Author: Michael G

Bloquer les numéros indésirables sur nos portables.

Website Design and Development
CMS Selection: Choose a content management system (CMS) like WordPress for ease of use and flexibility.
Responsive Design: Ensure your website is mobile-friendly and responsive.
Fast Loading Speed: Optimize images, use a content delivery network (CDN), and choose a good hosting provider to ensure fast loading times.
User-Friendly Navigation: Make it easy for users to find content with clear menus and navigation.

An engaging website is like a great party host who makes everyone feel welcome and ensures they have such a fantastic time that they never want to leave. Who are these engaged users? They’re your future loyal customers, your content’s biggest fans, and the ones most likely to convert into paying customers.
Keeping your content fresh and relevant is one of the best things you can do to maintain user engagement on your website, but a CMS like Drupal offers so much more than just that. From creating personalized experiences to integrating interactive elements, Drupal empowers you to build a dynamic, engaging website that keeps users coming back for more.
In this blog, I’ll explore the benefits of creating an engaging website for your business and introduce 8 fantastic Drupal modules that can boost user engagement. Let’s get started!

Why is user engagement important anyway
Profitable B2B, B2C, or SaaS companies use effective user engagement as one of their KPIs to demonstrate the value they’re offering to their customers through their services. Engagement is crucial to achieving all marketing goals if you want to boost your website traffic, establish brand awareness, or launch social media campaigns.
Driving higher user engagement draws substantial benefits for your business. 

You get sustained audience attention
Build stronger emotional bonds with customers
Increase in repeated customers gradually
Brand advocacy from loyal customers
Shortened sales cycles

You can track your user engagement using various user engagement metrics such as customer base growth, average customer value, and churn rate. Your users engage with your business via social media, your company website, and product or service purchases. Here are some common metrics that help measure user engagement:

Page/scroll depth
Page views
Conversions
Time spent on the page/site
Pages per session
Bounce rate
And more…

How can you improve user engagement
With advanced technology and a rise in user expectations, it is only essential to refine websites for optimized user experiences. To begin with, here’s what you can do to improve user engagement:

Identify and cater to your target audience: Understand your target audience and customize your content to meet their expectations and preferences.
Implement a design that adapts to various devices: Build a responsive website that is adaptable to various devices whether laptop, desktop, mobile, or tablet. It helps deliver a seamless experience with a responsive design and optimum website functionality.
Ensure easy-to-use navigation: Develop an intuitive web design, easy to navigate, providing users with what they look for with clear menus and search functionality.
Utilize personalized content and experiences: Craft your content, recommendations, and CTAs based on user preferences, behavior, and demographics.
Incorporate interactive features and social media integration: Analyze user behavior and gather feedback by implementing interactive elements like forms, surveys, quizzes, polls, etc. Integrate social media buttons on your website for social engagement and brand awareness.
Optimize page load time: Reduce bounce rates with the help of leveraging caching, optimized images, compressing files, utilizing CDNs, etc., to optimize page load times for an enhanced user experience.

Top 8 Drupal modules to boost user engagement
There can be pretty small yet essential elements that can contribute to boosting user engagement, meeting user preferences, and generating valuable statistics. Drupal’s active community continuously develops innovative modules and themes to boost engagement. I have gathered a list of 8 Drupal modules that you can use to build user engagement through your website.
1. Webform

Image source: Drupal .org
The Webform module is one of the most important Drupal modules that bridges the gap between you and your audience. It helps engage your audience, gather insights about their preferences, maintain interaction with your regular customers, track marketing analytics, and offer assistance as and when required.
This module allows you to collect data in any form that is submitted to the application or system. These forms are customizable based on any behavior or aspect. Whether you need a form with multiple pages or multiple columns with conditional logic or a simple, basic form that pushes data to Salesforce/CRM, the Webform module makes it all possible.
Users can enter their data through these forms – contact forms, feedback forms, job applications, support requests, subscription forms, surveys, appointment forms, and other types of forms as required for your business and marketing goals.
Webforms feature text fields, checkboxes, select menus, radio buttons, and more. Administrators can enhance their features using placeholders for required data formats, autocomplete options, and relevant text to improve user-friendliness. Drupal’s webforms adhere to specific web accessibility standards that ensure seamless functionality even for differently-abled individuals. This includes clear labels, easily associated form validation, and keyboard accessibility. Take a deeper dive into the Webform module in this article.
2. Flag

