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Version 6 Unix

Operating System

Version 6 Unix, also called V6 or the Sixth Edition, was the release of Bell Labs' Unix operating system that AT&T issued in May 1975, and it was the first version of Unix to see wide release outside Bell Labs itself. Like its predecessor it targeted the DEC PDP-11 family of minicomputers, and AT&T licensed it to commercial users for 20,000 dollars, after which it remained the most widely used Unix version into the 1980s. Its availability with full source code let universities such as the University of California Berkeley, Johns Hopkins and the University of New South Wales teach and extend it, work that led directly to the Berkeley Software Distribution. Researchers also ported it to non-DEC hardware, notably Interdata computers, demonstrating that a portable operating system was achievable. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

Facts
Classification
License
Proprietary (Closed Source) 2
Status
Status
Discontinued 1
Year
1975 2
FAQs

What was Lions' Commentary on UNIX 6th Edition?

A book by UNSW professor John Lions that explained the Version 6 kernel and circulated mainly as photocopies.

John Lions, a professor at the University of New South Wales, wrote the Commentary on UNIX 6th Edition as an edited selection of the main parts of the Version 6 kernel, as implemented for the Digital PDP-11/40. It became the main source of kernel documentation for many early Unix developers. Because of license restrictions on later Unix versions, the book was mainly passed around as photocopies.
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Sources
1. Wikipedia: Version 6 Unix
  • Lead section
    Sixth Edition Unix, also called Version 6 Unix or just V6 is a version of the Unix operating system first released in May 1975 and the first version of the Unix operating system to see wide release outside Bell Labs.
  • In Field: Operating Systems, Lead sentence
    Sixth Edition Unix, also called Version 6 Unix or just V6 is a version of the Unix operating system first released in May 1975 and the first version of the Unix operating system to see wide release outside Bell Labs.
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2. Wikidata: Version 6 Unix
  • Wikidata Q3547270, class allow-list match (w-wdresolver-0926)
  • Wikidata Q3547270 P571 (inception)
  • Wikidata Q3547270 P275 (license)
View the Source
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