Didn't Microsoft own Xenix eventually? "Microsoft hopes that XENIX will become the preferred choice for software production and exchange", the company stated in 1981.[8] Microsoft referred to its own MS-DOS as its "single-user, single-tasking operating system",[31] and advised customers that wanted multiuser or multitaskingsupport to buy Xenix.[31][32] It planned to over time improve MS-DOS so it would be almost indistinguishable from single-user Xenix, or XEDOS, which would also run on the 68000, Z8000, and LSI-11; they would be upwardly compatible with Xenix, which BYTE in 1983 described as "the multi-user MS-DOS of the future." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xenix#History On 18 April 2018 at 18:14, D. Hugh Redelmeier via talk <talk@gtalug.org> wrote:

| From: James Knott via talk <talk@gtalug.org> | | What's this? Microsoft developing a Linux based OS?? | | https://www.techrepublic.com/article/microsoft-says-its-new-linux-based-os-will-secure-iot-devices-for-a-decade/?ftag=TRE684d531&bhid=12825460 | | It's amazing the changes at Microsoft, since Bill & Steve left.

If they can deliver what they promise, it's a very interesting offering.

Most embeded software is "fire and forget". As a customer, one cannot expect support longevity in IoT devices these days. But it is really important.

Not many companies could make that 10 year promise believable. I wish it were from a more disinterested company.

I currently have this queued in my MP3 player: "(In)Security in Home Embedded Devices" <https://cyber.harvard.edu/events/luncheon/2014/06/gettys> Still fresh after four years.

I got to it from Getty's blog: <https://gettys.wordpress.com/> --- Talk Mailing List talk@gtalug.org https://gtalug.org/mailman/listinfo/talk

-- William Porquet, M.A. ⁂ mailto:william@2038.org ⁂ http://www.2038.org/ "I do not fear computers. I fear the lack of them." (Isaac Asimov)

| From: William Porquet via talk <talk@gtalug.org> | Didn't Microsoft own Xenix eventually? MS owned Xenix (in a sense) from the start. Of course most of the code was "owned" by ATT. I have a NABU 1600 running close-to-original Xenix. It was a port of 7th Edition Unix, compiled by an ATT C compiler adjusted to generate small model 8086 code. The original target of the port was some ALTOS business computer. The next version of Xenix never made it to my box (the box maker ran into financial difficulties) but HCR (the subcontractor) had started. It was based around Microsoft's own C compiler an supported large model 8086 code (or at least some model better than small). At that time, Microsoft was the master. SCO (not exactly the Bad One, but that's another story) and HCR were the only sublicensees. So, when I bought my Xenix license, I bought it from SCO. Eventually Microsoft decided, for reasons unknown to me, that Xenix wasn't their future. They made SCO and HCR do all the actual work from then on. SCO eventually bought HCR. Xenix became its own world. It didn't track ATT's latest and greatest releases (eg. System V etc.). But they did produce a separate line that was on that stream. For some years, Xenix was the dominant low-end UNIX. I think that it must have been a good business. Certainly SCO was a powerhouse in the UNIX world. (I leave out lots of history. I worked for HCR *after* I bought the Xenix license. But not on Xenix.)

On April 18, 2018 5:14:35 PM CDT, "D. Hugh Redelmeier via talk" <talk@gtalug.org> wrote:

| From: James Knott via talk <talk@gtalug.org> | | What's this? Microsoft developing a Linux based OS?? | | https://www.techrepublic.com/article/microsoft-says-its-new-linux-based-os-will-secure-iot-devices-for-a-decade/?ftag=TRE684d531&bhid=12825460 | | It's amazing the changes at Microsoft, since Bill & Steve left.

If they can deliver what they promise, it's a very interesting offering.

Most embeded software is "fire and forget". As a customer, one cannot expect support longevity in IoT devices these days. But it is really important.

Not many companies could make that 10 year promise believable. I wish it were from a more disinterested company.

I currently have this queued in my MP3 player: "(In)Security in Home Embedded Devices" <https://cyber.harvard.edu/events/luncheon/2014/06/gettys> Still fresh after four years.

Thanks for this link. There's a lot to digest here. Elidding Pernicious Binary Blobs GID UIDs and how to determine whats critical in infrastructure. I like the succinctness in the summary. Friends don't let friends run factory firmware. I tried out SoAS briefly on the Toshiba Peter Hiscocks gave me. I had to strip all the overheating elements of the MP bios; drive battery etc . The firmware predates Microsoft soiling, so it runs without the battery when plugged in. I just boot SoAS from usb and (ouch) Getty's your uncle. Thanks again Peter, it was loads of fun. Still have it, but its way in the bottom of the TCL trunk.

I got to it from Getty's blog: <https://gettys.wordpress.com/> --- Talk Mailing List talk@gtalug.org https://gtalug.org/mailman/listinfo/talk

-- Russell