You might dog-ear pages of a novel to mark where you left off or use bookmarks to keep track. The Flag module in Drupal offers similar functionality.
It’s an adaptable flagging system, fully customizable by administrators. Admins can create numerous flags for nodes, comments, users, and additional entities.
Any website featuring user-generated content may require monitoring for spam and adherence to submission guidelines. The Flag Drupal module allows users to mark (or bookmark) content for future reference. Users have the ability to “Add to wishlist,” “Mark as inappropriate,” “Add to bookmarks,” or “Flag as helpful,” as part of this module’s functionalities.
Flags can be either per-user, letting individuals mark items independently, or global, meaning any user’s action affects everyone. This flexibility allows additional flags (similar to published or sticky) to be applied to nodes or other elements, managed according to admin preferences.
Additionally, the module’s integration with Views allows you to build custom lists of popular content or monitor key items.
3. Poll

Image source: Drupal .org
Just like you can vote your opinion on Instagram stories and posts nowadays, the Poll module in Drupal enables users to vote among multiple choices.
You can create and manage multiple polls. These polls can be customized among options such as anonymous voting, setting voting requirements, or toggling open/closed status. Administrators can create a block that highlights the most recent poll. Additionally, this module can also be integrated with Views, so admins can create their own blocks and pages. The best thing about these polls is that they are multilingual. Users in any part of the globe can choose their preferences in their respective languages.
4. Node Read Time

Image source: Drupal .org
Time is precious and you’d like your time to be respected. Many websites understand this sentiment and value their readers’ precious time. When you read a blog on such websites, you may have noticed at the top of the blog that it mentions the time required to read that particular blog. The Node Read Time module in Drupal is behind this feature of Drupal websites.
The Node Read Time module allows admins to add an extra field of content types to showcase the time taken for users to read a node. This field considers all text fields in the content type and entity version revision fields like Paragraphs and Custom Blocks.
Additionally, the configuration page of this module allows you to enable the reading time field for specific content types. You can also set the “words per minute” value for your users to calculate the reading time. Users usually get to view the time in minutes or minutes and seconds.
5. Like/Dislike

Image source: Drupal .org
If you want to understand how your readers perceive your blogs, this module can help.
The Like/Dislike Drupal module allows you to implement a customizable like and dislike widget anywhere on your site. With the help of the Voting API, the module securely stores, retrieves, and tallies user votes. You can easily configure its settings through a dedicated page to specify which content types or entities the widget should apply to.
Users can simply hit the like or dislike button on the page to express their approval or disapproval of your site content. However, be mindful of the fact that only authenticated users can engage with the like or dislike option. Anonymous users are required to log in or register to cast their vote.
6. Commerce Wishlist

When we shop online, we mostly tend to “Add to Wishlist” to save our preferences for a later buying decision. The Commerce Wishlist module in Drupal offers such Wishlist functionality. This module is specifically developed for e-commerce websites. With the help of this module, admins can create a dedicated wishlist page, along with a customizable block. Its integration with the Views module makes it easier for straightforward customization.
With the help of this module, admins can add an “Add to Wishlist” button on every product display node. You can also generate a customizable list using Views to showcase all Wishlist products. Users can effortlessly remove or transfer Wishlist items to their Shopping Cart with a simple click.
7. Quiz

Image source: Drupal .org
Have you ever participated in a quiz tournament? While this quiz isn’t related to that one, they do share a common trait. But if you look at it this way, the tournament brings into the limelight the winner who knew the highest number of answers to the questions. It highlights their knowledge of different subjects/topics.
The Quiz module in Drupal gathers insights from users with the help of graded assessments that consist of a series of questions. These responses are then stored in the database. The scores and results of these quizzes are displayed during or after completion.
Admins can use its intuitive drag-and-drop interface to order the questions (and answers) and pages. Admins can also customize the number of questions on every page. Additionally, the module allows dummy Quiz generation, along with Question and Result data with Devel. The questions can also be randomized where multiple attempts are allowed per user. Admins have the option to provide feedback manually or automatically. Here are the versatile application options of the Quiz module:

