[net.cog-eng] TOPS-20 --> UNIX

diamant@cwruecmp.UUCP (John Diamant) (09/29/83)

I have recently switched from TOPS-20 to UN*X (actually I still use TOPS
occasionally) -- I have found that the amount of time involved in
learning TOPS is much less than UN*X, mainly due to ? and ESC, but that
now that I know both, UN*X is definitely less intrusive (allows me to be
more productive).  I recently read a comment by someone in net.cog-eng
that UN*X is "expert-friendly" and I find that very fitting.

I would however like to point out that this discussion would be more
appropriate on net.cog-eng than net.unix-wizards.  I thus recommend that
all further discussion on this topic be confined to cog-eng.

					John Diamant
				Usenet: ...decvax!cwruecmp!diamant
				CSNet:  diamant@Case
				ARPA:   diamant.Case@UDel-Relay

fulk@sunybcs.UUCP (Mark Fulk) (10/04/83)

Of great interest in this connection is the "TOOLS" project at Yale.
The authors (Ellis, van Leunen, Mishkin, Nix, et al) have replaced most
of the standard TOPS-20 utilities with their own and generally regularized
the TOPS-20 environment; they have made many of the potential capabilities
of the TOPS-20 kernel usable (background processes, etc.)  The main part
of the work seems to have been to replace TOPS-20 EXEC with their own version
(MUF, similar to the shell); to write a screen mode editor (Z), and to
provide mail and news systems.  They seem to have stolen from any source
with good ideas, mainly from UN*X, and my friends from Yale praise the
results to the skies.  Descriptions are available as Yale CS Dept.
tech reports nos. 231 and 232.