Tcl chronology

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Purpose: to document various historical events in the ''life'' of [Tcl].

[John Ousterhout]'s essay on the "[http://www.tcl.tk/about/history.html%|%History of Tcl] ([https://web.stanford.edu/~ouster/cgi-bin/tclHistory.php%|%alternate])" is a natural starting point.

Particular milestones of frequent interest include

**1988**
   * spring:  [JO] first uses Tcl in one of his own graphical text editors
   * late 1988:  [JO] begins [Tk]
**1989**
   * [JO] gives away Tcl source to early adopters
**1990**
   * [Don Libes] writes first version of [Expect]
   * [Tcl 2.1] - Tk usable
   * Tcl 3.1
   * Tcl 3.2
   * Tcl 3.3
   * [JO] presents Tcl at [Usenix] Conference
   * [DL] presents [Expect] at Usenix Conference [http://citeseer.nj.nec.com/ousterhout90tcl.html] (first non-JO Tcl publication)
**1991**
   * Tcl 5.0
   * Tcl 6.0
   * Tcl 6.1
   * [JO] presents Tk at X Technical Conference and at Winter USENIX conference.
   * 1991–1992:  [JO]'s "epiphany" that the work of [Kevin Kenny] and others demonstrates Tcl's utility as an "application shell".
   * [comp.lang.tcl] passed its vote for creation
**1992**
   * Tcl 6.2
   * Tcl 6.3
   * Tcl 6.4, with Tk 2.2 (release announcement [http://groups.google.co.uk/group/comp.lang.tcl/msg/47439b77ce4e6be4] dated 1992-08-07); Tk 2.3 released with bugfixes the same month [http://groups.google.co.uk/group/comp.lang.tcl/browse_thread/thread/f11c8978393effa7/] [http://groups.google.co.uk/group/comp.lang.tcl/browse_thread/thread/a3d61a61b5b0a620/]
   * Tcl 6.5, with Tk 3.0 (release announcement [http://groups.google.co.uk/group/comp.lang.tcl/msg/fe665818b488c806] dated 1992-12-18)
**1993**
   * [Perspecta] Software formed.  Perspecta Presents, a presentation software package using Tcl commands, was the company's first, and only, product.  See [http://www.rpi.edu/dept/rcs/packages/ppres/1.10/] for some old info.
   * Tcl 6.6
   * Tcl 6.7
   * Tcl 7.0
   * Tcl 7.1
   * Tcl 7.3
   * First Tcl workshop held at Berkeley, organized by [Larry Rowe], see [1993 Tcl/Tk Workshop].
**1994**
   * [JO] publishes first edition of [BOOK Tcl and the Tk Toolkit] [http://citeseer.nj.nec.com/john94tcl.html]
   * [JO] begins a Tcl research team ("[SunScript]") at Sun Microsystems Corp
   * Second Tcl workshop held in New Orleans, , USA (see [1994 Tcl/Tk Workshop]).
**1995**
During 1995–1997, the center of Tcl activity moves from embedding-and-extending to general-purpose Unix programming, then to portable general-purpose programming.
   * Tcl 7.4
   * Tk 4.0 released; first version of Tk that's really as we know it today (bindings worked very differently before then.)
   * [Third Annual Tcl/Tk Workshop] held in Toronto, Canada
**1996**
   * [Fourth Annual Tcl/Tk Workshop] held in Monterey, USA
   * Tcl 7.5 (First port of Tcl/Tk done to VAX/VMS)
   * Tcl 7.6
   * Presentation made of Tcl/Tk at DECUS
**1997**
   * [Fifth Annual Tcl/Tk Workshop] held in Boston, USA
   * Tcl/Tk 8.0 released (1997-08-16)