Integration into larger Learning Management Systems (LMS) or as a supplementary classroom activity
Standalone functionality supporting multimedia-rich content in questions and answers
Adaptive mode for self-paced learning with multiple attempts
Training programs allowing iterative improvement attempts

8. Advanced Content Feedback (Admin Feedback)

Image source: Drupal .org
Last on my list is a crucial Drupal module that is most helpful in gathering insights about your site’s content. To understand if you’re providing relevant content for your users, you need to be mindful of their preferences. Feedback is a traditional yet proven and useful approach to gathering insights into your users’ preferences.
The Admin Feedback module in Drupal allows users to submit feedback on content (nodes) via AJAX requests and ensures a seamless user experience without redirects. The insights from this feedback are then monitored, analyzed, and inspected by administrators from the dashboard.
This module facilitates direct improvements based on client feedback gathered via FAQ or help pages seeking user input to enhance content quality. It includes a permission system to control feedback submission and analysis by specific roles. Admins work via two significant features of the Admin Feedback module for its optimum purpose:

Feedback Block – This feature offers a customizable form on various content types for users to provide positive or negative feedback backed with optional messages.
Content Feedback Dashboard – Accessible at /admin/content/feedback, this dashboard displays all user feedback with permissions to manage access. It offers two views: Summary View and Detail View.

Other Drupal Modules that promote user engagement
Apart from the previously mentioned modules, here are a few additional Drupal modules that help improve engagement of your Drupal site:

Simple Feedback Survey: This module is an alternative to survey forms to collect data from users visiting your site.
Website Feedback: This module allows users (with permission) to submit feedback comments along with a screenshot of the page.
Reviews: This module allows authenticated users to submit their reviews about the site content. 
Social Media Share: As the name suggests, this module allows users to share the current site page to various social media platforms like Twitter (X), Facebook, LinkedIn, WhatsApp, Pinterest, and email.
Social Auth Google: This module allows users to register and log in to a Drupal website via their Google account.

Final Thoughts
Your website is the face of your brand, and users are drawn to businesses that offer a seamless experience, engaging them with interactive features and personalized content. Drupal is an excellent tool for achieving just that. If you’re looking for a reliable Drupal development company to help improve your user engagement with your Drupal website, let’s make it happen together! Contact us today to get started!

Ronin 2.1.0 has finally been released! This release includes a lot of new features, such as new database tables, new payloads, a new recon engine, a local Web UI, and more.

The GNU C Library

=================

The GNU C Library version 2.40 is now available.

The GNU C Library is used as the C library in the GNU system and

in GNU/Linux systems, as well as many other systems that use Linux

as the kernel.

The GNU C Library is primarily designed to be a portable

and high performance C library.  It follows all relevant

standards including ISO C11 and POSIX.1-2017.  It is also

internationalized and has one of the most complete

internationalization interfaces known.

The GNU C Library webpage is at http://www.gnu.org/software/libc/

Packages for the 2.40 release may be downloaded from:

        http://ftpmirror.gnu.org/libc/

        http://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/libc/

The mirror list is at http://www.gnu.org/order/ftp.html

Distributions are encouraged to track the release/* branches

corresponding to the releases they are using.  The release

branches will be updated with conservative bug fixes and new

features while retaining backwards compatibility.

NEWS for version 2.40

=====================

Major new features:

• The <stdbit.h> header type-generic macros have been changed when using

  GCC 14.1 or later to use __builtin_stdc_bit_ceil etc. built-in functions

  in order to support unsigned __int128 and/or unsigned _BitInt(N) operands

  with arbitrary precisions when supported by the target.

• The GNU C Library now supports a feature test macro _ISOC23_SOURCE to

  enable features from the ISO C23 standard.  Only some features from

  this standard are supported by the GNU C Library.  The older name

  _ISOC2X_SOURCE is still supported.  Features from C23 are also enabled

  by _GNU_SOURCE, or by compiling with the GCC options -std=c23,

  -std=gnu23, -std=c2x or -std=gnu2x.

