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AT&T Archives: The UNIX Operating System

AT&T Tech Channel · 2.2M views · 2012-02-22 · 27:27

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Overview

A 1982 Bell Labs film hosted by Victor Vyssotsky on the origins and design philosophy of the UNIX operating system, with appearances by Kernighan, Thompson and Ritchie. It shows pipes, filters and a shell one-liner spell checker being built.

On Hacker News

HN points people to it as the clearest primary-source explanation of Unix pipes and the small-tools philosophy, straight from the creators.

Recommended by 10 HN people across 8 months · HN mentions 2013–2026

Topics

History of computingOperating systems & kernels
Search by tags
unixpipesbell labsshellkernighancomputing history

What people said

GNOMES · 2026-01 · Strong recommendation

This gets shared a ton, but the old Bell Labs video from 4:56 to 10:52 is still the best way I have seen pipes explained: [VIDEO]

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gftsantana · 2019-10 · Strong recommendation

> Recently I discovered the AT&T history channel, with this gem: [VIDEO] I go back to this video every once in a while ever since I discovered it a few years ago. I just think it is super relaxing. When I first watched it, I was beginning to use Linux and, when I opened my terminal emulator, I was like: "It's a Unix system, I know this!" The pipelines explanation was incredibly clear. I also love the Computerphile episodes with professor Kernighan.

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krmbzds · 2018-07 · Strong recommendation

Nice guide. cd ~ command goes to home directory though, not root. I wish someone showed me the UNIX operating system introduction by Kernighan et al before anything else. It can be found in AT&T arhives: [VIDEO]

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Sources

Video by AT&T Tech Channel, played through YouTube.

Data and selection notes

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