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AT&T Archives: The UNIX Operating System

AT&T Tech Channel · documentary · Watch on YouTube

History of computingOperating systems & kernels

What it is

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.

Why Hacker News recommends it

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

  • 10 people recommended it
  • 8 different months
  • 3 strong recommendations
  • first 2013, last 2026

What HN commenters said

  1. “I wish someone showed me the UNIX operating system introduction by Kernighan et al before anything else.”

    Introduction to the UNIX operating system by Kernighan and colleagues.

    krmbzds, 2018-07 · Strong recommendation · in “The Shell Introduction I Wish I Had”

  2. “The pipelines explanation was incredibly clear.”

    Very clear pipeline explanation; relaxing, rewatchable.

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

  3. “the old Bell Labs video from 4:56 to 10:52 is still the best way I have seen pipes explained”

    Best explanation of pipes, between 4:56 and 10:52.

    GNOMES, 2026-01 · Strong recommendation · in “The Unix Pipe Card Game”

  4. “concise, expressive, flexible, modular... Which makes it beautiful...”

    Spell-checking pipeline example showing concise, modular design.

    gitgud, 2019-10 · Recommendation · in “Ask HN: What is the most beautiful piece of code you've ever read?”

  5. “Recently I discovered the AT&T history channel, with this gem”

    Clear explanations by Kernighan in archival AT&T video.

    koffiezet, 2019-10 · Recommendation · in “Unix: A History and a Memoir, by Brian Kernighan”

  6. “This is an old but informative video on UNIX system productivity by AT&T hosted by Brian Kernighan”

    Old but informative UNIX productivity video hosted by Kernighan.

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

  7. “is one of the best parts of this documentary”

    Lorinda Cherry's demo of pipes and scripts.

    usrbinbash, 2022-02 · Recommendation · in “Lorinda Cherry, author of dc, bc, eqn has died”

  8. “The Introducing Unix videos by ATT are straight from the source”

    Introductory Unix videos straight from the source.

    digisign, 2022-04 · Recommendation · in “Ask HN: Best way to learn about computing history?”

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

Topics: unix, pipes, bell labs, shell, kernighan, computing history

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