• The following ISO C23 function families (introduced in TS

  18661-4:2015) are now supported in <math.h>.  Each family includes

  functions for float, double, long double, _FloatN and _FloatNx, and a

  type-generic macro in <tgmath.h>.

  – Exponential functions: exp2m1, exp10m1.

  – Logarithmic functions: log2p1, log10p1, logp1.

• A new tunable, glibc.rtld.enable_secure, can be used to run a program

  as if it were a setuid process. This is currently a testing tool to allow

  more extensive verification tests for AT_SECURE programs and not meant to

  be a security feature.

• On Linux, the epoll header was updated to include epoll ioctl definitions

  and the related structure added in Linux kernel 6.9.

• The fortify functionality has been significantly enhanced for building

  programs with clang against the GNU C Library.

• Many functions have been added to the vector library for aarch64:

    acosh, asinh, atanh, cbrt, cosh, erf, erfc, hypot, pow, sinh, tanh

• On x86, memset can now use non-temporal stores to improve the performance

  of large writes. This behaviour is controlled by a new tunable

  x86_memset_non_temporal_threshold.

Deprecated and removed features, and other changes affecting compatibility:

• Architectures which use a 32-bit seconds-since-epoch field in struct

  lastlog, struct utmp, struct utmpx (such as i386, powerpc64le, rv32,

  rv64, x86-64) switched from a signed to an unsigned type for that

  field.  This allows these fields to store timestamps beyond the year

  2038, until the year 2106.  Please note that applications are still

  expected to migrate off the interfaces declared in <utmp.h> and

  <utmpx.h> (except for login_tty) due to locking and session management

  problems.

• __rseq_size now denotes the size of the active rseq area (20 bytes

  initially), not the size of struct rseq (32 bytes initially).

Security related changes:

The following CVEs were fixed in this release, details of which can be

found in the advisories directory of the release tarball:

  GLIBC-SA-2024-0004:

    ISO-2022-CN-EXT: fix out-of-bound writes when writing escape

    sequence (CVE-2024-2961)

  GLIBC-SA-2024-0005:

    nscd: Stack-based buffer overflow in netgroup cache (CVE-2024-33599)

  GLIBC-SA-2024-0006:

    nscd: Null pointer crash after notfound response (CVE-2024-33600)

  GLIBC-SA-2024-0007:

    nscd: netgroup cache may terminate daemon on memory allocation

    failure (CVE-2024-33601)

  GLIBC-SA-2024-0008:

    nscd: netgroup cache assumes NSS callback uses in-buffer strings

    (CVE-2024-33602)

The following bugs were resolved with this release:

  [19622] network: Support aliasing with struct sockaddr

  [21271] localedata: cv_RU: update translations

  [23774] localedata: lv_LV collates Y/y incorrectly

  [23865] string: wcsstr is quadratic-time

  [25119] localedata: Change Czech weekday names to lowercase

  [27777] stdio: fclose does a linear search, takes ages when many FILE*

    are opened

  [29770] libc: prctl does not match manual page ABI on powerpc64le-

    linux-gnu

  [29845] localedata: Update hr_HR locale currency to €

  [30701] time: getutxent misbehaves on 32-bit x86 when _TIME_BITS=64

  [31316] build: Fails test misc/tst-dirname “Didn’t expect signal from

    child: got `Illegal instruction'” on non SSE CPUs

  [31317] dynamic-link: [RISCV] static PIE crashes during self

    relocation

  [31325] libc: mips: clone3 is wrong for o32

  [31335] math: Compile glibc with -march=x86-64-v3 should disable FMA4

    multi-arch version

  [31339] libc: arm32 loader crash after cleanup in 2.36

  [31340] manual: A bad sentence in section 22.3.5 (resource.texi)

