Discussion:
K & R First Edition
(too old to reply)
gareth evans
2021-03-29 16:21:35 UTC
Permalink
40 years ago, out of interest, I borrowed a copy
of K & R to read about C, but accidentally dropped
it in a puddle so was morally obliged to buy a new copy
for he from whom I had borrowed it.

Net result; I got to keep the first edition.

I've also got a copy of the blue Bell Labs journal
in which they reveal Unix and C.

I've a book by Magnus Pyke (Brit readers will remember
him as the mad scientist waving his arms about on TV)
from about 1956 wherein he questions the use of computers.
Vir Campestris
2021-03-29 20:42:35 UTC
Permalink
Post by gareth evans
40 years ago, out of interest, I borrowed a copy
of K & R to read about C, but accidentally dropped
it in a puddle so was morally obliged to buy a new copy
for he from whom I had borrowed it.
Net result; I got to keep the first edition.
I've also got a copy of the blue Bell Labs journal
in which they reveal Unix and C.
I've a book by Magnus Pyke (Brit readers will remember
him as the mad scientist waving his arms about on TV)
from about 1956 wherein he questions the use of computers.
Dammit I've lost mine :( It should be over there next to the 1981 book
on Pascal and the DOS programmers reference. Not far from my 1941 copy
of Kermode's "Flight without formulas"...

Andy
Bob Eager
2021-03-29 20:46:23 UTC
Permalink
Post by Vir Campestris
40 years ago, out of interest, I borrowed a copy of K & R to read about
C, but accidentally dropped it in a puddle so was morally obliged to
buy a new copy for he from whom I had borrowed it.
Net result; I got to keep the first edition.
I've also got a copy of the blue Bell Labs journal in which they reveal
Unix and C.
I've a book by Magnus Pyke (Brit readers will remember him as the mad
scientist waving his arms about on TV) from about 1956 wherein he
questions the use of computers.
Dammit I've lost mine :( It should be over there next to the 1981 book
on Pascal and the DOS programmers reference. Not far from my 1941 copy
of Kermode's "Flight without formulas"...
I have both editions of K&R, and also the Bell Labs journal copy. I
bought the latter from the USA when it had just been published. I had to
negotiate the exchange control labyrinth to get payment to the USA.

I also have the (rare) documentation set that shipped with Mini-UNIX -
rare in itself, although I have a page on setting it up, including scans
of that document.
--
Using UNIX since v6 (1975)...

