
Unix: A History and a Memoir, by Brian Kernighan - f2f
https://www.cs.princeton.edu/~bwk/
======
Natales
I've always felt we don't appreciate history very much in our industry.

I've been lucky enough to work and hang out with some of the co-founders of
very impactful projects, such as OpenStack and Cloud Foundry, and there are so
many stories I've heard that I'm sure would be insightful and valuable lessons
for whomever is embarking on new ideas. And yet, we all move so fast, that
there is no time to stop and write them down.

I'm glad BK did. UNIX is foundational to essentially all software-driven
technology today, in one way or another. His book (along with Dennis Ritchie)
on the C Programming Language made a huge impact for me as a CompSci student
in the 80s, as did UNIX itself (Ultrix and DG/OS were my fist UNIX variants).

I look forward to read his book.

~~~
msla
There's also the unavoidability of narratives, and how they influence what
people look up to begin with. For example, there's a Unix history narrative
which begins at Bell Labs goes to Berkeley and then out to the world; this is
already extremely limited, in that it ignores Wollongong (where the first Unix
port was done, to the Interdata/32, and where important work on TCP/IP
networking was done) and what AT&T did with Unix after they closed the sources
and what the Research Unix people were up to after Seventh Edition, but I
think the biggest loss is that it completely sells Multics short: Unix began
when Bell Labs left the Multics project, so Multics, in this narrative, is
frozen in time as this unfinished thing that Our Heroes are already bailing
out of, and that's what gets handed down, as if Multics never progressed an
inch beyond 1969. Heck, you can even see this as Myth #1 on the multicians.org
site:

[https://multicians.org/myths.html](https://multicians.org/myths.html)

> 1\. _Myth: Multics failed in 1969._ Bell Labs quit, Multics survived.

Now that we can use Multics about as easily as we can use Ancient Unix
versions under emulation, you can spin up a perfectly functional 1980s-era
Multics and see that, no, really, Multics evolved into something you can do
stuff on.

That's the problem with narratives: They're _both_ inevitable _and_ inevitably
limiting, narrowing the focus to what makes a comprehensible story as opposed
to a day-by-day list of what happened. Humans create narratives as naturally,
and as unavoidably, as breathing, but we have to be aware of what they do to
our comprehension of history.

~~~
pjmlp
Specially annoying with that narrative, for those that care about computing
history, is as C and UNIX are sold as the first of their kind, invented on
magic moment, hand-waving what everyone else was doing.

Since history belongs to winners, if it wasn't for the accessibility of old
conference papers and computer manuals, that would be indeed the only one we
had to believe on.

~~~
zantana
I always thought one of the most interesting insights into this was the Unix
Haters Handbook
[https://web.mit.edu/~simsong/www/ugh.pdf](https://web.mit.edu/~simsong/www/ugh.pdf)
especially Dennis Richie's anti forward:

 _The systems you remember so fondly (TOPS-20, ITS, Multics, Lisp Machine,
Cedar /Mesa, the Dorado) are not just out to pasture, they are fertilizing it
from below.

Your judgments are not keen, they are intoxicated by metaphor. In the Preface
you suffer first from heat, lice, and malnourishment, then become prisoners in
a Gulag. In Chapter 1 you are in turn infected by a virus, racked by drug
addiction, and addled by puffiness of the genome.

Yet your prison without coherent design continues to imprison you. How can
this be, if it has no strong places? The rational prisoner exploits the weak
places, creates order from chaos: instead, collectives like the FSF vindicate
their jailers by building cells almost compatible with the existing ones,
albeit with more features. The journalist with three undergraduate degrees
from MIT, the researcher at Microsoft, and the senior scientist at Apple might
volunteer a few words about the regulations of the prisons to which they have
been transferred._

------
sprachspiel
Everyone interested in the history of computing should read The Dream Machine
by M. Mitchell Waldrop. The book pretends to be the biography by a little-
known, but highly-influential guy named Licklider, but is in fact maybe the
best general history of computing. It covers Turing, von Neumann, ARPA,
Multics, DARPA (the internet), and Xerox PARC. Alan Key recommends it as the
best history of PARC.

------
koffiezet
I'm always amazed how well Brian Kernighan can explain things. I love the
episodes on the Computerphile youtube channel with him.

Recently I discovered the AT&T history channel, with this gem:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tc4ROCJYbm0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tc4ROCJYbm0)

There is a massive difference in appearance and clarity between him and the
other people appearing in that video, even the "presenter"...

~~~
gftsantana
> Recently I discovered the AT&T history channel, with this gem:
> [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tc4ROCJYbm0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tc4ROCJYbm0)

I go back to this video every once in a while ever since I discovered it a few
years ago. I just think it is super relaxing. When I first watched it, I was
beginning to use Linux and, when I opened my terminal emulator, I was like:
"It's a Unix system, I know this!" The pipelines explanation was incredibly
clear.

I also love the Computerphile episodes with professor Kernighan.