  [31357] dynamic-link: $(objpfx)tst-rtld-list-diagnostics.out rule

    doesn’t work with test wrapper

  [31370] localedata: wcwidth() does not treat

    DEFAULT_IGNORABLE_CODE_POINTs as zero-width

  [31371] dynamic-link: x86-64: APX and Tile registers aren’t preserved

    in ld.so trampoline

  [31372] dynamic-link: _dl_tlsdesc_dynamic doesn’t preserve all caller-

    saved registers

  [31383] libc: _FORTIFY_SOURCE=3 and __fortified_attr_access vs size of

    0 and zero size types

  [31385] build: sort-makefile-lines.py doesn’t check variable with _

    nor with “^# variable”

  [31402] libc: clone (NULL, NULL, …) clobbers %r7 register on

    s390{,x}

  [31405] libc: Improve dl_iterate_phdr using _dl_find_object

  [31411] localedata: Add Latgalian locale

  [31412] build: GCC 6 failed to build i386 glibc on Fedora 39

  [31429] build: Glibc failed to build with -march=x86-64-v3

  [31468] libc: sigisemptyset returns true when the set contains signals

    larger than 34

  [31476] network: Automatic activation of single-request options break

    resolv.conf reloading

  [31479] libc: Missing #include <sys/rseq.h> in sched_getcpu.c may

    result in a loss of rseq acceleration

  [31501] dynamic-link: _dl_tlsdesc_dynamic_xsavec may clobber %rbx

  [31518] manual: documentation: FLT_MAX_10_EXP questionable text, evtl.

    wrong,

  [31530] localedata: Locale file for Moksha – mdf_RU

  [31553] malloc: elf/tst-decorate-maps fails on ppc64el

  [31596] libc: On the llvm-arm32 platform, dlopen(“not_exist.so”, -1)

    triggers segmentation fault

  [31600] math: math: x86 ceill traps when FE_INEXACT is enabled

  [31601] math: math: x86 floor traps when FE_INEXACT is enabled

  [31603] math: math: x86 trunc traps when FE_INEXACT is enabled

  [31612] libc: arc4random fails to fallback to /dev/urandom if

    getrandom is not present

  [31629] build: powerpc64: Configuring with “–with-cpu=power10” and

    ‘CFLAGS=-O2 -mcpu=power9’ fails to build glibc

  [31640] dynamic-link: POWER10 ld.so crashes in

    elf_machine_load_address with GCC 14

  [31661] libc: NPROCESSORS_CONF and NPROCESSORS_ONLN not available in

    getconf

  [31676] dynamic-link: Configuring with CC=”gcc -march=x86-64-v3″

    –with-rtld-early-cflags=-march=x86-64 results in linker failure

  [31677] nscd: nscd: netgroup cache: invalid memcpy under low

    memory/storage conditions

  [31678] nscd: nscd: Null pointer dereferences after failed netgroup

    cache insertion

  [31679] nscd: nscd: netgroup cache may terminate daemon on memory

    allocation failure

  [31680] nscd: nscd: netgroup cache assumes NSS callback uses in-buffer

    strings

  [31682] math: [PowerPC] Floating point exception error for math test

    test-ceil-except-2 test-floor-except-2 test-trunc-except-2

  [31686] dynamic-link: Stack-based buffer overflow in

    parse_tunables_string

  [31695] libc: pidfd_spawn/pidfd_spawnp leak an fd if clone3 succeeds

    but execve fails

  [31719] dynamic-link: –enable-hardcoded-path-in-tests doesn’t work

    with -Wl,–enable-new-dtags

  [31730] libc: backtrace_symbols_fd prints different strings than

    backtrace_symbols returns

  [31753] build: FAIL: link-static-libc with GCC 6/7/8

  [31755] libc: procutils_read_file doesn’t start with a leading

    underscore

  [31756] libc: write_profiling is only in libc.a

  [31757] build: Should XXXf128_do_not_use functions be excluded?

