Re: Microsoft and Xenix.

Robert J.Dunlop
2001-06-25T18:18:42Z

Hi,

On Mon, Jun 25, 2001 at 06:27:24PM +0100, asmith@14inverleith.freeserve.co.uk wrote:
> I first used Unix on a PDP11/44 whilst studying for my Computer Engineering
> degree at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh. I think they and Queen Margaret
> College, London were the first folk running Unix version 6 outside Bell Labs.

Hey! Don't forget UKC ;-) Cut my teeth on pdp11 v6 and VAXen BSD 4.1 once I got
away from the dreaded EMAS. Edinbugh Multi-Access System was the pitts.

> I then used SCO Xenix 286 on early Compaq 286 PC's. Companies like Chase,
> Specialix and Stallion grew up as suppliers of intelligent RS-232 boards. As
> a result of all these Xenix machines, Wyse sold a hell of a lot of WY50
> terminals.

Great days. The business was so incestuous. We seemed to swap engineers on a
regular basis. Hacking drivers without kernel source and documentation that
always seemed at least a release behind. Still keep a WY60 manual on my book
shelf and always regret losing the VT100 one.

> Who remembers terminals from Lear Siegler and Beehive. All this was before
> networking came about. Then the Chase Iolan to connect these same Wyse
> terminals to the SCO box but through one bit of co-ax instead of multi-core
> cables. Also you could get 100m away from your SCO box with co-ax.

And the trouble we had explaining to customers that they had to buy a separate
SCO TCP/IP networking package just to hook up the IOLAN.

--
Bob Dunlop
rjd@xyzzy.clara.co.uk