------
greatquux
Regarding availability of an ebook version, I just wrote to bwk and got back a
reply within a few minutes:

\-----Original Message----- From: Brian Kernighan <bwk@cs.princeton.edu> To:
Mike Russo <mike@papersolve.com> Subject: Re: please publish ebook of Unix
memoir!! Date: Mon, 28 Oct 2019 11:12:48 -0400

Mike --

I have just uploaded a Kindle version, but it has to go through Amazon's
approval, which could take a day. I also can't see a preview on a physical
device, so I have no idea whether it will actually look right. If it doesn't,
I'll have to pull it and figure out an alternative.

Brian K

On Mon, 28 Oct 2019, Mike Russo wrote:

if you get an ebook of it out there it will sell even more!! and thanks for
writing it!

\--

Michael Russo, Systems Engineer PaperSolve, Inc. 268 Watchogue Road Staten
Island, NY 10314 Your random quote for today: ..you could spend _all day_
customizing the title bar. Believe me. I speak from experience. -- Matt Welsh

~~~
stevej_cbr
It's now available. Big thanks to BWK for doing this.

Australia: A$11.99 [my local site]
[https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B07ZQHX3R1/](https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B07ZQHX3R1/)

or US$8.20
[https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07ZQHX3R1/](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07ZQHX3R1/)

vs printed book US$18
[https://www.amazon.com/dp/1695978552](https://www.amazon.com/dp/1695978552)

------
segmondy
I look forward to reading this

I own and have read his following books and they were all superb!

    
    
       The Go Programming Language
       The Practice of Programming
       The C Programming Language
       The AWK Programming Language

~~~
QualityReboot
Just out of curiosity, why awk? I've only ever used it for simple text
splitting and didn't really know people did more with it. Is it a tool worth
learning?

~~~
troydj
To really appreciate the need for awk, imagine writing one-liners and scripts
in the late 80s where Perl or Python weren't present. The associative arrays
in awk were a game changer. Of course, today there is no need to use awk for
multi-line, complex scripts because Python or Perl does the job better (and
both languages are more scalable). However, awk is still quite useful for one-
liners. But for those developers who never use the one-liner paradigm of
pipelines on the command line, this is something they don't realize they're
missing.

Brian Kernighan mentions in the book that awk provides "the most bang for the
programming buck of any language--one can learn much of it in 5 or 10 minutes,
and typical programs are only a few lines long" [p. 116, UNIX: A History and
Memoir]. Also keep in mind Larry Wall's (inventor of Perl) famous
quote/signature line: "I still say awk '{print $1}' a lot."

More background on awk from Brian Kernighan in a 2015 talk on language design:
[https://youtu.be/Sg4U4r_AgJU?t=19m45s](https://youtu.be/Sg4U4r_AgJU?t=19m45s)

------
jasoneckert
I read this one on Saturday (bought it from Amazon after I saw it posted here
earlier in the week). It's very good at detailing how UNIX was developed in
the early days and how it exploded after 1979 with V7 - and in a way that
isn't difficult to read whatsoever. There are some sections about the inner
workings of UNIX I already knew - but skimming through those allowed me to
catch a few historical gems I didn't know.

------
aasasd
The ‘Customers who bought this item also bought’ on Amazon is pretty telling:
the Snowden book, a Yubikey, an electronics testing tool, coolers for
Raspberry Pi, retractable Ethernet cable, wire-type soldering iron tip cleaner
(what even is that), and sandalwood shaving cream.

~~~
LameRubberDucky
What I saw on the first two pages of Customers who bought.... list was:

Database Internals, Snowden book, Algorithms book, BPF Performance tools, Your
Linux Toolbox, The Go Programming Language, The Pragmatic Programmer, Quantum
Computing, A Programmer's Introduction to Mathematics, An Elegant Puzzle

I had to go up to page 14 of the items list to find all of the items you
listed and to find the wire-type soldering iron tip cleaner.

Edit: Took out unneeded snark. It seems I fell prey to Amazon algorithms.

~~~
aasasd
> _Isn 't this a bit of a cherry picked list?_

I only see these items plus another cooler and a Macbook stand.

~~~
LameRubberDucky
We've been analyzed and found wanting. Dang marketing algorithms.

------
Myrmornis
Anyone able to comment on his recent non-programming-language books? For
example, how's "Understanding The Digital World"?

[http://kernighan.com/udw.html](http://kernighan.com/udw.html)

~~~
danso
Was just about to comment that in lieu of buying an ebook version of the
currently discussed Unix book, I discovered he had written "Understanding the
Digital World" and bought it on impulse. Currently going through the first
chapter now. Like all of his books, extremely well-written. I was surprised at
how much the introduction focused on data sharing and the Snowden-revelations,
which he segues into after talking about how he and his wife weren't using
Airbnb, Uber, and Whatsapp, on a recent vacation trip.

------
Aloha
I bought the book, and read it, enjoying it greatly.

Amusingly, Alexa notified me when it arrived, and the notification was "Your
purchase UNIX has arrived."

~~~
jhbadger
However, you had also ordered a book about castrati singers, so the
announcement was ambiguous.

