HPBSD
Encyclopedia
HPBSD was a port
of the 4.3BSD
Unix
operating system
to the HP 9000
, developed at the University of Utah
's Systems Programming Group.
HPBSD development started in 1987. The goal was to replace HP-UX
(a System V
-derivative) with a BSD environment on the HP machines at Utah's CS
department, for improved compatibility with VAX
en running BSD and Sun workstations
running SunOS
. The port was completed within a month, thanks to an older port of BSD to the HP 9000/200.
A distinguishing feature of HPBSD was binary compatibility with HP-UX.
The HP 9000 support code from HPBSD was later merged back into the main BSD source tree, and appeared in 4.3BSD-Reno.
The last release of HPBSD was in April 1993. As of 1999, there were still a few machines running HPBSD.
Porting
In computer science, porting is the process of adapting software so that an executable program can be created for a computing environment that is different from the one for which it was originally designed...
of the 4.3BSD
Berkeley Software Distribution
Berkeley Software Distribution is a Unix operating system derivative developed and distributed by the Computer Systems Research Group of the University of California, Berkeley, from 1977 to 1995...
Unix
Unix
Unix is a multitasking, multi-user computer operating system originally developed in 1969 by a group of AT&T employees at Bell Labs, including Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, Brian Kernighan, Douglas McIlroy, and Joe Ossanna...
operating system
Operating system
An operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system...
to the HP 9000
HP 9000
HP 9000 is the name for a line of workstation and server computer systems produced by the Hewlett-Packard Company . The native operating system for almost all HP 9000 systems is HP-UX, a derivative of Unix. The HP 9000 brand was introduced in 1984 to encompass several existing technical...
, developed at the University of Utah
University of Utah
The University of Utah, also known as the U or the U of U, is a public, coeducational research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. The university was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret by the General Assembly of the provisional State of Deseret, making it Utah's oldest...
's Systems Programming Group.
HPBSD development started in 1987. The goal was to replace HP-UX
HP-UX
HP-UX is Hewlett-Packard's proprietary implementation of the Unix operating system, based on UNIX System V and first released in 1984...
(a System V
UNIX System V
Unix System V, commonly abbreviated SysV , is one of the first commercial versions of the Unix operating system. It was originally developed by American Telephone & Telegraph and first released in 1983. Four major versions of System V were released, termed Releases 1, 2, 3 and 4...
-derivative) with a BSD environment on the HP machines at Utah's CS
Computer science
Computer science or computing science is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and of practical techniques for their implementation and application in computer systems...
department, for improved compatibility with VAX
VAX
VAX was an instruction set architecture developed by Digital Equipment Corporation in the mid-1970s. A 32-bit complex instruction set computer ISA, it was designed to extend or replace DEC's various Programmed Data Processor ISAs...
en running BSD and Sun workstations
Sun Microsystems
Sun Microsystems, Inc. was a company that sold :computers, computer components, :computer software, and :information technology services. Sun was founded on February 24, 1982...
running SunOS
SunOS
SunOS is a version of the Unix operating system developed by Sun Microsystems for their workstation and server computer systems. The SunOS name is usually only used to refer to versions 1.0 to 4.1.4 of SunOS...
. The port was completed within a month, thanks to an older port of BSD to the HP 9000/200.
A distinguishing feature of HPBSD was binary compatibility with HP-UX.
The HP 9000 support code from HPBSD was later merged back into the main BSD source tree, and appeared in 4.3BSD-Reno.
The last release of HPBSD was in April 1993. As of 1999, there were still a few machines running HPBSD.