POSTED to EE&T ALUMNI 12 MAR 2026

Sections: -- International Women’s Day -- Craftsmanship -- Unix in ElecEng -- Bell Labs & Unix

== INTRODUCTION ==

A creative, a crafty and a collaborative post aligned with International Women's Day.

[Spoiler]: Ken Thompson had enough time to code while his wife was visiting her relatives.

[1st comment]: Enjoyed YT clips about Unix.

== INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY ==

Hopefully, last Sunday's acknowledgement went well. Don't forget the creative, the supportive and the nurturing awareness doesn't end when it's over. Reminders and acknowledgements from time to time help too.

== CRAFTSMANSHIP ==

Similar lived experience?

*) Craftsmanship leads leads to joy and beauty.

*) The world needs more people who are proud of what they make.

*) Cognitive skills develop quickly.

*) Learn to rest when you're stuck instead of burning out.

*) Remembering why you started can help you reset. (Bell Labs in IEEE article).

*) Nothing like a job well done.

== UNIX in ElecEng ==

When you passed John Lions in the corridors of the early 1980's, you could tell behind the nod & smile that his mind was always working on a problem.

He documented ElecEng's uncopyrighted Level-VI version of Unix, the mainframe operating system. His book was instantly popular.

When Bell Labs realised its success, the improved Level-VII version included a copyright that prevented sharing it outside the Universities.

ElecEng ran the Level-VII software. We learned Pascal, C and Shell scripts. Some local CompSci students like Brian Palmer, Perry Brown, Stephen Fraser, Russell Robinson improved a few features along the way. Fun times at the terminals . . .

The PDP-11/70 names were 'Elec70a' and 'Elec70b'. Jeff Skebe in the Digital Systems Lab (DSL) accepted the 'moved-on' PDP-11/34.

In 1991, the Computing Department moved out of ElecEng and formed its own School behind MechEng (Ainsworth). As of Nov 2025, the first floor museum had John Lions' book in the showcase under the Honour Board. English and Chinese editions. The corridor had the last PDP-11/70 frame with its power supply in the stairwell.

== BELL LABS & UNIX ==

Both Ken Thompson & Brian Kernighan graduated as Electrical Engineers. Ken toyed around with the pushed-aside PDP-7 system in his spare time. He kept the commands and functions simple. He wanted to quickly write and read data on its rotating memory drum.

This IEEE Article seems to reflect what Ken & Brian shared here in the YT clips.

"Strange Birth and Long Life of UNIX"

Warren Toomey, 28 Nov 2011

https://spectrum.ieee.org/the-strange-birth-and-long-life-of-unix Image credit: lwr rt.

// Posted to EEnT Alumni (LI), Elsoc-Alumni (FB) and own LI space

// 12 MAR 2026

// Ctee: @Kaveh, @Luke, @Edmund, @Shakthi, @Vijay

// Prv Ctee: @GaganSK, @SomanshA, @SimonB, @MatthewR

// Heads: Dean @JulienE; EEnT Prof. @JinhongY

// School: Mgr @ElizabethGT; Projects @KlaraJ

== COMMENT #1 ==

== Enjoyed YT Clips about UNIX ==

// Shortest duration first

Pushing the Limits of Technology The Ken Thompson and Dennis Ritchie Story National Inventors Hall of Fame - NIHF

3m10

https://youtu.be/g3jOJfrOknA

18 Feb 2019

UNIX was designed for programmers Brian Kernighan and Lex Fridman Lex Clips

10m06

https://youtu.be/v0ON23Y4W68

22 Jul 2020

The Factory of Ideas Working at Bell Labs - Computerphile Computerphile

12m31

https://youtu.be/QFK6RG47bww

29 Jul 2015

UNIX memoir, in first person - Ken Thompson Nerdearla

24m46

https://youtu.be/xKNaCzdn6sY

Sep 25, 2024

VCF East Ken Thompson interviewed by Brian Kernighan Vintage Computer Federation

1h03m50

https://youtu.be/EY6q5dv_B-o

7 May 2019

VCF East UNIX A History and a Memoir by Brian Kernighan Vintage Computer Federation

1h10m46

https://youtu.be/WEb_YL1K1Qg

16 Aug 2025

Kenneth Lane Thompson, 1983 ACM Turing Award Recipient Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) 4h31m27

https://youtu.be/309siTvApbY

Nov 10, 2025

== TOLD BY OTHERS ==

// Shortest duration first

UNIX: The Untold Story

CodeSource

12m08

https://youtu.be/QjdGg2hsNy4

5 Oct 2025

The Rise of Unix. The Seeds of its Fall Asianometry

16m50

https://youtu.be/HADp3emVABg

2 Jan 2024

The Untold Unix Story

DJ Ware

20m39

https://youtu.be/2oU6zEZafnQ

1 Nov 2022

:

// More background about John Lions’ book.

// This chap adds more colour to the stories.

Post - EEAlm 260312.docx

Robert Smith

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