The computers that ran Unix were DEC’s (Digital Equipment Corporation) PDP-11 machines. Just then, DEC’s Japanese subsidiary (DEC Japan) was holding its first-ever recruitment of new graduates, and in 1980 I was fortunate enough to be hired.
After joining, however, I ran into one astonishing fact. DEC, then a hardware manufacturer, fully supported its own operating systems (RSX-11, VMS, and the like), but for Unix — a licensed product of Bell Labs (AT&T) — it offered no official service or technical support whatsoever. (It would be added to the official service menu in later years, but in 1980 it was out of scope.) I had joined a manufacturer in order to make Unix my work, only to find that the manufacturer did not support Unix — a historical gap that left me bewildered at the time.
After joining, however, I ran into one astonishing fact. DEC, then a hardware manufacturer, fully supported its own operating systems (RSX-11, VMS, and the like), but for Unix — a licensed product of Bell Labs (AT&T) — it offered no official service or technical support whatsoever. (It would be added to the official service menu in later years, but in 1980 it was out of scope.) I had joined a manufacturer in order to make Unix my work, only to find that the manufacturer did not support Unix — a historical gap that left me bewildered at the time.