Some time ago, I read an interesting discussion in the comp.unix.xenix newsgroup. One member of the newsgroup was searching for Xenix for the 8086, 80186, or 80286. For those of you not familiar with Xenix, it was one of the first Unices to be ported to the x86 architecture. The early versions ran on the IBM PC XT. The discussion went as follows:
I'm sure this was intended to be a witty retort, but it strikes me as a rather sad statement... Operating systems like Xenix, Microport, PC/IX, and even A/UX, are in danger of being lost forever. These are historical artifacts, and they must be protected. I recently obtained a copy of Microport Unix 3.2 V/386 - I should be adding a new section to the site later this month.
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The astute observer will note that this site is not hosted on an A/UX server. While A/UX is a robust and reliable Unix, it is a discontinued product. To my knowledge, no one is producing security updates or patches for A/UX, and the latest version was released in 1995. For this reason, I would caution against setting an A/UX server on the the internet without adequate protection. If you need a good firewall (or a fun networking-project) take a look at http://leaf.sourceforge.net/.
Wherever possible, I captured actual screenshots using Command+Shift+3. Unfortunately, there were some points where this simply was not an option. A/UX 1.1.1, 2.0, and the installation routine of A/UX 3.0.1 offer no built-in method for capturing screenshots. With A/UX 2.0, I was able to find a 3rd party utility to capture screenshots, but there were still instances where true screenshots were not possible. For this reason, some of the images presented on this site were created with Photoshop... Although I went to great lengths to make them accurate. The site itself was created entirely using vi. (as all HTML should be)... Mostly through a telnet session to the A/UX server, or on my Sun Ultra 1.
The AppleCare Knowledge Base contains manuals for various Apple products, including A/UX. For those who like to RTFM (Read The Friendly Manual), I have a copy of Server Administration with A/UX 3.0.1 and Road Map to A/UX in PDF format. I also have local text copies of the the A/UX 3.0.1 faq, and the A/UX 2.0.1 faq from the Jagubox site. You should also check out the updated A/UX faq - Perhaps even contribute to it!
Although it was discontinued over a decade ago, A/UX is still protected by copyright. Portions of the source are owned by Apple, Unisys, and Sun Microsystems, to name but a few. Apple, Macintosh, Mac and the Mac logo are trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. All other logos are the property of their respective companies. The html documents and graphics are also protected under copyright law.
I do not claim to be an expert of any kind. I'm simply a hobbyist seeking to share my knowledge and appreciation of the Macintosh, Unix, and A/UX. If you have any questions or comments regarding the site or the content, feel free to contact me.
