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VCF East: Ken Thompson interviewed by Brian Kernighan

Vintage Computer Federation · interview · Watch on YouTube

History of computingTech pioneers & interviewsOperating systems & kernels

What it is

Brian Kernighan interviews Unix co-creator Ken Thompson at VCF East 2019. Thompson recounts how he was hired at Bell Labs, writing the Unix kernel in about three weeks, the origins of B and TMG, pipes, and other anecdotes.

Why Hacker News recommends it

HN commenters recommend it for Thompson's funny, first-hand Unix history stories, some of which even Kernighan had not heard.

  • 11 people recommended it
  • 10 different months
  • 3 strong recommendations
  • first 2019, last 2025

What HN commenters said

  1. “totally worth a watch”

    Kernighan and Thompson speaking at VCF East

    jen_h, 2019-10 · Strong recommendation · in “Unix: A History and a Memoir, by Brian Kernighan”

  2. “They're both very funny, a very entertaining video, some stories I (and even Brian) hadn't heard.”

    Very funny, entertaining stories even Kernighan hadn't heard

    yesenadam, 2019-11 · Strong recommendation · in “A Mystery of Unix History”

  3. “lots of interesting anecdotes, like getting a chess machine seized by the US government”

    Interesting anecdotes, like a chess machine seized by government

    kick, 2019-12 · Strong recommendation · in “Ask HN: What are the best computing-related videos you've watched recently?”

  4. “Full of funny anecdotes like needing 3 weeks to write the kernel”

    Funny anecdotes on writing the Unix kernel in three weeks

    alister, 2019-05 · Recommendation · in “Brian Kernighan (Coined Word “Unix”) Interviews Ken Thompson (Co-Invented Unix)”

  5. “One of my favorite moments from the birth of UNIX”

    Thompson tells how he got hired at Bell Labs

    pmoriarty, 2020-11 · Recommendation · in “The Birth of Unix with Brian Kernighan”

  6. “in a very interesting conversation with Brian Kernighan about the history of Unix”

    Ken describes McIlroy's remarkable TMG self-compilation and origin of B

    dwcnnnghm, 2020-11 · Recommendation · in “The Birth of Unix with Brian Kernighan”

  7. “this talk is quite something”

    Short version of Kernighan's Unix book

    BenoitEssiambre, 2022-01 · Recommendation · in “Why don't I have a blog?”

  8. “Ken Thompson's monologue about creating Unix in 3 weeks”

    Ken Thompson recounts creating Unix in about three weeks

    tuckerpo, 2022-02 · Recommendation · in “Ask HN: Single-person creations that have stood the test of time?”

Excerpts from Hacker News comments, linked to the originals. Summaries and labels were written by a language model from those comments.

Topics: ken thompson, brian kernighan, unix, bell labs, computing history, tmg

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