I
n hisownwords,Brian
Kernighanwas‘presentatthe
creation’oftheUnixoperating
system,‘thoughnotresponsibleforit’.As
oneofBellLabs’researchers,however,
hecertainlyrubbedshoulderswiththose
whobearresponsibilityforthecreation
ofwhatunderpinsthemodernLinuxand
BSDdistribution– andUnix:A History
anda Memoirishisattempttodocument
itsinception.
It’sa bookwhich,Kernighanadmits,
leansmoretowardsmemoirthan
history,althoughwiththeassistanceof
peoplewhowerethere,andhistorians
whocamelater,it serveswellenough
asthelatter.Wherethebookfocuses
onKernighan’spersonalrecollections,
it readssmoothly;whereit veersoffinto
historicalrecitation,it’sa littledryer.
Youfirstnoticethecoverthough.
Whiletheuseofa promotionalimage
howa short,simpleprogramdesigned
tocopyfromstandardinputtostandard
output,hasgrowntofeaturenofewer
than 12 command-lineoptions.Those
usedtootheroperatingsystemswillstill
findplentytoretaintheirinteresttoo.
Thisbookwouldperhapsnotexist
if Kernighanreliedona traditional
publisherratherthantakingtheself-
publishingroute,butit wouldalsobenefit
fromthehandofa seasonededitor.
Somechaptersflowbetterthanothers,
plusthere’stheoccasionalinversion
ofchronology.Also,theattributionfor
providedimagesisscattershot,with
picturesarefrequentlycreditedto
‘Wikipedia’and‘Twitter’,ratherthanthe
actualcopyrightholders.Nevertheless,
it’sanenjoyablerompthrough 40
yearsofcomputinghistory,andcomes
recommended.Unix:A Historyanda
Memoirisavailabletobuynowfrom
amazon.co.ukfor£15.03(VATexempt).CUSTOMISATION / HOBBY TECH
REVIEW
Unix: A History and a Memoir
suggested by Kernighan to help sell AT&T’s
commercial Unix is an eye-catching choice,
the quality is terrible, as is the blurb on the
back cover. Kernighan, it seems, has opted
to use Amazon’s print-on-demand service
for the self-published title, without providing
a cover image of suitable resolution for print.
The overall effect looks like a knock-off. The
text inside is thankfully crisp and clear, but
the frequent photographs and illustrations
are reproduced in rather blotchy greyscale.
These minor issues are soon forgotten,
though, as the book is a fascinating read.
Plus, while some may question Kernighan’s
assertion that it’s aimed at a non-technical
audience, particularly when it comes
to explaining how a snippet of source
code works, it’s undeniably accessible.
Thebookopensona historyofBellLabs
itself,andKernighan’sroleinthefamous
‘Centre1127’fromwhereUnix– andtheC
language,onwhichKernighanco-wrotethe
definitiveguide– sprung.Thoseunfamiliar
withUnixmaybesurprisedtoreadthatits
originalcreator,KenThompson,builtit ina
three-weekperiodwhilehiswifeandchild
werevisitingrelatives– butthat’sonlyone
oftheanecdoteslikelytoraiseeyebrows.
Thebookwalksthroughearly‘proto-
Unixes’,includingMultics,andtowardsthe
end,it givessometimetotheoperating
systemsUnixhelpedtoinspire,despite
itsrelativelackofcommercialsuccess.
It alsoconfirmsUnix’originsasan
internaltypesettingsystemforBellLabs’
frequentpatentapplications– or,atleast,
that’showit wasframedbyitscreators,
whoweren’tauthorisedtowastetheir
timebuildinganoperatingsystem.
ThosewhouseUnix,Linux,BSDor
anyotherPosix-basedsystemwillfind
muchfamiliarinthebook,andrevelin
originstoriesforcommontoolssuchas
sed,grepandcat.Thelatteristhesubject
ofanamusingrant,whichbemoansGarethHalfacreeisa keencomputerhobbyist,journalistandauthorwhoseworkcanbefoundatfreelance.halfacree.co.uk @ghalfacreeThe book is great, but the blurry cover art
gives the impression it’s a knock-offKernighan is best known as co-author of The C
Programming Language with creator Dennis Ritchie