Use the BIG mirror service in the UK:
http://www.mirrorservice.org
Scott Lurndal
2021-03-29 22:04:59 UTC
Permalink
git.gnome.org/pan2)
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Post by Vir Campestris
40 years ago, out of interest, I borrowed a copy of K & R to read about
C, but accidentally dropped it in a puddle so was morally obliged to
buy a new copy for he from whom I had borrowed it.
Net result; I got to keep the first edition.
I've also got a copy of the blue Bell Labs journal in which they reveal
Unix and C.
I've a book by Magnus Pyke (Brit readers will remember him as the mad
scientist waving his arms about on TV) from about 1956 wherein he
questions the use of computers.
Dammit I've lost mine :( It should be over there next to the 1981 book
on Pascal and the DOS programmers reference. Not far from my 1941 copy
of Kermode's "Flight without formulas"...
I have both editions of K&R, and also the Bell Labs journal copy.
As do I. I also have Don Gregory's Algol books. And a fair
amount of orignal Electrodata 220 documentation.
Charlie Gibbs
2021-03-29 23:00:55 UTC
Permalink
Post by Vir Campestris
Post by gareth evans
40 years ago, out of interest, I borrowed a copy
of K & R to read about C, but accidentally dropped
it in a puddle so was morally obliged to buy a new copy
for he from whom I had borrowed it.
Net result; I got to keep the first edition.
I've also got a copy of the blue Bell Labs journal
in which they reveal Unix and C.
I've a book by Magnus Pyke (Brit readers will remember
him as the mad scientist waving his arms about on TV)
from about 1956 wherein he questions the use of computers.
Dammit I've lost mine :( It should be over there next to the 1981 book
on Pascal and the DOS programmers reference. Not far from my 1941 copy
of Kermode's "Flight without formulas"...
I stumbled across mine yesterday. I keep it with other treasures like
Fred Brooks' _The Mythical Man-Month_ and a collection of Robert L. Glass
stories (written under the pseudonym Miles Benson) titled _The Universal
Elixir (and Other Projects Which Went Wrong)_.
--
/~\ Charlie Gibbs | They don't understand Microsoft
\ / <***@kltpzyxm.invalid> | has stolen their car and parked
X I'm really at ac.dekanfrus | a taxi in their driveway.
/ \ if you read it the right way. | -- Mayayana
Peter Flass
2021-03-30 19:18:15 UTC
Permalink
Post by Charlie Gibbs
Post by Vir Campestris
Post by gareth evans
40 years ago, out of interest, I borrowed a copy
of K & R to read about C, but accidentally dropped
it in a puddle so was morally obliged to buy a new copy
for he from whom I had borrowed it.
Net result; I got to keep the first edition.
I've also got a copy of the blue Bell Labs journal
in which they reveal Unix and C.
I've a book by Magnus Pyke (Brit readers will remember
him as the mad scientist waving his arms about on TV)
from about 1956 wherein he questions the use of computers.
Dammit I've lost mine :( It should be over there next to the 1981 book
on Pascal and the DOS programmers reference. Not far from my 1941 copy
of Kermode's "Flight without formulas"...
I stumbled across mine yesterday. I keep it with other treasures like
Fred Brooks' _The Mythical Man-Month_ and a collection of Robert L. Glass
stories (written under the pseudonym Miles Benson) titled _The Universal
Elixir (and Other Projects Which Went Wrong)_.
I looked around for the Robert Glass books - apparently they’re not
available for any reasonable price.
--
Pete
gareth evans
2021-03-30 20:40:17 UTC
Permalink
Post by Peter Flass
Post by Charlie Gibbs
Post by Vir Campestris
Post by gareth evans
40 years ago, out of interest, I borrowed a copy
of K & R to read about C, but accidentally dropped
it in a puddle so was morally obliged to buy a new copy
for he from whom I had borrowed it.
Net result; I got to keep the first edition.
I've also got a copy of the blue Bell Labs journal
in which they reveal Unix and C.
I've a book by Magnus Pyke (Brit readers will remember
him as the mad scientist waving his arms about on TV)
from about 1956 wherein he questions the use of computers.
Dammit I've lost mine :( It should be over there next to the 1981 book
on Pascal and the DOS programmers reference. Not far from my 1941 copy
of Kermode's "Flight without formulas"...
I stumbled across mine yesterday. I keep it with other treasures like
Fred Brooks' _The Mythical Man-Month_ and a collection of Robert L. Glass
stories (written under the pseudonym Miles Benson) titled _The Universal
Elixir (and Other Projects Which Went Wrong)_.
I looked around for the Robert Glass books - apparently they’re not
available for any reasonable price.
Also from 1981 I've a Pascal book by Grogono, which was a handout
when I attended an Intel Pascal course in Swindon in July of that
year. The only thing I remember from that course was the
fantastic luncheons!

But Intel's Pascal for the 8x86 at that time seemed to be
nobbut a 3rd year project for a computer science undergrad
for there was no optimisation at all and the compiled code
gobbled up memory space like there was no tomorrow, so
we (Pye TMC, Malmesbury) changed to PLM86 for the
Pentara / KBX100 PABX [roject.
Questor
2021-03-31 20:22:37 UTC
Permalink
I looked around for the Robert Glass books - apparently they're not
available for any reasonable price.
I suppose that depends on your definition of reasonable. Consider that some of
his titles are over forty years old and were undoubtedly limited print runs.
You may find the prices on his later works more to your liking. I found plenty
of options on the usual sites like Amazon, Abebooks, and Alibris.
Ahem A Rivet's Shot
2021-03-29 23:12:44 UTC
Permalink
On Mon, 29 Mar 2021 21:42:35 +0100
Post by Vir Campestris
Dammit I've lost mine :(
I loaned mine out sometime in the mid-late 80s never to be seen
again.
--
Steve O'Hara-Smith | Directable Mirror Arrays
C:\>WIN | A better way to focus the sun
The computer obeys and wins. | licences available see
You lose and Bill collects. | http://www.sohara.org/
songbird
2021-03-30 17:50:42 UTC
Permalink
Post by Ahem A Rivet's Shot
On Mon, 29 Mar 2021 21:42:35 +0100
Post by Vir Campestris
Dammit I've lost mine :(
I loaned mine out sometime in the mid-late 80s never to be seen
again.
a few years earlier for me and i don't know what
edition it was as mine was a paperback version sold
through the campus book store.

