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On 05/01/13 05:31, bad apple wrote:
Hey Bad Apple, don't you go calling me a guru, I'm a hardware man. The IFF computer's operating system was an input from a bank of toggle switches and output to 4 decatron tubes. And we never thought of it as a computer. Having cogitated over the years I now class a lot of the hardware I worked on as computers, it's just that the programming was hard wired. Stuff like radar signal processors. Or your washing machine at home. You had to understand the programme to fix it. (Pre board swapping days.)So here is a purely personal thing: I really, really *really* love operating systems. I'd say it's what makes me tick, to be honest. This is why I'm a sysadmin, and not a developer, like a lot of my friends. Languages will come and go, but the hardware - it lives forever. I'd REALLY love to hear from old-school gurus like George, to whom even MULTICS might genuinely be something he had to step up to as an engineer, and punch it right in the face. If any of you have ever genuinely used a PDP please raise your hand, because I'll get off my ass, come to the next meeting, and buy you a beer. And ask you a lot of questions... Cheers
I moved into electronic test in 1970 and began to come across general purpose computers (which is what we mostly talk about here) in automatic test equipment (ATE). The first one I saw was a reel to reel tape driven IBM something or other that controlled a rack of equipment doing tests on PCBs. But most testing had a homo sapien doing the computing. Later I used PDP8, PDP11 (were'nt 8" disks quaint) but not to programme, I left that to others. I did a course in 1980 at Merton Tech on programming, assembly language on a Motorola 6800 I think, punched tape as storage (those little holes were a devil to prick out). Had a ZX81 and Spectrum then an Amstrad 1680. I remember even then running DRDOS to get away from microsoft.
I even worked for a couple of years 1988/89 maintaining PC's in small businesses around the South West, where you do a bit of hardware, a bit of software, but I've never really been a programmer. Mostly 286's, and 386's were cutting edge. Windows 2, not a chance. I did end up as a manager in IS but we all have our dirty little secrets.
As my Navy friends would say, 'Swing the lamp'. George -- The Mailing List for the Devon & Cornwall LUG http://mailman.dclug.org.uk/listinfo/list FAQ: http://www.dcglug.org.uk/listfaq