From: gfowler@javelin.sim.es.com (Gary Fowler)
Subject: Re: uNIX on tired iron FAQ Re: Help Me!!!
Organization: Evans & Sutherland Computer Corporation
Date: Fri, 4 Sep 1992 14:36:21 GMT

peter@ferranti.com (peter da silva) writes:

>In article <1992Aug31.150111.276@lrc.edu> white_ca@lrc.edu writes:
>> Can anyone tell me anything about the Onyx computer.

>This is one of the first, if not THE first, micro-based uNIX boxes. I believe
>it's Z8000 based.

>I guess this is as good a time as any... I'm going to try and put together
>a uNIX on tired iron FAQ. This will include contact information, support
>info, resources, and so on for as many old uNIX boxes as possible. If anyone
>has any information about Onyx, Fortune, Plexus, Zeus, 3b1, HP Integral, Wicat,
                           ^^^^  ^^^^^^^  ^^^^^^
I had the misfortune of doing Sys Admin on these three boxes when I worked
at the Tooele Army Depot in Tooele, Utah.  The Onyx, and Fortune are true
dinosaurs.  In fact I remember reading an article about computer dinosaurs
that specifically mentioned the Fortune.  Apparently it was never released
in wide distribution.  The Army, in it's infinite wisdom managed to buy a
few of them to support it's LOGMARS (Logistical Marking And Reading of
Symbols, or barcoding for you non military types) system.  They later ported
the application to Unisys 5000 series boxes.  The Plexus was not really that
bad of a machine.  The last Unix release for that box was Vr2.  When Plexus
went out of business, Motorola took over support.  I don't know the current
status.

You are right about the Onyx.  Here is an excerpt from a book entitled
"Understanding Unix" (sorry I don't have the publishing info, since I'm reading
this from a photocopy).

	The history of UNIX as a commercially available operating system is
	a very short one.  It began at a company named Onyx TM Systems,
	founded in 1978 by Bob Marsh and Kip Myers.  The early Onyx systems
	were multiuser, 8-bit microcomputers, but attention soon turned to
	the more powerful 16-bit microprocessors.  Convinced that 16-bit
	systems demanded a more powerful operating system than there 8-bit
	microcomputers, Marsh approached AT&T and successfully negotiated
	the first commercial UNIX license.  An Onyx system running UNIX was
	shown at the National Computer Conference in 1980, much to the
	amazement of show attendees who couldn't believe that UNIX was
	actually running on a micro.

>Pixar, and whatever other old no-longer-supported uNIX systems let me know.

>More modern or still-supported hardware is also kosher, if it's far enough
>behind the state of the art that support is getting problematical. I'd like
>to include some info on anything that will run on 286 and older 386 machines
>(say, under 4M (4M is small? Say it ain't so!)...).

>Non-AT&T uNIXoid implementations are also welcome, from Idris and Regulus on
>up to Coherent and QNX, since these tend to be smaller and more efficient.
>-- 
>Peter da Silva                                               `-_-'
>$ EDIT/TECO LOVE                                              'U` 
>%TECO-W-OLDJOKE Not war?                        Have you hugged your wolf today?
>Ferranti Intl. Ctls. Corp.      Sugar Land, TX  77487-5012       +1 713 274 5180