somewhere out there went my K&R C book and my
Pascal book. same guy borrowed them and never
returned them. i had my name in them too but
that obviously did no good to me. i don't think
they did any good for him either as i don't recall
ever seeing him around again.


songbird
David Lesher
2021-03-29 21:26:11 UTC
Permalink
40 years ago, out of interest, I borrowed a copy of K & R
to read about C, but accidentally dropped it in a puddle so
was morally obliged to buy a new copy for he from whom I had
borrowed it.
In 1989, I was in Warsaw for a month. When not working, I
wandered around the city. I found some kind of bookstore but
knowing literally 2-3 words of Polish, it was not very fruitful.

Until I found a book, printed on newsprint titled

RSX-11

which I of course bought. Next to it was another skinnier book

jezyk programowania C.

which meant nothing to me until I noticed the bottom of the cover where it
said

Kernighan and Ritchie

and I knew before opening it what it was.

I bought both for a dollar; in those days a US dollar bought
most things including lunch or a concert.
--
A host is a host from coast to ***@nrk.com
& no one will talk to a host that's close..........................
Unless the host (that isn't close).........................pob 1433
is busy, hung or dead....................................20915-1433
Bob Eager
2021-03-29 21:46:08 UTC
Permalink
40 years ago, out of interest, I borrowed a copy of K & R to read about
C, but accidentally dropped it in a puddle so was morally obliged to buy
a new copy for he from whom I had borrowed it.
In 1989, I was in Warsaw for a month. When not working, I wandered
around the city. I found some kind of bookstore but knowing literally
2-3 words of Polish, it was not very fruitful.
Until I found a book, printed on newsprint titled
RSX-11
which I of course bought. Next to it was another skinnier book
jezyk programowania C.
Have a look for:

Wprowadzenie do Systemow Operacyjnych
--
Using UNIX since v6 (1975)...

Use the BIG mirror service in the UK:
http://www.mirrorservice.org
lawrence
2021-03-31 00:51:53 UTC
Permalink
Post by David Lesher
In 1989, I was in Warsaw for a month. When not working, I
wandered around the city. I found some kind of bookstore but
knowing literally 2-3 words of Polish, it was not very fruitful.
Until I found a book, printed on newsprint titled
RSX-11
which I of course bought. Next to it was another skinnier book
jezyk programowania C.
which meant nothing to me until I noticed the bottom of the cover where it
said
Kernighan and Ritchie
and I knew before opening it what it was.
I have a very similar story. In 1994, I was visiting a Russian
nerd-friend in Saint Petersburg. He had hundreds of books, and I was
just running down the row practicing reading Cyrillic names aloud. [I
spoke maybe ten words of Russian, but at least I could practice
sight-reading the Cyrillic alphabet]

After an interminable chain of Alexykovs and Markovs and Baikovs, I came
to one book, "Kapps ii Stafford" HEY! I know this one! He had a very
well put together (high production values, quality paper)
Russian-language translation of "The Standard" textbook on VAX Assembly
Language.

Three years later, when he came to visit me in the USA, I showed him my
'original' copy.

-- echo ***@abaluon.abaom | sed -e 's/aba/c/g'
Questor
2021-03-31 06:42:30 UTC
Permalink
Is this what we've come to -- posting our personal inventories of classic
computer books?

