Show HN: Mapping the Unix Magic Poster – An Interactive Annotation Project | Hacker News Reader

Show HN: Mapping the Unix Magic Poster – An Interactive Annotation Project

drio.github.io

77 pointsdrio29 comments

Hi HN,

We've discussed the Unix Magic poster before (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27029196). Like many of you, I love this poster and all the Unix references hidden in it.

I built this as a static site that lets us annotate the Unix Magic poster by placing markers on references and adding descriptions to explain them. I've added a few so far, but there's much more to document.

What I love about this approach is that contributions happen not just on the site itself but also through PRs, where we can discuss and refine the details of each reference. Feel free to send a PR!

Code: https://github.com/drio/unixmagic Live site: https://drio.github.io/unixmagic

Would love feedback, suggestions, and PRs from the community!

Thanks!

—drd

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This looks great.

Some feedback:

* reposition markers to make item it's referencing clear. In particular, the marker 6 (C) completely obscures the text on the jar

* allow a toggle for markers to be unhighlighted or partially transparent so what's underneath them can be seen or the image can be appreciated without annotations

* I'm not sure how to do this with the current layout or if a different layout would work but having 'hover highlighting' for the annotations/markers so you could look at a marker and see where they are in the picture would be nice.

* provide licensing information

  - It looks like the image itself is copyright Gary Overacre under a CC-BY-NC-ND (I'm not even sure if the annotations overlaid are considered derivatives) [0]

  - Provide licensing information for your code and annotations. Normally this is just copyright yourself but considering the context it would be good to clarify what license you want things under, especially if you're taking contributions

[0] https://archive.org/details/unix-magic-poster-gary-overcare-...

Thank you for the feedback.

> Reposition markers to make the item they're referencing clear. In particular, marker 6 (C) completely obscures the text on the jar.

I agree, and I'll take care of that. It’s a bit tricky because the marker’s exact position can shift slightly depending on the display being used, but I’ll adjust it for better clarity.

> Allow a toggle for markers to be unhighlighted.

Yes, this will be especially useful as we add more markers. I already have at least 50 more in mind that I plan to include.

> Having 'hover highlighting' for the annotations/markers.

I intentionally designed the layout this way to ensure the image and annotations remain functional across different screen types without introducing overly complex logic. That said, I’m sure someone with more expertise in web development could refine this further.

> Licensing information.

100%. I’ll add that shortly.

Thank you for doing this! When I first came across this poster, I was like "I NEED A PRINTED COPY OF THIS". I had a large custom canvas printed with it on it and it's hanging in my office. I didn't even realize / notice a few of the items that are pointed out on this site. I'm excited to see what other nuggets get added.

I spend way too much time finding a printable scan of this some years ago. The Internet Archive has a very good version:

https://ia801707.us.archive.org/15/items/unix-magic-poster-g...

Thanks. I see Thread and Fork now, ha ha.

Bit of a faster link, same content:

https://github.com/tyingq/unix-magic-poster/raw/main/ump.png

Faster ye, just right click open in new tab. The annotation dots are not part of the image.

Glad you like it.

I actually made a puzzle out of this image. :)

Love the project! I have the whole triptych printed and hanging on the office wall.

Looks like on mobile Firefox if I scroll down the page, the numbers on the picture disappear.

on mobile safari the numbers change position if u want to zoom in.

I had no idea this was part of a triptych! A quick google search tells me there is also "Unix Feuds" and "Unix Views".

Any idea where I can find them?

EDIT: For those interested, this is what they look like together. Unable to find high-resolution scans of all three though :(

I used the high-res versions from this link:

https://archive.org/details/unix-magic/

(use left and right to get all three)

There is also a version of Unix Magic with slightly different colors out there.

If I recall correctly, I downsized the images a little bit and used Walmart printing services to print the posters.

Nice! Did you print it yourself, or did you use a company?

I'm probably going to frame my puzzle once I finish it. I know I can get a frame that allows me to "unframe" it and redo it again.

I printed through Walmart. Their service allows uploading very high resolution and size images and the result is (to my untrained eye) pretty damn good.

Every time I looked at this poster in my office I wondered what the meaning of the farmer outside the window could be. Now I know!

It appears he's reaping processes.

man(1)

> 7 Backpressure > Was that the intention of the artist? You decide—is the wheel in the pipes a clever reference to UNIX back pressure, or is that a stretch?

Maybe? That wheel is a valve handle BTW. A closed valve in a fluid system would cause back-pressure upstream as no flow will allow the pressure to build to what ever maximum the source can provide. Valves which control flow (globe valve) can also act as a crude pressure controller if partly open allowing only a small amount of flow causing back pressure to build. In the case of Unix pipes, back pressure occurs when the writer fills the pipe's buffer before the reader consumes it causing the writer to hang. Now both procs are doing nothing bringing your data assembly line to a grinding halt. Not good for production.

Thank you! I’ve updated the content from "wheel" to "valve handle".

Please feel free to contribute—there’s still so much to uncover! I can easily think of 50 more references, and I’ll be adding them gradually over time.

This project is an invitation to dig deep into the meaning behind each reference—to explore their significance and understand how they fit into the historical context of Unix’s early days. I tried to capture that in the README (https://github.com/drio/unixmagic):

"When contributing, remember that this is an opportunity to dig deep into the history behind what you’re describing. Feel free to share what this particular component means to you personally, but also aim to frame the explanation within the context of Unix’s early days. How did this functionality compare to other operating systems at the time? What made it special or innovative? This project is not just about explaining what things are, but understanding why they mattered—both technically and culturally—in the evolution of Unix."

I’d love to see a PR from you—I bet your take on one of these references would be fascinating.

I finished my puzzle this morning. Fun!

https://github.com/drio/unixmagic/raw/main/static/puzzle.web...

I love this poster. I have an original in my office. Somehow, I never noticed the pipes…

Do the “dates” have any particular meaning?

Probably the date(1) command? That's how I took it.

A quick reminder for anyone interested in the project: if you come across an annotation that you disagree with or feel is missing important details, please open an issue in the GH repo. That way, we can discuss it and work toward incorporating the knowledge into the project.

such a fun poster, thanks for sharing

Now I am wondering what kind of unix magic "oregano" must be...

> The oregano is reputedly referring to an incident in which one of the original folks involved with BSD was hassled for coming across the Canadian/U.S. border with a bag of what was assumed to be an illegal substance, and turned out to be oregano.

https://groups.google.com/g/comp.unix.wizards/c/qkiqSJWgEPE/...

That is a good one. Would be great to talk to the author and learn what they originally had in mind.

I had always heard this explanation (back to when the poster was new and we all wanted one). And in the back of my mind I have always thought I'd been told the "BSD founder" of the story was Kirk McKusick. But I cannot for the life of me google (well...Kagi) up who the real culprit was. Does anyone know authoritatively?

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