[pjmlp]

> See, the brilliance of Unix didn't stop at functional orthogonality, they also used C: A high-level programming language, as compared to machine-specific assembly code. Once Unix started getting ported to new hardware architectures, the two-dimensional implementation matrix becomes three-dimensional.

Yeah, like plenty of other OSes since the late 1950's.

Multics was also written in an high level language, PL/I.

If anything, I am looking forward to the cloud platforms to replace UNIX.

It doesn't matter what AWS runs on, as long as my language runtime, or Kubernetes runs there.

UNIX, hypervisor, Linux, Windows, bare metal,...., I just don't care.

[MisterTea]

> If anything, I am looking forward to the cloud platforms to replace UNIX.

That happened in the late 80's / early 90's and it was called Plan 9. And there was a reason it failed to fill its intended role:

  [I]t looks like Plan 9 failed simply because it fell short of being a compelling enough improvement on Unix to displace its ancestor. Compared to Plan 9, Unix creaks and clanks and has obvious rust spots, but it gets the job done well enough to hold its position. There is a lesson here for ambitious system architects: the most dangerous enemy of a better solution is an existing codebase that is just good enough.
  — Eric S. Raymond

> UNIX, hypervisor, Linux, Windows, bare metal,...., I just don't care.

Then you don't need to worry about "looking forward" to replace any of those things.

[pjmlp]

Plan 9 failed because Bell Labs management did not care enough, and eventually placed the team into the Inferno project to try fight against Sun and Java, that is why.

The lesson is that if you want a project to succeed ensure management is on your side for the long road.

I still need to care, because the final decision what to use is not always on my table.

[MisterTea]

The Inferno project was around a year of disruption. But yes, the whole Labs management failure plays a part too.

[miohtama]

Google has taken a stepmto this direction with Fuchsia. To replace the Linux kernel under Android/ChromeOS and maybe later the servers. But it will be a massive undertaking due to massive sunken cost in the UNIX legacy.

[pjmlp]

Yes, but if no one ever spends the money, it will never change.

The main reason why alternatives failed so far it wasn't for lack of technical capabilities, rather companies not willing to put the money in for the long road it takes to reboot everything.

At least the majority of userspace applications are moving into the right direction, specially those being deployed on cloud environments on top of orchestrated runtimes, or the mobile phone apps.

[formerly_proven]

Linux isn't Unix: commercial Unix already got obliterated by Linux (and the dotcom bubble, Itanium). Completely different development model, vastly different capabilities.

[pjmlp]

Yeah, I forgot about that, it is just a kernel that happens to be POSIX compatible.