   * Tcl 7.6p2
   * Tcl 8.0   * The [Tcl Consortium%|%Tcl/Tk Consortium%|%] was founded: [https://web.archive.org/web/19981111184509/http://tclconsortium.org/]
**1998**
   * [Tcl-URL!], a periodic newsletter about Tcl, started by [jcw] (1998-05-13)
   * [JO] leaves SMC to begin [Scriptics]
   * [Sixth Annual Tcl/Tk Conference] held in San Diego, USA   * Tcl is still promoted at sunscript.sun.com: [https://web.archive.org/web/19980109020559/http://sunscript.sun.com/]
**1999**
   * [jcw] makes [The Tcler's Wiki] available to the community (1999/02)
   * Tcl/Tk 8.1 released (1999-04-30) - now with [Unicode] support
   * Tcl/Tk 8.1.1 released (1999-05-27)
   * Tcl/Tk 8.2 released (1999-08-18)
   * Tcl/Tk 8.2.1 released (1999-10-04)
   * Tcl/Tk 8.2.3 released (1999-12-16)
**2000**
   * [Scriptics] renamed [Ajuba Solutions]
   * [First European Tcl/Tk Users Meeting] held in Hamburg, Germany
   * [Seventh Annual Tcl/Tk Conference] held in Austin, Texas, USA
   * [Ajuba Solutions] sold to [Interwoven]
   * Tcl/Tk 8.3.0 released (2000-02-10)
   * Tcl/Tk 8.3.1 released (2000-04-26)
   * [JO] announced the Tcl Core Team ([TCT]) (2000-07-19)
   * Tcl/Tk 8.3.2 released (2000-08-11)
**2001**
   * [Tcl chatroom] is on the air, a useful community medium up to now (2001-01-24 - now)
   * [ActiveState] announced they added Tcl to the languages they support with [Jeff Hobbs] as technical lead (2001-02-26)
   * [Second European Tcl/Tk Users Meeting] held in Hamburg
   * [Eighth Annual Tcl/Tk Conference] held in San Diego, USA
   * [[center-of-gravity moves north to [ActiveState] ]]
   * Tcl/Tk 8.3.3 released (2001-04-10)
   * Tcl/Tk 8.3.4 released (2001-10-23)
**2002**
   * [Third European Tcl/Tk Users Meeting] held in Munich, Germany
   * [Ninth Annual Tcl/Tk Conference] held in Vancouver, Canada
   * Tcl/Tk 8.3.5 released (2002-10-18)
   * Tcl/Tk 8.4.0 released (2002-09-18)
   * Tcl/Tk 8.4.1 released (2002-10-23)
**2003**
   * [Fourth European Tcl/Tk Users Meeting] held in Nuremberg, Germany
   * [Tenth Annual Tcl/Tk Conference] held in Ann Arbor, USA
   * Tcl/Tk 8.4.2 released (2003-03-04)
   * Tcl/Tk 8.4.5 released (2003-11-25)
**2004**
   * Tcl/Tk 8.4.6 released (2004-03-04)
   * Tcl/Tk 8.5a1 released (2004-03-04)
   * [Fifth European Tcl/Tk Users Meeting] held in Nuremberg, Germany <- is this correct? 5th meeting appears in 2005, too, and [Tcl Conferences] doesn't list a meeting in 2004
   * Tcl/Tk 8.4.7 released (2004-07-25)
   * [Eleventh Annual Tcl/Tk Conference] held in New Orleans, USA
   * Tcl/Tk 8.4.8 released (2004-11-22)
   * Tcl/Tk 8.4.9 released (2004-12-07)
   * Tcl/Tk 8.5a2 released (2004-12-07)
**2005**
   * [Fifth European Tcl/Tk Users Meeting] held in Bergisch Gladbach, Germany
   * Tcl/Tk 8.4.10 released (2005-06-04)
   * Tcl/Tk 8.5a3 released (2005-06-04)
   * Tcl/Tk 8.4.11 released (2005-06-29)
   * [Twelfth Annual Tcl/Tk Conference] is in Portland, OR, USA (2005-10-24 to 2005-10-28)
   * Tcl/Tk 8.4.12 (2005-12-05)
**2006**
   * Tcl/Tk 8.4.13 (2006-03-16)
