VCF East: Ken Thompson interviewed by Brian Kernighan

What this video covers

Brian Kernighan interviews Unix co-creator Ken Thompson at VCF East 2019. Thompson recounts how he was hired at Bell Labs, writing the Unix kernel in about three weeks, the origins of B and TMG, pipes, and other anecdotes.

Why it surfaced in Hacker News

HN commenters recommend it for Thompson's funny, first-hand Unix history stories, some of which even Kernighan had not heard.

Recommendation context

Short excerpts from positive mentions. Open the source to read the full Hacker News discussion.

“totally worth a watch”

“They're both very funny, a very entertaining video, some stories I (and even Brian) hadn't heard.”

“lots of interesting anecdotes, like getting a chess machine seized by the US government”