[BLU/Officers] BSD memory lane Re: FreeBSD 14

[Bill Ricker]

On Fri, Nov 17, 2023 at 11:28 AM John Abreau <abreauj at gmail.com> wrote:

> My first exposure to UNIX was BSD 2.8 on a pair of tiny PDP-11/34a
> servers, in the fall of 1983, when I enrolled in an Assembly Language class
> at UMass-Boston's Math Dept.. Almost a year later, we upgraded to BSD 4.2
> on a pair of VAX-11/780 servers.
>

2.8 to 4.2 is quite the jump!
I learned Unix at MITRE in '82 initially on PDP 11/70 before we acquired a
bunch of VAX 11/7[58]0.
The 11/70 had BELL UNIX PWB (approx  ≅ v.6½) and then BSD 3.x before we got
BSD 4, 4.1, 4.2 on the vaxen.
I later ordered our first color monitor SUN workstation, Sun 3/160C; but
since it was for use of color in UI experiments, it didn't go on my desk,
it went in a vacant secretarial workstation outside my office. I had an
obsolete 4800baud network interface - our VT103s had custom network
interface cards that worked at 9600baud - but with the HP terminal's
superior termcap capabilities and VI's ability to use them, my throughput
at 4800 was faster than VT103 @ 9600 in either VI or EMACS.

Another project crated it up and took it to DC to demonstrate modern
document creation tools at a classified conference.
Miracle of miracles, it returned. I forget if we had to take a backup and
restore, or if the exhibits hall was considered unclass so didn't have to
wipe it.
Rumor has it a subsequent CIA PDB format update may not have been
unrelated? I wouldn't know.
That color Sun and the ones that followed also hosted the prototypes for
what became SunOS Compartmented Mode Workstation by next group down the
hall.
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