   * Tcl/Tk 8.5a4  (2006-04-26)
   * [Thirteenth Annual Tcl/Tk Conference] in Naperville, IL, USA (2006-10)
   * [Sixth European Tcl/Tk Users Meeting] held in Bergisch Gladbach, Germany
   * Tcl/Tk 8.4.14 (2006-10-18)
   * Tcl/Tk 8.5a5  (2006-10-20)
**2007**
   * Tcl/Tk 8.5a6  (2007-04-25)
   * Tcl/Tk 8.4.15 (2007-05-24)
   * Tcl/Tk 8.4.16 (2007-09-20)
   * Tcl/Tk 8.5b1  (2007-09-20)
   * [Fourteenth Annual Tcl/Tk Conference (2007)] in New Orleans, LA, USA (2007-09)
   * The Wiki received a substantial makeover, see also [Wiki with style] (2007-10 to 2007-11)
   * Tcl/Tk 8.5b2 (2007-10-26)
   * Tcl/Tk 8.5b3 (2007-11-19 ?)
   * Tcl/Tk 8.5.0 (2007-12-20)
   * Tcl/Tk 8.4.17 (2007-12-31)
**2008**
   * Tcl/Tk turns 20 years old! [http://www2.sdtimes.com/content/article.aspx?ArticleID=31644]
   * Tcl-Tk 8.5.1 (2008-02-05)
   * Tcl/Tk 8.4.18 (2008-02-08)
   * Tcl/Tk 8.5.2 (2008-03-31) [Changes in Tcl/Tk 8.5.2]
   * Tcl/Tk 8.4.19 (2008-04-18) [Changes in Tcl/Tk 8.4.19]
   * [7th European Tcl/Tk Users Meeting Conference] held in Strasbourg, France (2008-06-06 to 2008-06-07)
   * Tcl/Tk 8.6a1 (2008-06-26)
   * Tcl/Tk 8.5.3 (2008-06-30) [Changes in Tcl/Tk 8.5.3]
   * Tcl/Tk 8.5.4 (2008-08-15) [Changes in Tcl/Tk 8.5.4]
   * Tcl/Tk 8.6a2 (2008-08-25)
   * Tcl/Tk 8.5.5 (2008-10-14) [Changes in Tcl/Tk 8.5.5]
   * Tcl/Tk 8.6a3 (2008-10-14)
   * [Fifteenth Annual Tcl/Tk Conference (2008)] in Manassas, VA, USA (2008-10)
   * Tcl/Tk 8.5.6 (2008-12-23) [Changes in Tcl/Tk 8.5.6]
   * Tcl/Tk 8.6b1 (2008-12-23)
**2009**
   * Tcl/Tk 8.5.7 (2009-04-16) [Changes in Tcl/Tk 8.5.7]
   * [8th European Tcl/Tk Users Meeting] held in Strasbourg, France (2009-06-05 to 2009-06-06)
   * [Sixteenth Annual Tcl/Tk Conference (2009)] in Portland, OR, USA (2009-09)
   * Tcl/Tk 8.5.8 (2009-11-17) [Changes in Tcl/Tk 8.5.8]
**2010**
   * [9th European Tcl/Tk Users Meeting] held in Strasbourg, France (2010-06-04 to 2010-06-05)
   * Tcl/Tk 8.5.9 (2010-09-08) [Changes in Tcl/Tk 8.5.9]
   * [Seventeenth Annual Tcl/Tk Conference (2010)] in Chicago/Oakbrook Terrace, IL, USA (2010-10)
**2011**
   * Tcl/Tk 8.5.10 (2011-06-24) [Changes in Tcl/Tk 8.5.10]
   * Tcl/Tk 8.6b2 (2011-08-08)
   * Last issue of the [Tcl-URL!] newsletter (2011-08-25)
   * [Eighteenth Annual Tcl/Tk Conference (2011)] in Manassas, Virginia, USA (2011-10-24 to 2011-10-28)
**2012**
   * [10th European Tcl/Tk Users Meeting 2012] held in Munich, Germany (2012-07-07 to 2012-07-08)
   * [Nineteenth Annual Tcl/Tk Conference (2012)] in Chicago, IL, USA (2012-11-12 to 2012-11-16)
   * Tcl/Tk 8.6 (2012-12-20)
**2013**
   * [Twentieth Annual Tcl/Tk Conference (2013)] in New Orleans, LA, USA (2013-09-23 to 2013-09-27)
   * [11th European Tcl/Tk Users Meeting 2013] held in Munich, Germany (2013-07-06 to 2013-07-07)
   * Tcl/Tk 8.6.1 (2013-09-20)
**2014**
   * [Twenty-first Annual Tcl/Tk Conference (2014)] in Portland, Oregon, USA (2014-10-10 to 2014-10-14)
   * [12th European Tcl/Tk Users Meeting 2014] held in Munich, Germany (2014-07-12 to 2014-07-13)