------
softinio
Is there a kindle/digital/ebook version of this book? I can't seem to find it.

~~~
kernelsanderz
This is very frustrating. From what I understand of the publishing industry,
the Kindle sales are not counted towards the main NYT best-seller list, so all
the focus on the initial launch is around selling the physical copy. This is
said to be done to prevent gamification and manipulation, but this still goes
on with the hard copies also, where would-be best-selling authors often pay
third-party companies to buy a lot of copies of their books from certain
bookstores.

Source: A friend of mine who has been trying to get onto the NYT best seller
list.

~~~
danso
Ebook sales are counted as part of the NYT bestsellers list. In 2010, they
initially did separate ebook listings, but it’s all combined into the general
categories: [https://www.vox.com/culture/2017/9/13/16257084/bestseller-
li...](https://www.vox.com/culture/2017/9/13/16257084/bestseller-lists-
explained)

I can’t remember a single mainstream title that hasn’t had an ebook version
for preorder and first day sales. This includes “Bad Blood”, “Super Pumped”,
and “Catch and Kill”.

------
bexsella
I haven't received my copy just yet, but I am keen to get reading it. Although
there is some fun conversation to be had with people from a non-tech
background when you're excited for your copy of Eunuchs: A History and a
Memoir to arrive.

------
sp0ck
Watching Brian Kernighan and Professor Brailsford on YT Computerfile is pure
pleasure to hear and see how world look from their perspective and quite often
allows to use the same principles today. We believe so much changed in his
industry but some foundations are the same like 50 years ago :)

~~~
throw56
correction. Isn't it computerphile?

------
arduinomancer
I've seen a lot of Brian Kernighan on the YouTube Computerphile channel and
he's very well spoken and interesting to listen to. Might have to pick this
up.

------
jen_h
Looking forward to reading this! Had the pleasure of seeing Brian Kernighan
and Ken Thompson speak at VCF East earlier this year, totally worth a watch:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EY6q5dv_B-o](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EY6q5dv_B-o)

I highly recommend hitting up a Vintage Computer Festival if you've got the
opportunity
([http://vcfed.org/wp/festivals/](http://vcfed.org/wp/festivals/)). Not only
did Kernighan and Thompson speak, but also Joe Decuir of Atari & Amiga fame.

------
nindalf
The link says “Published by Kindle direct publishing” but I can’t find the
kindle version on amazon. Or indeed any ebook version. Do Kindle books not
show up for pre order usually?

~~~
davidgerard
CreateSpace (paperbacks) is now part of Kindle, so you can release a paperback
with no ebook on Kindle.

------
rajesh-s
I agree with you on that we don't tend to appreciate history and attempt to be
aware of how long things have been around. I'm looking forward to read this
too!

On that note, this post reminds me of another great book (eye-opener of sorts)
that I read a while ago that takes the reader through the history of some
important milestones in hardware and software
[https://www.amazon.com/Computer-Book-Artificial-
Intelligence...](https://www.amazon.com/Computer-Book-Artificial-Intelligence-
Milestones/dp/145492621X)

After I read this, I was surprised to learn that the concept/ideas which seem
very recent because of the interest/research around it have actually been
around for a long time. For instance, I learnt that "Secure Multi Party
Communication" has been around since 1982, Verilog since 1984, AI Medical
diagnosis since 1975.

------
unlinked_dll
I find a lot of books on subjects I'm interested in are quite dry. Is this a
departure from that? I'd like something I'd enjoy, and something I can buy as
a gift for some family members who enjoy nonfiction on topics they aren't
necessarily versed in.

------
notpeter
As others have noticed, there is no Kindle version. Look Inside is enabled so
you can start reading in-browser:
[https://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/1695978552/ref=as_li_ss_tl?...](https://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/1695978552/ref=as_li_ss_tl?tag=prod-
detail-20&link=reader)

While the story/writing is interesting, like most self-published titles this
book needs some professional layout/editing help. The second and sixth pages
of chapter 1 are full page Google Maps of central NJ and Google Satellite view
of Bell Labs. Eeek.

This may also be why there is no Kindle version yet. Many pages have full-
color images and would need significant changes for a decent Kindle reading
experience.

------
dcminter
For those interested in the subject I can recommend the very readable "A
Quarter Century of Unix" by Peter Salus.

------
davidgerard
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #243 in Books

like, that's _all_ books on Amazon US

------
xiaodai
Purchased right away!

------
iamjk
You'd think he would have found someone to design a nicer cover for him.

~~~
jmarcher
You have no idea. I received my copy a few days ago. The whole cover is a low-
resolution bitmap for both the image and the text.

The book is a great read otherwise!

~~~
imwally
Seriously, I thought I received a knock-off when I first opened the package.

------
vymague
Probably not true. But it's fun to imagine that even Brian Kernighan were not
able to find a publisher, and needed to resort to self-publishing.

~~~
sritchie
I can report that this is not true in this case - Brian wrote his book over
the summer and, I think, wanted to get it out for the Unix 50 event at Bell
Labs this past week.

------
f2f
Currently #1 in "Best Sellers in Computing Industry History" on amazon, which
is somewhat of a weird category :)

~~~
tomhoward
It's almost as if the more "best seller" lists there are, the more authors
will make efforts to get onto them :)

------
nankomo
old is gold fit here

~~~
mseepgood
The book is brand-new.

