Multics Source Code in Public Domain

Unrelated to current content of this site but very related to the historical Unix information which I have maintained from many years ago:  MIT has put the source code of Multics, the predecessor of Unix, in public domain.

Multics is what inspired Ken Thompson to do Unix, ironically because it was too big and pretty much dysfunctional at the time.  The name "Unix" is a pun on the name Multics - Multics was supposed to do multiple things, but Unix was much simpler.

Multics was a joint effort of MIT, GE, and Bell Labs (where Ken got exposed to it).  As a part of 1970 acquisition of GE's computer business, it was transfered to Honeywell (if you're as old as me you've probably seen the Honeywell computers).  Honeywell became Bull and kept Multics going up until 1992.

So finally Bull has passed the source code to MIT, and MIT has put it in public domain.  Many of the novel ideas of modern operating systems, such as "security" in general, come from Multics, so researchers will find the source code a valuable tool in studying the history of computer science.  Here's the official Multics page at MIT.  My congratulations to Multicians!