   * Tcl/Tk 8.6.2 (2014-08-27)
   * Tcl/Tk 8.6.3 (2014-11-12)
**2015**
   * [Twenty-second Annual Tcl/Tk Conference (2015)] in Manassas, Virginia, USA (2015-10-19 to 2015-10-21)
   * [13th European Tcl/Tk Users Meeting 2015] held in Cologne, Germany (2015-06-20 to 2015-06-21)
   * Tcl/Tk 8.6.4 (2015-03-12)
**2016**
   * Tcl/Tk 8.6.5 (2016-02-29)
   * [14th European Tcl/Tk Users Meeting 2016], held in Eindhoven, Netherlands (2016-06-25 to 2016-06-26)
   * Tcl/Tk 8.6.6 (2016-07-27)
   * [Twenty-third Annual Tcl/Tk Conference (2016)], held in Houston, Texas, USA (2016-11-14 to 2016-11-18)
**2017**
   * [15th European Tcl/Tk Users Meeting 2017], held in Berlin, Germany (2017-07-08 to 2017-07-09)
   * Tcl/Tk 8.6.7 (2017-08-09)
   * [Twenty-fourth Annual Tcl/Tk Conference (2017)], held in Houston, Texas, USA (2017-10-16 to 2017-10-20)
   * Tcl/Tk 8.6.8 (2017-12-22)
**2018**
   * [16th European Tcl/Tk Users Meeting 2018], held in Munich, Germany (2018-07-07 to 2018-07-08)
   * [Twenty-fifth Annual Tcl/Tk Conference (2018)], held in Houston, Texas, USA (2018-10-15 to 2018-10-19)
   * Tcl/Tk 8.6.9 (2018-11-16)
**2019**
   * [17th European Tcl/Tk Users Meeting 2019], held in Nuremberg, Germany (2019-06-29 to 2019-06-30)
   * [Twenty-sixth Annual Tcl/Tk Conference (2019)], held in Houston, Texas, USA (2019-11-04 to 2019-11-08)
   * Tcl/Tk 8.6.10 (2019-11-21)
   * Tcl/Tk 9.0.0a1 (2019-11-25)
**2020**
   * [Twenty-seventh Annual Tcl/Tk Conference (2020)],        canceled due to COVID-19 pandemic (should have been in Houston, Texas, USA)
   * Tcl/Tk 8.6.11 (2020-12-31)
**2021**
   * Tcl/Tk 9.0.0a3 (2021-06-23)
   * Tcl/Tk 8.6.12 (2021-11-05)
**2022**
   * [18th European Tcl/Tk Users Meeting 2022], held in Vienna, Austria (2022-06-30 to 2022-07-01)
   * Tcl/Tk 8.6.13 (2022-11-22)
**2023**
   * [19th European Tcl/Tk Users Meeting 2023 and 7th OpenACS Conference], held in Vienna, Austria (2024-07-20 to 2024-07-21)
**2024**
   * Tcl/Tk 9.0.0b1 (2024-01-08)
   * Tcl/Tk 8.6.14 (2024-02-28)
   * Tcl/Tk 9.0.0b2 (2024-05-20)
   * [20th European Tcl/Tk Users Meeting 2024 and 8th OpenACS Conference], held in Vienna, Austria (2024-07-11 to 2024-07-12)
   * Tcl/Tk 9.0.0b3 (2024-07-31)
   * Tcl/Tk 8.6.15 (2024-09-13)
   * Tcl/Tk 9.0.0 (2024-09-26)
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**Comments**

SourceForge has some very old source releases of Tcl at http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=10894 e.g. [Tcl 2.1] (March 1990)!

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**See also**
   * [Changes in Tcl/Tk]
   * [History of Tk]
   * [Tcl Heritage]
   * [Brief Tcl Corporate History]
   * [Tcl Conferences]
   * [Jeffrey Hobbs]' state-of-the-language presentation [ftp://ftp.oreilly.com/pub/conference/os2001/Hobbs_J_1350/] at OSCON 2001.
   * [http://web.archive.org/web/19980216040331/http://www.sunlabs.com/index.html%|%sunlabs.com via archive.org] - 1998-02, the last snapshot where Tcl/Tk appear on the front page.

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