UNIX was developed on a lark. The two inventors where on the Multics team and when AT&T pulled out of the project they recreated a lite version internally in AT&T. > I've read that AT&T developed Unix under US Government grant (DARPA > Project) which is why they couldn't sell it. > > George > > > AZ Pete wrote: > > > > Go here for full history: > > http://www.bell-labs.com/history/unix/ > > > > Here is a snippet: > > > > In 1976-77, Ken Thompson took a six-month sabbatical from Bell Labs to > > teach as a visiting professor at the Computer Science Department at the > > University of California-Berkeley (UCB). What he taught, of course, was > > the UNIX system. While there, he also developed much of what eventually > > became Version 6. > > > > The system was an instant hit, and the word spread quickly throughout > > the academic community. > > > > When Thompson returned to Bell Labs, students and professors at > > Berkeley continued to enhance UNIX. Eventually, many of these > > enhancements were incorporated into what became known as Berkeley > > Software Distribution (BSD) Version 4.2, which many other universities > > also bought. > > > > UNIX had been distributed via academic licenses, which were relatively > > inexpensive, and government and commercial licenses from about 1975. > > UCB became important in spreading the word about UNIX when it > > established a Computer Systems Research Group (CSRG), originally under > > the direction of Robert Fabry. The CSRG obtained a grant from DARPA to > > support a version of UNIX for DARPA contractors, which were mostly > > academic and military organizations, and some commercial firms. Ritchie > > recalled, "The contractors got the UNIX licenses from Bell Labs, but > > they got the BSD software from Berkeley." ... > > > > > > > > ...As UNIX spread throughout the academic world, businesses eventually > > became aware of UNIX from their newly hired programmers who had used it > > in college. > > > > Soon a new business opportunity developed -- writing programs to run on > > UNIX for commercial use. What made UNIX popular for business > > applications was its timesharing, multitasking capability, permitting > > many people to use the mini- or mainframe; its portability across > > different vendor's machines; and its e-mail capability. > > > > In 1984, AT&T divested itself of its local Bell telephone companies, > > and also created an independent subsidiary, AT&T Computer Systems. The > > creation of the subsidiary enabled the communications giant to enter > > the computer business. The new subsidiary marketed a number of computer > > products, including the UNIX operating system. Its software flagship > > was System 5, which ran on AT&T's 3B series of computers. > > ... > > > > Hope this helps > > Peter > > > > --- Mark Phillips wrote: > > > I thought UNIX was first developed at UC Berkley, and then moved to > > > AT&T?? > > > > > > Mark > > > > > > -----Original Message----- > > > From: plug-discuss-admin@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us > > > [mailto:plug-discuss-admin@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us]On Behalf Of Jim > > > Sent: Thursday, March 07, 2002 9:45 AM > > > To: plug-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us > > > Subject: History question > > > > > > > > > -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- > > > Hash: SHA1 > > > > > > I know that Unix was developed by AT&T in the early '70s. My > > > question is > > > why > > > was Unix originally free? Certainly AT&T knew the value of the > > > product that > > > they were creating. Any helpful links lurking out there in the minds > > > of > > > PLUG > > > members? > > > - -- > > > Jim > > > > > > Freedom is worth preserving > > > -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- > > > Version: PGP 6.5.8 > > > > > > iQA/AwUBPIeZFSsk3ywszI1FEQIjgwCeISYOGv6y43K+aqZtSoHsStHQxOIAoJ3N > > > SnSvKgaNGIm06WXelSGUcXtL > > > =cnQf > > > -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- > > > ________________________________________________ > > > See http://PLUG.phoenix.az.us/navigator-mail.shtml if your mail > > > doesn't post > > > to the list quickly and you use Netscape to write mail. > > > > > > PLUG-discuss mailing list - PLUG-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us > > > http://lists.PLUG.phoenix.az.us/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss > > > > > > ________________________________________________ > > > See http://PLUG.phoenix.az.us/navigator-mail.shtml if your mail > > > doesn't post to the list quickly and you use Netscape to write mail. > > > > > > PLUG-discuss mailing list - PLUG-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us > > > http://lists.PLUG.phoenix.az.us/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss > > > > __________________________________________________ > > Do You Yahoo!? > > Try FREE Yahoo! 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