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author meillo@marmaro.de
date Mon, 08 Mar 2010 12:58:58 +0100
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26:b368ff5cdb5f 27:e8adc3571e8c
10 .sp 1.2i 10 .sp 1.2i
11 .ps 11 11 .ps 11
12 markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de> 12 markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
13 13
14 14
15 .S "goals of this talk 15 .S "Goals of this talk
16 .I 16 .I
17 introduce the Unix Phil 17 Introduce the Unix Phil
18 .I 18 .I
19 show that most modern software is crap 19 Show that most modern software is crap
20 .I 20 .I
21 explain why the Unix Phil leads to better software 21 Explain why the Unix Phil leads to better software
22 .I 22 .I
23 convince you that good software is of matter 23 Convince you that good software is of matter
24 .sp 2 24 .sp 2
25 .I 25 .I
26 make you think 26 Make you think
27 27
28 28
29 .S "roadmap 29 .S "Roadmap
30 .I 30 .I
31 Historical background 31 Historical background
32 .I 32 .I
33 What is the Unix Philosophy? 33 What is the Unix Phil?
34 .I 34 .I
35 The Unix Phil after Gancarz 35 The Unix Phil after Gancarz
36 .I 36 .I
37 Discussion on real world examples 37 Discussion on real world examples
38 .I 38 .I
39 The Unix Phil is more than software dev guidelines 39 The Unix Phil is more than software dev guidelines
40 40
41 41
42 42
43 .S "me and the UP 43 .S "How I learned about it
44 .LP 44 .LP
45 first contact: through the suckless project 45 First contact through dwm (suckless project)
46 .LP 46 .LP
47 ``cat -v Considered Harmful'' 47 ``cat -v Considered Harmful''
48 .LP 48 .LP
49 ``The Unix and the Echo'' 49 ``The Unix and the Echo''
50 .LP 50 .LP
51 ``The Unix Programming Environment'' 51 ``The Unix Programming Environment''
52 .sp 1 52 .sp 1
53 .LP 53 .LP
54 better understanding through digging in the past 54 Better understanding through digging in the past
55 55
56 56
57 57
58 58
59 59
60 .P "historical background 60 .P "Historical background
61 61
62 62
63 63
64 64
65 .S "historical background 65 .S "Historical background
66 .I 66 .LP
67 the late 60s and early 70s 67 The late 60s and early 70s
68 .I 68 .LP
69 operating systems are complex 69 Operating systems are complex
70 .I 70 .LP
71 MULTICS just failed
72 .I
73 Brooks' ``The Mythical Man-Month'' 71 Brooks' ``The Mythical Man-Month''
74 .I 72 .LP
75 a lot of different hardware 73 MULTICS had just failed
76 .I 74 .LP
77 limited computing power 75 A lot of different hardware
78 .I 76 .LP
79 textual input and output (line printers) 77 Limited computing power
80 78 .LP
81 79 Textual input and output (line printers)
82 .S "everything is a file 80
83 .LP 81
84 is the(?) basic concept in Unix (and even more in Plan9) 82 .S "Everything is a file
85 .LP 83 .LP
86 made simple operating systems possible 84 Is the(?) basic concept in Unix (and even more in Plan9)
87 .LP 85 .LP
88 it is not covered by the Unix Phil; the Unix Phil is on a different level 86 Made simple operating systems possible
87 .LP
88 It is not covered by the Unix Phil
89 .br
90 The Unix Phil is on a different level
89 .sp 2 91 .sp 2
90 .LP 92 .LP
91 Unix is mainly two things: 93 Unix is mainly two things:
92 .I 94 .I
93 an operating system (system calls) 95 An operating system (system calls)
94 .I 96 .I
95 a toolchest (coreutils) 97 A toolchest (coreutils)
96 98
97 99
98 100
99 .P "What is the Unix Phil 101 .P "What is the Unix Phil?
100 102
101 103
102 104
103 .S "What is the Unix Phil *itself*? 105 .S "What is the Unix Phil *itself*?
