 1965, Bell Labs, GE, and MIT ventured into creating a computer operating system that would hopefully support many different users and reduce the incompatibility of systems being able to "talk" to one another. This was the "Multics" (Multiplexed Information and Computing Service) project, but eventually in 1969, the funding of the project gave way to the frustrations of those involved, and Bell Labs abandoned the project. However, a few developers stayed on, including now well-known hackers, Ken Thompson and Dennis Ritchie. Thompson himself was working on a computer game, "Space Travel," trying to use the left over developments from Multics. Eventually Thompson et al. hacked their way into a new system, Unix--UNiplexed Information and Computing Service which was a pun in response to Multics. Still at Bell Labs, a new mainframe, the PDP-11 was purchased which allowed the new Unix system to operate and was soon patented by Bell.



The 1970's
Unix continued to grow in the 1970's. The first Unix manual was published in 1971, and in 1972, Unix became commercial, as it was installed in early 1972 for the New York Telephone Company. However, Unix was still largely unknown and not used widely by businesses and corportations. Both Ritchie and Thompson began working on a computer language, 'B', to incorporate with Unix, which eventually evolved into 'C'. Doug McIlroy, also at Bell Labs, developed the notion of "pipes," which allowed programmers to string together a number of activities for one specific outcome. "Pipes" would later evolve into "Macros." McIlroy was also famously quoted as being the first to adapt a Unix philosophy in which he said, "the philosophy that everyone started to put forth was 'Write programs that do one thing and do it well. Write programs to work together. Write programs that handle text streams, because that is a universal interface.'" From 1976-77, Thompson taught Unix at the University of California, Berkeley, which became a hit with his students and faculty. Unix was soon being used by universities and government agencies, and by 1981, had completely gone commercial, with businesses utilizing its System III version. Unix was a hit for business applications due to its timesharing, mutlitasking, allowing many workers to use the mini or mainframe, its diversity across vendor's machines, and its email proficiency.

**References**
(2002). The creation of the UNIX operating system. Retrieved from http://www.bell-labs.com/history/unix/ Taylor, D. (2005). Sams teach yourself Unix in 24 hours (4th ed.). London: Sams Publishing. (2012). History of the OSI. Retrieved from [] (2012). Origins and history of Unix. Retrieved from []