How could I go about experiencing something as close to original Unix (not Linux), as it was in the 60s/70s/80s? I'm interested in some sort of playground so I can see what the filesystem might have looked like, permissions, available commands, etc.
Closest experience to original Unix?
- Thread starter SlowCoder
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Deleted member 108694
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FreeBSD and Solaris are two off the top of my head and macOS which was originally based on BSD
Solaris is close but it's been updated a lot Minix is closest I think. Also inorder to get a real feel for how it was back then you would need to find a machine that used the same parameters (I.E. processor, ram. Tape drive etc.) things have changed a lot since those days 
OP
I guess I'm feeling a bit nostalgic, not that I used *nix back in those days. My first exposure was in the early 90s, way before I even knew about Linux, and was pretty minimal. What I'm most curious about is the toolsets they were limited to, and what it felt like to use the systems.
I was an end user at the time with a job to do and never really got into the Machine itself just what they would let me do via a dumb terminal. (not sure if they were talking about the terminal or the operator In any event we still were using punched paper tape readers then this was back in the late 70's and early 80's everything was tied to a big Main frame that still used tape drives and Unix of a sort though it was heavily modified for our use. Didn't really know the commands everything was just typed in and the programmers took it from there.
In any event we still were using punched paper tape readers then this was back in the late 70's and early 80's everything was tied to a big Main frame that still used tape drives and Unix of a sort though it was heavily modified for our use. Didn't really know the commands everything was just typed in and the programmers took it from there.
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CrazedNerd
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Wow, I wonder if that works with virtual box
NetBSD comes to my mind... Certainly my first "Unix" experience was visiting the then new Sun lab at Berkeley in the 80's, and I think NetBSD remains most true to the original BSD today. But NetBSD today is perhaps not truly like experiencing BSD back then anymore. However, if you picked a very old NetBSD release, it would be closer. Of course, you also need to run "essential" applications like Xconq, too
.One real possibility for truly experiencing that "good old time" Unix on PDP-11 experience as K&R intended you to would be using simh.
gunkies.org
github.com
Running UNIX v6 in SIMH - Computer History Wiki
GitHub - simh/simh: The Computer History Simulation Project
The Computer History Simulation Project . Contribute to simh/simh development by creating an account on GitHub.
github.com