104 .LP 106 .LP
111 How the inventors of Unix write software. 113 How the inventors of Unix write software.
112 .LP 114 .LP
113 Common things of classic Unix tools. 115 Common things of classic Unix tools.
114 .sp 2 116 .sp 2
115 .LP 117 .LP
116 difficult to define 118 Difficult to define
117 119
118 120
119 .S "Unix Phil vs. SW dev processes 121 .S "Unix Phil vs. SW dev processes
120 .LP 122 .LP
121 the Unix Phil 123 The Unix Phil
122 .I 124 .I
123 much: *what* to program 125 much: *what* to program
124 .I 126 .I
125 few: *how* to program 127 few: *how* to program
126 128
183 Avoid captive user interfaces. 185 Avoid captive user interfaces.
184 .I 186 .I
185 Make every program a filter. 187 Make every program a filter.
186 .sp 1 188 .sp 1
187 .LP 189 .LP
188 plus ten lesser tenets 190 Plus ten lesser tenets
189 191
190 192
191 193
192 194
193 .P "The Unix Phil after Gancarz 195 .P "The Unix Phil after Gancarz
194 196
195 197
196 198
197 .S "Small is beautiful 199 .S "Small is beautiful
198 .I 200 .LP
199 small software is easier to understand, write, maintain 201 Small software is easier to understand, write, maintain
200 .I 202 .LP
201 less lines of code contain less bugs 203 Less lines of code contain less bugs
202 .I 204 .LP
203 monsters are large 205 Monsters are large
204 206
205 207
206 .S "Make each program do one thing well 208 .S "Make each program do one thing well
207 .I 209 .LP
208 programs with many functions are large 210 Programs with many functions are large
209 .I 211 .LP
210 one thing is easier to understand 212 One thing is easier to understand
211 .I 213 .LP
212 often straight forward to implement 214 Often straight forward to implement
213 .I 215 .LP
214 reusable 216 Reusable
215 217
216 218
217 .S "Build a prototype as soon as possible 219 .S "Build a prototype as soon as possible
218 .I 220 .LP
219 shows the quality of the design 221 Shows the quality of the design
220 .I 222 .LP
221 shows the problems of the software 223 Shows the problems of the software
222 .I 224 .LP
223 the best way to shape a software 225 The best way to shape a software
224 .I 226 .LP
225 users find bugs 227 Users find bugs
226 228
227 229
228 .S "Choose portability over efficiency 230 .S "Choose portability over efficiency
229 .I 231 .LP
230 (comes from incompatible hardware in history) 232 (Originates in a lot of incompatible hardware in history)
231 .I 233 .LP
232 use is most important 234 Use is most important
233 .I 235 .LP
234 availability 236 Availability
235 .I 237 .LP
236 only needs to be fast enough 238 Only needs to be fast enough
237 239
238 240
239 .S "Store data in flat text files 241 .S "Store data in flat text files
240 .LP 242 .LP
241 binary data is machine dependent 243 Binary data is machine-dependent
242 .LP 244 .LP
243 human readable data is: 245 Human readable data is:
244 .I 246 .I
245 is very likely supported 247 As generic as possible
246 .I 248 .I
247 good to port 249 Is very likely supported
248 .I 250 .I
249 many tools work on it (Unix toolchest) 251 Many tools work on it (Unix toolchest)
250 .I 252 .I
251 as generic as possible 253 Directly editable by humans
252 .LP 254 .LP
253 processing needs only to be fast enough 255 Processing needs only to be fast enough
254 256
255 257
256 .S "Use software leverage to your advantage 258 .S "Use software leverage to your advantage
257 .LP 259 .LP
258 what do we have computers for? 260 What do we have computers for?
