What are Unix V9 et al. ?

[Andrew Hume]

Submitted-by: andrew at alice.att.com (Andrew Hume)

	there have been several snippets on research unix over the last year
or so but a quick summary would not be amiss. Unix V* refers strictly to
editions of the manual; of course, there are corresponding versions of the
system but rarely did anyone go to the trouble of making a distribution
tape (one was done for V8). The versions (and highlights) are
	8th Edition (Feb, 85): streams, much networking (mostly datakit),
remote filesystem (wienberger's), Blit software and support.
	9th Edition (Sep 86): cleanup of 8th Edition, manual MUCH improved,
libraries and source cleaned and trimmed. Much improved networking, including
IP and better text processing (monk, prefer, vtbl).
	10th Edition (Oct 89): 20th anniversary edition! This edition included
both volumes; the 2nd volume (supporting documents) was heavily revised
and enlarged. Both volumes are available as a set from Saunders for $45 in the US
(i am working with Saunders in Canada on the price there). Code highlights
include a sensible mailer scheme (upas), simplified networking, more
specialised programs such os OCR readers, protocol verification tools,
better windowing software (including the editor sam) and a host of
gradual improvements to older programs.

	Any enquiries about Research Unix can be sent to me
(andrew at research.att.com) or my department head, Dennis Ritchie
(dmr at research.att.com). It may be possible for educational places
to get a 10th edition tape; if you are interested, contact dennis.
Also note that educational people interested in using Plan 9,
an alternative newer distributed operating system developed in
our Center by Pike, Presotto, Thompson, Trickey and others,
should contact Rob Pike (rob at research.att.com) for details.

Volume-Number: Volume 22, Number 135