I'd like to speak to the Bellcore ManaGeR

Summary

I'd like to speak to the Bellcore ManaGeR Software archeology: running an obscure window system on vintage Linux Nina Kalinina, October 12th, 2025 I love old computers, and I enjoy looking at old user interfaces immensely. I could spend a whole evening on installing an old version of MS Word and playing with it: "Ah, look, how cute, they didn't invent scrollbars just yet". A special place in my heart is taken by user interfaces that were historically significant and yet fell into relative obscurity (like Windows 2 or BTRON). This is why I absolutely had to try Bellcore MGR. An early windowing system (1984), it was made by the Bell Communications Research, and it looked like Plan 9's older sister. The system was distributed over the Usenet, ported to every conceivable Unix-like system, including Minix, Linux and Coherent, and - eventually - mostly forgotten. The only two videos on YouTube that have something to do with MGR have a bit over 1000 views combined, and don't really show it in the best light possible. And I think it's a crying shame. In this post, I will explore the system as a (power) user, starting from installing it on Debian 0.93 running on Linux 0.99 kernel. I will also share a few things about "$HOME MOVIE", an MGR-based video editor. If you want to read more about the MGR's internal design, please check out the "Links" section at the end of the post. If you have any comments or feedback, please direct them to this Mastodon thread. If you can share any information about the historical link between MGR and 8.5 (or the lack of it), it will be greatly appreciated. For those who prefer watching a video Here is a 40-minute tour around the MGR system for Linux, accompanied by Mozart and Liszt. It will give you a good feel of what MGR is like, warts and all. The video is embedded through "Youtube-Nocookie" and should be privacy-aware. $HOME MOVIE? If you don't have 40 minutes to watch the tour, please do spend two minutes on this demo of the "$HOME MOVIE" sy...