On Sun, 28 Aug 2022 12:44:46 +0100, Ben Bacarisse wrote:
> I can't help with your question, but have you found any shells from the
> same era as the PWB shell? If so, they must have been ported solely as
> historical curiosities.
Yes: Almquist, original Bourne, Thompson shell, maybe others. A couple
decades ago a/the UNIX trademark owner made much/all earlier UNIX source
code Free/Libre/Opensource Software (FLS, OSS, FOSS, FLOSS) including PWM/
Mashey shell which is still at archives/repositories such as The UNIX
Heritage Society.
Later there was a lawsuit that organization didn't have right to because
AT&T sold trademark to several organizations, but 'the cat is out of the
bag' and people can use that code as long as they don't sell it (maybe not
distribute it either or at least not largely-publicize it to attract wrong
attention).
Of course, PWB/Mashey shell still freely/legally runs on UNIX servers and
personal-use emulators... for newer servers/PCs it's merely a question of
updates that may be minor (as was the case with other three I mentioned).