  [31759] math: Extra nearbyint symbols in libm.a

  [31760] math: Missing math functions

  [31764] build: _res_opcodes should be a compat symbol only

  [31765] dynamic-link: _dl_mcount_wrapper is exported without prototype

  [31766] stdio: IO_stderr _IO_stdin_ _IO_stdout should be compat

    symbols

  [31768] string: Extra stpncpy symbol in libc.a

  [31770] libc: clone3 is in libc.a

  [31774] libc: Missing __isnanf128 in libc.a

  [31775] math: Missing exp10 exp10f32x exp10f64 fmod fmodf fmodf32

    fmodf32x fmodf64 in libm.a

  [31777] string: Extra memchr strlen symbols in libc.a

  [31781] math: Missing math functions in libm.a

  [31782] build: Test build failure with recent GCC trunk (x86/tst-cpu-

    features-supports.c:69:3: error: parameter to builtin not valid:

    avx5124fmaps)

  [31785] string: loongarch: Extra strnlen symbols in libc.a

  [31786] string: powerpc: Extra strchrnul and strncasecmp_l symbols in

    libc.a

  [31787] math: powerpc: Extra llrintf, llrintf, llrintf32, and

    llrintf32 symbols in libc.a

  [31788] libc: microblaze: Extra cacheflush symbol in libc.a

  [31789] libc: powerpc: Extra versionsort symbol in libc.a

  [31790] libc: s390: Extra getutent32, getutent32_r, getutid32,

    getutid32_r, getutline32, getutline32_r, getutmp32, getutmpx32,

    getutxent32, getutxid32, getutxline32, pututline32, pututxline32,

    updwtmp32, updwtmpx32 in libc.a

  [31797] build: g++ -static requirement should be able to opt-out

  [31798] libc: pidfd_getpid.c is miscompiled by GCC 6.4

  [31802] time: difftime is pure not const

  [31808] time: The supported time_t range is not documented.

  [31840] stdio: Memory leak in _IO_new_fdopen (fdopen) on seek failure

  [31867] build: “CPU ISA level is lower than required” on SSE2-free

    CPUs

  [31876] time: “Date and time” documentation fixes for POSIX.1-2024 etc

  [31883] build: ISA level support configure check relies on bashism /

    is otherwise broken for arithmetic

  [31892] build: Always install mtrace.

  [31917] libc: clang mq_open fortify wrapper does not handle 4 argument

    correctly

  [31927] libc: clang open fortify wrapper does not handle argument

    correctly

  [31931] time: tzset may fault on very short TZ string

  [31934] string: wcsncmp crash on s390x on vlbb instruction

  [31963] stdio: Crash in _IO_link_in within __gcov_exit

  [31965] dynamic-link: rseq extension mechanism does not work as

    intended

  [31980] build: elf/tst-tunables-enable_secure-env fails on ppc

Release Notes

=============

https://sourceware.org/glibc/wiki/Release/2.40

Contributors

============

This release was made possible by the contributions of many people.

The maintainers are grateful to everyone who has contributed

changes or bug reports.  These include:

Adam Sampson

Adhemerval Zanella

Alejandro Colomar

Alexandre Ferrieux

Amrita H S

Andreas K. Hüttel

Andreas Schwab

Andrew Pinski

Askar Safin

Aurelien Jarno

Avinal Kumar

Carlos Llamas

Carlos O’Donell

Charles Fol

Christoph Müllner

DJ Delorie

Daniel Cederman

Darius Rad

David Paleino

Dragan Stanojević (Nevidljivi)

Evan Green

Fangrui Song

Flavio Cruz

Florian Weimer

Gabi Falk

H.J. Lu

Jakub Jelinek

Jan Kurik

Joe Damato

Joe Ramsay

Joe Simmons-Talbott

Joe Talbott

John David Anglin

Joseph Myers

Jules Bertholet

Julian Zhu

Junxian Zhu

Konstantin Kharlamov

Luca Boccassi

Maciej W. Rozycki

Manjunath Matti

Mark Wielaard

MayShao-oc

Meng Qinggang

Michael Jeanson

Michel Lind

Mike FABIAN

Mohamed Akram

Noah Goldstein

Palmer Dabbelt

Paul Eggert

Philip Kaludercic

Samuel Dobron

Samuel Thibault

Sayan Paul

Sergey Bugaev

Sergey Kolosov

Siddhesh Poyarekar

Simon Chopin

Stafford Horne

Stefan Liebler

Sunil K Pandey

Szabolcs Nagy

Wilco Dijkstra

Xi Ruoyao

Xin Wang

Yinyu Cai

YunQiang Su

We would like to call out the following and thank them for their

tireless patch review:

Adhemerval Zanella

Alejandro Colomar

Andreas K. Hüttel

Arjun Shankar

Aurelien Jarno

Bruno Haible

Carlos O’Donell

DJ Delorie

Dmitry V. Levin

Evan Green

Fangrui Song

Florian Weimer

H.J. Lu

Jonathan Wakely

Joseph Myers

Mathieu Desnoyers

Maxim Kuvyrkov

Michael Jeanson

Noah Goldstein

Palmer Dabbelt

Paul Eggert

Paul E. Murphy

Peter Bergner

Philippe Mathieu-Daudé

Sam James

Siddhesh Poyarekar

Simon Chopin

Stefan Liebler

Sunil K Pandey

Szabolcs Nagy

Xi Ruoyao

Zack Weinberg

—

Andreas K. Hüttel

dilfridge@gentoo.org

Gentoo Linux developer

(council, toolchain, base-system, perl, releng)

https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/User:Dilfridge

https://www.akhuettel.de/

“Dell UNIX? I didn’t know there was such a thing.” A couple of weeks ago I had my new XO with me for breakfast at a nearby bakery café. Other patrons were drawn to seeing an XO for the first time, including a Linux person from Dell. I mentioned Dell UNIX and we talked a little about the people who had worked on Dell UNIX. He expressed surprise that mention of Dell UNIX evokes the above quote so often and pointed out that Emacs source still has #ifdef for Dell UNIX. Quick Googling doesn’t reveal useful history of Dell UNIX, so here’s my version, a summary of the three major development releases. ↫ Charles H. Sauer I sure had never heard of Dell UNIX, and despite the original version of the linked article being very, very old – 2008 – there’s a few updates from 2020 and 2021 that add links to the files and instructions needed to install, set up, and run Dell UNIX in a virtual machine; 86Box or VirtualBox specifically. What was Dell UNIX? in the late ’80s, Dell started a the Olympic project, an effort to create a completely new architecture spanning desktops, workstations, and servers, some of which would be using multiple processors. When searching for an operating system for this project, the only real option was UNIX, and as such, the Olympic team set out to developer a UNIX variant. The first version was based on System V Release 3.2, used Motif and the X Window System, a DOS virtual machine to run, well, DOS applications called Merge, and compatibility with Microsoft Xenix. It might seem strange to us today, but Microsoft’s Xenix was incredibly popular at the time, and compatibility with it was a big deal. The Olympic project turned out to be too ambitious on the hardware front so it got cancelled, but the Dell UNIX project continued to be developed. The next release, Dell System V Release 4, was a massive release, and included a full X Window System desktop environment called X.desktop, an office suite, e-mail software, and a lot more. It also contained something Windows wouldn’t be getting for quite a few years to come: automatic configuration of device drivers. This was apparently so successful, it reduced the number of support calls during the first 90 days of availability by 90% compared to the previous release. Dell SVR4 finally seemed like real UNIX on a PC. We were justifiably proud of the quality and comprehensiveness, especially considering that our team was so much smaller than those of our perceived competitors at ISC, SCO and Sun(!). The reviewers were impressed. Reportedly, Dell SVR4 was chosen by Intel as their reference implementation in their test labs, chosen by Oracle as their reference Intel UNIX implementation, and used by AT&T USL for in house projects requiring high reliability, in preference to their own ports of SVR4.0. (One count showed Dell had resolved about 1800 problems in the AT&T source.) I was astonished one morning in the winter of 1991-92 when Ed Zander, at the time president of SunSoft, and three other SunSoft executives arrived at my office, requesting Dell help with their plans to put Solaris on X86. ↫ Charles H. Sauer Sadly, this would also prove to be the last release of Dell UNIX. After a few more point release, the brass at Dell had realised that Dell UNIX, intended to sell Dell hardware, was mostly being sold to people running it on non-Dell hardware, and after a short internal struggle, the entire project was cancelled since it was costing them more than it was earning them. As I noted, the article contains the files and instructions needed to run Dell UNIX today, on a virtual machine. I’m definitely going to try that out once I have some time, if only to take a peek at that X.desktop, because that looks absolutely stunning for its time.