30 Jun
1999
30 Jun
'99
6:25 p.m.
Now, I have no -- none -- experience with anything
bigger than a PC, but
IIRC C & Unix were developed on a PDP-8 (or was it an 11???). I _am_ a C
fanatic so these have some historical interest for me. Can you really
have one on a desktop? Is the CPU smaller than a Toyota? Are 8"
floppies still available?
Almost... C and Unix were originally developed (as far as *I* know)
on a pdp-7, and later on a pdp-11.
As for size, it depends on model and peripherals... For example, the
8/I I used in high school was one 6' rack and an ASR33 and it had no
peripherals other than the ASR33 (we read everything in via low-speed
reader and punched tape at the TTY speed).
I now have a pdp-8/e (with no peripherals) and it could sit on a desk
(though it would take up a significant percentage of the surface).
Tomorrow I'll be getting an old DECmate (the one in a VT terminal)
and a couple of 8" floppy drives...
Please advise, as this may be my next foray into
collecting, if I can
find one and move it without a forklift . . .
Check out the -8s on my collection page to get an idea of size (of
systems with peripherals -- remember, the cabs are 6' high).
http://world.std.com/~mbg/home_systems.html
P.S.: Isn't it rather sad that a micro-maker
(Compaq) wound up buying
DEC _and_ Tandem?
Yes...
Megan Gentry
Former RT-11 Developer
(Formerly with DEC for ~20 years)
+--------------------------------+-------------------------------------+
| Megan Gentry, EMT/B, PP-ASEL | Internet (work): gentry!zk3.dec.com |
| Unix Support Engineering Group | (home): mbg!world.std.com |
| Compaq Computer Corporation | addresses need '@' in place of '!' |
| 110 Spitbrook Rd. ZK03-2/T43 | URL: http://world.std.com/~mbg/ |
| Nashua, NH 03062 | "pdp-11 programmer - some assembler |
| (603) 884 1055 | required." - mbg |
+--------------------------------+-------------------------------------+