DBLCU@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU (11/18/87)
A few weeks ago I attended the Unix Expo here in New York. I picked up this
wonderfull little poster called "Unix Magic" which was distributed by
Unitech Software Inc. It shows a wizard mixing potions in a sea-shell.
Surrounding him are various artifacts that have something related to the
Unix environment. There is one exception though. There is a jar of oregano
in the foreground. Is/was there something by that name in Unix or is this
just an exception/joke in the poster?
David Lopez
CUNY/UCC
bitnet: dblcu@cunyvm
internet: dblcu@cunyvm.cuny.edu
dtraver@macomw.ARPA (George Andrew Traver) (11/20/87)
In article <844DBLCU@CUNYVM> DBLCU@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU writes: >A few weeks ago I attended the Unix Expo here in New York. I picked up this >wonderfull little poster called "Unix Magic" which was distributed by >Unitech Software Inc. It shows a wizard mixing potions in a sea-shell. >Surrounding him are various artifacts that have something related to the >Unix environment. There is one exception though. There is a jar of oregano >in the foreground. Is/was there something by that name in Unix or is this >just an exception/joke in the poster? I had this same question a little while ago. Someone told me that one of the original writers of the UNIX op system was comming back from Canada. When he was going through border, the border guard mistook some oregano that he had as an illegal substance. This is the story I heard, I can't verify if it's true or not. Question: What does the castle in the window mean? Some one told me the reaper in the window is a "kernal hacker". Also what does the "B" stand for on the craked jar in the lower right hand corner? Somebody please let me know.
mchinni@ARDEC.arpa (11/20/87)
In a recent article George Andrew Traver <dtraver@macomw.arpa> writes (in reference to the UNITECH Unix Magic Poster) : >Question: Also what does the "B" stand for on the craked jar in the > lower right hand corner? I quote from "The C Programming Language" by Kernighan & Ritchie: "Many of the most important ideas of C stem from the considerably older, but still quite vital language BCPL, developed by Martin Richards. The influence of BCPL on C proceeded indirectly through the language B, which was written by Ken Thompson in 1970 for the first UNIX system on the PDP-7." Mike Chinni <mchinni@ardec.arpa> [ Standard disclaimer ]
dblcu@cunyvm.bitnet.UUCP (11/20/87)
Interesting story on the oregano jar. I was reading some other postings that
gave the same story line in the wizards group. I haven't heard of anyone
who knows what the castle in the background means. Maybe I should call up
Unitech to see if they know... As far as the "B" jar goes, B if I recall
correctly was the language that preceded C. It is essentially a strpped
down version of a language called BCPL. I attended a lecture on C given
by Mr. Kernighan at City College and this lecture gave a brief history of
where C came from. It helped clarify certain questions of mine as far as
why C is implemented the way it is as far as certain data structures are
concerned ( I don't happen to like the various quirks of C partly because
I'm basically a Pascal person myself). Hope that answers your question.
And thanks for answering mine.
bzs@bu-cs.bu.EDU (11/20/87)
(I know I shouldn't get into this but it keeps coming up...) Somewhere in the dimmest recesses of my mind (which is most of it) I remember an editor or something like that called oregano, maybe I'm imagining it, but there it is. My history covers over 10 years with Unix and that far back I would have been at Harvard (wondering if it was one of those regional things that went around, like the V7 TECO or that overlay linkage editor with the gabby C-compiler that would tell you everything it was doing as it did it.) -Barry Shein, Boston University
stpeters@dawn.steinmetz (Dick St.Peters) (11/23/87)
In article <10463@brl-adm.ARPA> mchinni@ARDEC.arpa writes: > I quote from "The C Programming Language" by Kernighan & Ritchie: >"... The >influence of BCPL on C proceeded indirectly through the language B, which >was written by Ken Thompson in 1970 for the first UNIX system on the PDP-7." B had a long and noble life that spread far beyond the PDP-7. For years, the U. Waterloo used B to write a steady stream of programs that augmented and vastly improved the command set on Honeywell mainframes under GECOS. (Maybe they even still do?) Any old listing that looks exactly like C but somehow isn't quite right is probably B. -- Dick St.Peters GE Corporate R&D, Schenectady, NY stpeters@ge-crd.arpa uunet!steinmetz!stpeters
Helen_C_OBoyle@cup.portal.com (11/24/87)
Someone told me last year that the castle's ivory towers are the
distinguishing features that earned it a place on the UNIX MAGIC poster.
* Helen *wrd3156@fedeva.UUCP (Bill Daniels) (11/24/87)
In article <844DBLCU@CUNYVM>, DBLCU@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU writes: [insert deleted text] > Unix environment. There is one exception though. There is a jar of oregano > in the foreground. Is/was there something by that name in Unix or is this > just an exception/joke in the poster? no, No, nO, NO, NOOOOOOO!!! I can't take any more poster talk!! Flames to /dev/null, my 'n' is worn out! -- bill daniels federal express, memphis, tn {hplabs!csun,gatech!emcard}!fedeva!wrd3156
danny@itm.UUCP (Danny) (11/24/87)
In article <852DBLCU@CUNYVM> DBLCU@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU writes:
~... I haven't heard of anyone
~who knows what the castle in the background means.
Perhaps "The Newcastle Connection?" This was the first "transparent"
inter-machine file system I heard about for UN*X systems.
Danny
--
Daniel S. Cox
(seismo!gatech!itm!danny)gwyn@brl-smoke.ARPA (Doug Gwyn ) (11/24/87)
In article <237@fedeva.UUCP> wrd3156@fedeva.UUCP (Bill Daniels) writes: >no, No, nO, NO, NOOOOOOO!!! I can't take any more poster talk!! Yeah, the trouble is all those posters. Reminds me of the boarding house that burned down, thereby putting an end to all those ugly roomers. Sorry!
robert@pttesac.UUCP (Robert Rodriguez) (11/26/87)
By the way: WHERE CAN I GET THIS POSTER ?????? I'd be willing to pay for it. I *REALLY* want one. You can call me at (213) 604-5175. Robert
idallen@watcgl.UUCP (12/08/87)
Yes, the Software Development Group at the University of Waterloo still
develops and distributes the B Language Programming environment for
Honeywell computers. They're also finishing off an ANSI C compiler and
support tools for C on Honeywell machines. Contact watmath!watbun!pjfraser
for details.
--
-IAN! (Ian! D. Allen) University of Waterloo