I've got an K & R somewhere but I don't know what edition it is. I have Ted
Nelson's "Computer Lib / Dream Machines;" it came from DEC's Corporate Library
(they were paring down their collection and literally giving it away) so it may
well be first edition. And I have the DEC WARS comic book -- somewhere in a
box. It's been so long since I've seen that I can't remember many details about
it.
bert
2021-03-31 08:29:48 UTC
Permalink
Post by Questor
Is this what we've come to -- posting our personal inventories of classic
computer books?
Well, why ever not? Two or three decades ago, at a local collectors' fair,
I picked up a copy of B.V. Bowden's 1953 classic "Faster than Thought"
for an entirely nominal £1 or £2.
Charlie Gibbs
2021-03-31 16:29:19 UTC
Permalink
Post by Questor
Is this what we've come to -- posting our personal inventories of classic
computer books?
Why not - this is a.f.c after all.
Post by Questor
I've got an K & R somewhere but I don't know what edition it is.
<brag>
Mine is the first edition.
</brag>
Post by Questor
I have Ted Nelson's "Computer Lib / Dream Machines;" it came from DEC's
Corporate Library (they were paring down their collection and literally
giving it away) so it may well be first edition.
I have both the first edition and the reprint. The reprint doesn't
properly reproduce the upside-down back cover, but it does fit more
easily on most shelves.
Post by Questor
And I have the DEC WARS comic book -- somewhere in a box. It's been
so long since I've seen that I can't remember many details about it.
Comic book? I got my hands on several DEC Wars text files and blended
them into a single Star Wars parody, but I never saw a comic book.
Tell me more.
--
/~\ Charlie Gibbs | They don't understand Microsoft
\ / <***@kltpzyxm.invalid> | has stolen their car and parked
X I'm really at ac.dekanfrus | a taxi in their driveway.
/ \ if you read it the right way. | -- Mayayana
Niklas Karlsson
2021-03-31 19:01:06 UTC
Permalink
Post by Charlie Gibbs
Post by Questor
And I have the DEC WARS comic book -- somewhere in a box. It's been
so long since I've seen that I can't remember many details about it.
Comic book? I got my hands on several DEC Wars text files and blended
them into a single Star Wars parody, but I never saw a comic book.
Tell me more.
Perhaps he was thinking of CPU Wars, still available Machine here (but
who knows for how much longer):

https://web.archive.org/web/20110727111512/http://www.e-pix.com/CPUWARS/cpuwars.html

Niklas
--
The company keeps a helpdesk to allow staff to vent certain excess
pressures by ranting, just as other excess pressures are vented thanks
to the company installing toilets. Generally the toilets last longer.
-- Anthony de Boer
Niklas Karlsson
2021-03-31 19:03:00 UTC
Permalink
Post by Niklas Karlsson
Perhaps he was thinking of CPU Wars, still available Machine here (but
https://web.archive.org/web/20110727111512/http://www.e-pix.com/CPUWARS/cpuwars.html
Flubbed my editing a bit, and this might be a better spot to start in:

https://web.archive.org/web/20110710161748/http://e-pix.com/CPUWARS/Comic/Panels/001.html

Niklas
--
"... I've seen Sun monitors on fire off the side of the multimedia lab.
I've seen NTU lights glitter in the dark near the Mail Gate.
All these things will be lost in time, like the root partition last week.
Time to die...". - Peter Gutmann in alt.sysadmin.recovery
Questor
2021-03-31 23:17:00 UTC
Permalink
Post by Niklas Karlsson
Post by Niklas Karlsson
Perhaps he was thinking of CPU Wars, still available Machine here (but
https://web.archive.org/web/20110710161748/http://e-pix.com/CPUWARS/Comic/Panels/001.html
Yes -- that's it! Thanks for remembering it correctly for me.

Of course, I have the original, 11x17 inch version, not the reprint.
Questor
2021-03-31 20:22:48 UTC
Permalink
Post by Charlie Gibbs
Post by Questor
Is this what we've come to -- posting our personal inventories of classic
computer books?
And I have the DEC WARS comic book -- somewhere in a box. It's been
so long since I've seen that I can't remember many details about it.
Comic book? I got my hands on several DEC Wars text files and blended
them into a single Star Wars parody, but I never saw a comic book.
Tell me more.
Details are sketchy. I purchased it in a Maynard bookstore, early to mid-1980s.
It's an oversize format with a stiff cardboard cover. I think it's about DEC
programmers, but I don't recall any plot details. I'm starting to dig into my
storage boxes and will post when I encounter it, but there's no telling when
that will be.
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