How could the early Unix OS comprise so few lines of code?

Re:How could the early Unix OS comprise so few lines of code? by wkat4242 on Monday September 11, 2023 @06:19AM (#37465156)

But modern Linux is only the kernel. Early unixes included the userland as well which creates a different balance in types of code.

In fact traditional unixes still do, like FreeBSD. Linux is the odd one out with this separation. I think it happened because GNU was not very successful with Hurd but they made great userland so "Linux" became kinda a combo. And for Linus the userland was never really in scope anyway.

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Re:How could the early Unix OS comprise so few lines of code? by hnfong on Monday September 11, 2023 @10:00AM (#37467391)

I'm only speaking from impression, but I think early Unix's userland is probably comparable with busybox in terms of code size and features.

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Re:How could the early Unix OS comprise so few lines of code? by sgerenser on Monday September 11, 2023 @11:17AM (#37468549)

I’d be surprised if early Unix userland wasn’t even more barebones than busybox.

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Re:How could the early Unix OS comprise so few lines of code? by wkat4242 on Tuesday September 12, 2023 @03:04PM (#37486163)

It sure was. But so was the kernel itself. I don't think the balance between them changed a lot over time.

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