What UNIX Cost Us

Explore the impact and legacy of UNIX in this thought-provoking conference talk from linux.conf.au 2020. Delve into the history of UNIX, from its origins as a Bell Labs project to its dominance in the computer industry. Examine alternative systems that existed alongside UNIX and consider what was gained and lost through its widespread adoption. Analyze the UNIX philosophy, its standardization, and technical aspects such as file descriptors, nonblocking I/O, and descriptor rings. Investigate the challenges posed by UNIX, including its influence on programming languages like C and Fortran. Reflect on the cultural impact of UNIX, addressing issues of meritocracy and the need for codes of conduct in the open-source community. Gain insights into the complexities of modern computing problems and contemplate how the lessons learned from UNIX's history can shape the future of software development.

Introduction
UNIX Standardized
File Descriptor Cap
Nonblocking IO
Descriptor Rings
Linux IOU Ring
Outside Context Problems
Farming in Europe
CPU Architecture
Vectorization
Fortran
C
The problem with C
C is not a lowlevel language
Sarah Taber
UNIX Philosophy
Matt Goss
UNIX suited its time
Its tenets are sacrosanct
Meritocracy is a lie
Code of Conduct
Complex Problems
Closing