TUNIS
Encyclopedia
TUNIS was a Unix-like
operating system
, developed at the University of Toronto
in the early 1980s. TUNIS was a portable operating system compatible with Unix V7
, but with a completely redesigned kernel, written in Concurrent Euclid
. Programs that ran under Unix V7
could be run under TUNIS with no modification.
TUNIS was designed for teaching, and was intended to provide a model for the design of well-structured, highly portable, easily understood Unix-like
operating systems. It made extensive use of Concurrent Euclid
modules to isolate machine dependencies and provide a clean internal structure through information hiding
, and of Concurrent Euclid
's built-in processes and synchronization features to make it easy to understand and maintain.
TUNIS targeted the PDP-11
and Motorola
6809
and 68000 architectures, and supported distribution across multiple CPUs using Concurrent Euclid
's synchronization features.
Unix-like
A Unix-like operating system is one that behaves in a manner similar to a Unix system, while not necessarily conforming to or being certified to any version of the Single UNIX Specification....
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...
, developed at the University of Toronto
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...
in the early 1980s. TUNIS was a portable operating system compatible with Unix V7
Version 7 Unix
Seventh Edition Unix, also called Version 7 Unix, Version 7 or just V7, was an important early release of the Unix operating system. V7, released in 1979, was the last Bell Laboratories release to see widespread distribution before the commercialization of Unix by AT&T in the early 1980s...
, but with a completely redesigned kernel, written in Concurrent Euclid
Concurrent Euclid (programming language)
Concurrent Euclid is a concurrent descendant of the Euclid programming language designed by James Cordy and Ric Holt, then at the University of Toronto, in 1980. ConEuc was designed for concurrent, high performance, highly reliable system software, such as operating systems, compilers and...
. Programs that ran under Unix V7
Version 7 Unix
Seventh Edition Unix, also called Version 7 Unix, Version 7 or just V7, was an important early release of the Unix operating system. V7, released in 1979, was the last Bell Laboratories release to see widespread distribution before the commercialization of Unix by AT&T in the early 1980s...
could be run under TUNIS with no modification.
TUNIS was designed for teaching, and was intended to provide a model for the design of well-structured, highly portable, easily understood Unix-like
Unix-like
A Unix-like operating system is one that behaves in a manner similar to a Unix system, while not necessarily conforming to or being certified to any version of the Single UNIX Specification....
operating systems. It made extensive use of Concurrent Euclid
Concurrent Euclid (programming language)
Concurrent Euclid is a concurrent descendant of the Euclid programming language designed by James Cordy and Ric Holt, then at the University of Toronto, in 1980. ConEuc was designed for concurrent, high performance, highly reliable system software, such as operating systems, compilers and...
modules to isolate machine dependencies and provide a clean internal structure through information hiding
Information hiding
In computer science, information hiding is the principle of segregation of the design decisions in a computer program that are most likely to change, thus protecting other parts of the program from extensive modification if the design decision is changed...
, and of Concurrent Euclid
Concurrent Euclid (programming language)
Concurrent Euclid is a concurrent descendant of the Euclid programming language designed by James Cordy and Ric Holt, then at the University of Toronto, in 1980. ConEuc was designed for concurrent, high performance, highly reliable system software, such as operating systems, compilers and...
's built-in processes and synchronization features to make it easy to understand and maintain.
TUNIS targeted the PDP-11
PDP-11
The PDP-11 was a series of 16-bit minicomputers sold by Digital Equipment Corporation from 1970 into the 1990s, one of a succession of products in the PDP series. The PDP-11 replaced the PDP-8 in many real-time applications, although both product lines lived in parallel for more than 10 years...
and Motorola
Motorola
Motorola, Inc. was an American multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois, which was eventually divided into two independent public companies, Motorola Mobility and Motorola Solutions on January 4, 2011, after losing $4.3 billion from 2007 to 2009...
6809
Motorola 6809
The Motorola 6809 is an 8-bit microprocessor CPU from Motorola, designed by Terry Ritter and Joel Boney and introduced 1978...
and 68000 architectures, and supported distribution across multiple CPUs using Concurrent Euclid
Concurrent Euclid (programming language)
Concurrent Euclid is a concurrent descendant of the Euclid programming language designed by James Cordy and Ric Holt, then at the University of Toronto, in 1980. ConEuc was designed for concurrent, high performance, highly reliable system software, such as operating systems, compilers and...
's synchronization features.