259 .LP 261 .LP
260 make best use of computing power 262 Make best use of computing power
261 .LP 263 .LP
262 reduce development effort 264 Reduce development effort
263 265
264 266
265 .S "Use shell scripts to increase leverage and portability 267 .S "Use shell scripts to increase leverage and portability
266 .LP 268 .LP
267 was very important in history 269 Was very important in history
268 .LP 270 .LP
269 high level languages 271 High level languages
270 .LP 272 .LP
271 prototyping 273 Prototyping
272 .LP 274 .LP
273 quick hacks 275 Quick hacks
274 276
275 277
276 .S "Avoid captive user interfaces 278 .S "Avoid captive user interfaces
277 .LP 279 .LP
278 don't assume the user to be human 280 Don't assume the user to be human
279 .LP 281 .LP
280 exclude the user whenever possible 282 Exclude the user whenever possible
281 .LP 283 .LP
282 automate 284 Automate
283 285
284 286
285 .S "Make every program a filter 287 .S "Make every program a filter
286 .LP 288 .LP
287 programs transform data 289 Programs transform data
288 .LP 290 .LP
289 combine programs 291 Combine programs
290 .LP 292 .LP
291 have one common interface 293 Have one common interface
292
293
294
295 .S "a different POV
296 .I
297 pipes
298 .I
299 interface design
300 .I
301 the toolchest approach
302 .I
303 a powerful shell
304 .I
305 worse is better
306 .I
307 upgrowth and survival
308 294
309 295
310 296
311 .P "real world examples 297 .P "real world examples
312 298
313 299
300 .S "find -printf
301 .LP
302 How to reformat the output of find(1) to have ``FILENAME PATH''
303 instead of ``PATH/FILENAME''?
304
305 .LP
306 The ``easy'' way:
307 \f(CWfind /dir -printf "%P %h\en"\fP
308
309 .LP
310 The ``good'' way:
311 .br
312 .CW "\s-1find /dir | sed 's,\e(.*\e)/\e(.*\e),\e2 \e1,'
313
314 .LP
315 The difference shows off when one wants, for instance,
316 the path to be manipulated further.
317
318
314 .S "various 319 .S "various
315 .LP 320 .LP
316 who uses 321 Who uses
317 .CW "grep -R 322 .CW "grep -R
318 ? 323 ?
319
320 .sp 1 324 .sp 1
321 .LP 325 .LP
322 .CW "cat -v 326 .CW "cat -v
323 327
324 .sp 1 328 .sp 1
325 .LP 329 .LP
326 pagers are taken for granted 330 Pagers are taken for granted
327 331
328 .sp 1 332 .sp 1
329 .LP 333 .LP
330 what about the readline? 334 What about the readline?
331 335
332
333
334 .S "find -printf
335 .LP
336 How to reformat the output of find(1) to have ``FILENAME PATH''
337 instead of ``PATH/FILENAME''?
338
339 .LP
340 the ``easy'' way:
341 \f(CWfind /dir -printf "%P %h\en"\fP
342
343 .LP
344 the ``good'' way:
345 .br
346 .CW "\s-1find /dir | sed 's,\e(.*\e)/\e(.*\e),\e2 \e1,'
347
348 .LP
349 The difference shows off when one wants, for instance,
350 the path to be manipulated further.
351 336
352 337
353 .S "MH / nmh 338 .S "MH / nmh
354 .LP 339 .LP
355 a Mail User Agent (MUA) 340 A Mail User Agent (MUA)
356 .LP 341 .LP
357 is a toolchest 342 Is a toolchest
358 .LP 343 .LP
359 work with mails like with generic files 344 Work with mails like with generic files
360 .LP 345 .LP
361 the only(?) MUA that follows the Unix Phil 346 The only(?) MUA that follows the Unix Phil
362 .LP 347 .LP
363 has a very special feeling 348 Has a very special feeling
364 349
365 350
366 .S "uzbl 351 .S "uzbl
367 .LP 352 .LP
368 a web browser that adheres to the Unix Phil 353 A web browser that adheres to the Unix Phil
369 .LP 354 .LP
370 a young project (about 1 year) 355 A young project (about 1 year)
371 .LP 356 .LP
372 central question: what is the one task a web browser covers? 357 Central question:
373 .LP 358 .br
374 makes very visible use of software leverage 359 What is the one task a web browser covers?
