<![CDATA[Life update: Downloaded every PDF in the Bitsavers AT&amp;T collection]]>Life update: Downloaded every PDF in the Bitsavers AT&T collection

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/topic/c07480db-2774-4898-b6a3-1bd2ba48a20e/life-update-downloaded-every-pdf-in-the-bitsavers-at-amp-t-collectionRSS for NodeTue, 22 Sep 2026 03:08:43 GMTSat, 19 Sep 2026 19:59:40 GMT60<![CDATA[Reply to Life update: Downloaded every PDF in the Bitsavers AT&amp;T collection on Mon, 21 Sep 2026 08:12:27 GMT]]>@sstephenson Thanks for sharing.

This was one of the first things i learned about programming on UNIX, this was cited in https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/xlib-reference-manual/9780937175262/ afair

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://chaos.social/users/lobingera/statuses/117308020974853334https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://chaos.social/users/lobingera/statuses/117308020974853334Mon, 21 Sep 2026 08:12:27 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Life update: Downloaded every PDF in the Bitsavers AT&amp;T collection on Mon, 21 Sep 2026 07:37:21 GMT]]>@sstephenson I was out the back urinating on systemd, did I miss anything?

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/megatronicthronbanks/statuses/117307882970325767https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/megatronicthronbanks/statuses/117307882970325767Mon, 21 Sep 2026 07:37:21 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Life update: Downloaded every PDF in the Bitsavers AT&amp;T collection on Mon, 21 Sep 2026 01:27:20 GMT]]>@VE2UWY I’m disappointed they didn’t pluralize “etc”

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://indieweb.social/users/sstephenson/statuses/117306427973048156https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://indieweb.social/users/sstephenson/statuses/117306427973048156Mon, 21 Sep 2026 01:27:20 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Life update: Downloaded every PDF in the Bitsavers AT&amp;T collection on Mon, 21 Sep 2026 01:10:29 GMT]]>@sstephenson

Heh, heh. They said “/usr/bins”.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.radio/users/VE2UWY/statuses/117306361740816546https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.radio/users/VE2UWY/statuses/117306361740816546Mon, 21 Sep 2026 01:10:29 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Life update: Downloaded every PDF in the Bitsavers AT&amp;T collection on Sun, 20 Sep 2026 18:54:04 GMT]]>@sstephenson I would add that if the solution does not exist, it MAY be because you re solving the wrong problem!

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://bsd.network/users/Zven/statuses/117304881639425920https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://bsd.network/users/Zven/statuses/117304881639425920Sun, 20 Sep 2026 18:54:04 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Life update: Downloaded every PDF in the Bitsavers AT&amp;T collection on Sun, 20 Sep 2026 14:59:41 GMT]]>@sstephenson and

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mas.to/users/wordmark/statuses/117303959984952283https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mas.to/users/wordmark/statuses/117303959984952283Sun, 20 Sep 2026 14:59:41 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Life update: Downloaded every PDF in the Bitsavers AT&amp;T collection on Sun, 20 Sep 2026 08:14:31 GMT]]>@sstephenson

been there, done that, taught it in 1987-

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/PeterSommerlad/statuses/117302366815137591https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/PeterSommerlad/statuses/117302366815137591Sun, 20 Sep 2026 08:14:31 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Life update: Downloaded every PDF in the Bitsavers AT&amp;T collection on Sat, 19 Sep 2026 20:45:12 GMT]]>@sstephenson

Yes - composability. I am not a programmer - worked as one for a few years in the 80s, but became a systems person. Cobbling things together with pipes and redirection is our wheelhouse.

By the late 90s, students arrived having used Macs, or (mostly) Windows. I framed Unix as being different because its creators made fewer assumptions about HOW you'd use the system, and therefore gave you more freedom to make it behave however you liked, if you made the effort.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://digipres.club/users/lolcat/statuses/117299656305748634https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://digipres.club/users/lolcat/statuses/117299656305748634Sat, 19 Sep 2026 20:45:12 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Life update: Downloaded every PDF in the Bitsavers AT&amp;T collection on Sat, 19 Sep 2026 20:39:50 GMT]]>@lolcat I taught myself with FreeBSD in the late ’90s, and took a university course in 2002 or 2003 that used “The UNIX Programming Environment” as the textbook, but I don’t ever remember seeing this particular version of the philosophy. I really like it. Feels like a more human way of expressing that the core idea is *composability*

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://indieweb.social/users/sstephenson/statuses/117299635197348424https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://indieweb.social/users/sstephenson/statuses/117299635197348424Sat, 19 Sep 2026 20:39:50 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Life update: Downloaded every PDF in the Bitsavers AT&amp;T collection on Sat, 19 Sep 2026 20:31:03 GMT]]>@sstephenson

Between 1998 and ~2005, I taught introduction to Unix to incoming astronomy and physics grad students at an American R1 university. This - the Unix system philosophy - was the first lesson. I like to flatter myself by believing it made a difference.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://digipres.club/users/lolcat/statuses/117299600645710382https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://digipres.club/users/lolcat/statuses/117299600645710382Sat, 19 Sep 2026 20:31:03 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Life update: Downloaded every PDF in the Bitsavers AT&amp;T collection on Sat, 19 Sep 2026 20:17:07 GMT]]>😴 “Do one thing and do it well”
⚡️ “Build on the work of others”

from the AT&T UNIX® System V Release 3 Programmer’s Guide, 1987

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://indieweb.social/users/sstephenson/statuses/117299545894294138https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://indieweb.social/users/sstephenson/statuses/117299545894294138Sat, 19 Sep 2026 20:17:07 GMT