Please don’t be shocked, but I’ve been reading old #UNIX Review magazines on Archive.org, as one does. I’ve been finding a number of interesting artifacts throughout. This June 1984 ad by Cadmus Computer Systems listed a #USENET address: !wivax!cadmus.
This is a UUCP bang path, for the kids who don’t know. The ! separates relay hops, it’s a literal routing instruction. Get to the backbone, reach wivax, forward to cadmus.
No DNS.
Machines screamed at each other to swap data.
wivax was a VAX at Wang Laboratories in Lowell, MA where Cadmus was based.
The TELEX number printed right next to it is also interesting. This represents telegraph infrastructure and the infant internet, side by side in a transitional moment.
Here’s an ad for cross-compilers and assemblers for UNIX environments.
My favorite detail here is this brag: “Over the past 3 years, we’ve built over 1MB of working code.” Cross-compilers, assemblers, simulators, and debuggers targeting six architectures across a dozen hosts. This code was dense.
The 80’s #UNIX wars were a wild time.
It’s also very fun to read the articles from the time and see what they were predicting for the future. “UNIX for the masses” was a popular topic.
This is an original ad for a #UNIX computer company.
No AI art here! You can see the artist’s signature over the dragon’s wing.
To think all of this amazing art is buried in 40-year-old computer magazines.
This one is from the July 1988 issue of "VLSI Systems Design."
Editor: quick! I need art to accompany the article on internationalization of #UNIX for our Dec 1985 issue!
Illustrator on shrooms: say no more.
Boss: I need art for an article on #UNIX networking technologies for the next issue of UNIX WORLD.
Artist: come back tomorrow.
From a 1991 SunExpert magazine article about “What’s to come” for network protocols. The article depicts a man traveling into the 2020’s, seemingly unaware of the chaos he’ll find.
He’s going to pass @prahou traveling back in time to 1991 to get some mint condition Sun workstations.
Oh, this is good...
From UNIX World, 1985: "It finds the subtle bugs in my C programs" - Claude B. Finn.
40 years later, people are using Claude to find bugs in programs. What's old is new again.
#Anthropic #LLM #Claude #ClaudeCode #AI #Security #Programming #UNIX #C
It's summer, 1985.
I get a call from my buddy to open this month’s issue of UNIX WORLD magazine to page 110.
I see they are preparing to standardize the C programming language.
I say, “This is a good thing" under my breath.
I am still punk as fuck.
Hey @prahou is your computer sad or happy?
Is this Mr. Computo?
From the May 1985 issue of UNIX WORLD magazine.
When someone asks me what the #Fediverse, #Mastodon or #ActivityPub is I'll use this illustration from UNIX Review, April 1985.
occult
Devine Lu Linvega
slyborg