375 .LP 360 .LP
376 suffers hard from our broken web 361 Makes very visible use of software leverage
377 362 .LP
378 363 Suffers hard from our broken web
379 364
380 365
381 366
382 .P "more than software dev guidelines 367
383 368
384 369 .P "Some final thoughts
385 .S "say no 370
386 .LP 371
387 in today's computer world, the Unix Phil is much of asceticism 372 .S "Say no!
388 .LP 373 .LP
389 one needs to abjure a lot of ``nice'' features 374 In today's computer world, the Unix Phil is often asceticism
375 .LP
376 One needs to abjure a lot of ``nice'' features
377 .LP
378 Actually it is abjuring the bad solutions
390 .LP 379 .LP
391 IMO that leads to a valuable attitude 380 IMO that leads to a valuable attitude
392 381 .LP
393 382 .sp 2
394 .S "avoid complexity 383 Transfer it to your everyday life
395 .LP 384
396 avoid complexity first and foremost 385
397 .LP 386 .S "Avoid complexity
398 complexity is the ``boss enemy'', software developers fight against 387 .LP
399 .LP 388 Avoid complexity first and foremost
400 strive for simplicity, clarity, generality 389 .LP
401 390 Complexity is the ``boss enemy'', software developers fight against
402 391 .LP
403 .S "good solutions 392 Strive for simplicity, clarity, generality
404 .LP 393 .LP
405 we don't need just solutions, we need good ones 394 .sp 2
406 .LP 395 Transfer it to your everyday life
407 today, we can make almost everything possible, 396
397
398 .S "Good solutions
399 .LP
400 We don't need just solutions, we need good ones
401 .LP
402 Today, we can make almost everything possible,
408 but we still cannot make it good 403 but we still cannot make it good
409 404 .LP
410 405 .sp 2
411 .S "live it 406 Transfer it to your everyday life
412 .LP 407
413 the Unix Phil is not just a few guidelines 408
414 .LP 409 .S "Live it!
415 you cannot follow just some of the tenets 410 .LP
416 .LP 411 The Unix Phil is not just a few guidelines
417 you will not understand the Unix Phil when you don't engage with it 412 .LP
413 You cannot follow just some of the tenets
414 .LP
415 You will not understand the Unix Phil when you don't engage with it
418 .sp 3 416 .sp 3
419 .LP 417 .LP
420 .ce 418 .ce
421 it's a philosophy \(en live it! 419 It's a philosophy \(en live it!
422 420
423 421
424 422
425 .P "literature 423 .P "Appendix
426 424
427 425
428 .S literature 426 .S Literature
429 .I 427 .I
430 ``\fBThe Unix Philosophy\fP'' 428 ``\fBThe Unix Philosophy\fP''
431 by Mike Gancarz 429 by Mike Gancarz
432 .br 430 .br
433 Go and get it! 431 Go and get it!
454 A must-read. 452 A must-read.
455 453
456 454
457 .S 455 .S
458 .LP 456 .LP
459 this talk was prepared using tools of the Heirloom project: 457 This talk was prepared using tools of the Heirloom project:
460 .CW \s-2http://heirloom.sf.net\s+2 458 .CW \s-2http://heirloom.sf.net\s+2
461 .LP 459 .LP
462 the slides macros are based on 460 The slides macros are based on
463 .br 461 .br
464 .CW \s-2http://repo.cat-v.org/troff-slider/\s+2 462 .CW \s-2http://repo.cat-v.org/troff-slider/\s+2
465 .sp 463 .sp
466 464
467 .LP 465 .LP
468 the slides are available on my website 466 The slides are available on my website
469 .CW \s-2http://marmaro.de/docs\s+2 467 .CW \s-2http://marmaro.de/docs\s+2
470 and on 468 and on
471 .CW \s-2http://ulm.ccc.de/ChaosSeminar/\s+2 469 .CW \s-2http://ulm.ccc.de/ChaosSeminar/\s+2
472 .sp 470 .sp
473 471 .LP
472 See my paper on the topic, too.
473
474 .sp 2
474 2010-03-08 475 2010-03-08