27 Apr
2020
27 Apr
'20
5:47 a.m.
From: Bob Smith <bobsmithofd at gmail.com>
saw a comment that this belonged to CJL.
Chris Lindblad? Sorry, I'm drawing a blank on someone with those initials who
is connected with the LINC.
From: Jon Elson
Wow, those were fairly rare back when, and now there
may only be a
couple in existence.
Yeah, that's why I was hoping that someone connected to this community would
get it, so we don't lose track of this rare artifact.
I'd buy it, but i) it's not a PDP-11, and fails my 'PDP-11's only'
test
(intended to put a strict limit on the amount of junk I accumulate), and ii) I
already have a whole bunch of PDP-11 gear I have yet to get to. :-( There's no
way I would ever get to it.
Two complete CPUs, capable of running at the same time
in shared memory
(I think).
The documentation (1967 Small Computer Handbook) is unclear. It is clear that
the general mode of operation was for only one CPU at a time to be running,
but that appears to be to simplify programming (although it does say that "In
the PDP-8 mode, the LINC subsystem is disabled"). The memory is indeed shared;
it's on the PDP-8, and the LINC gains access via the standard PDP-8 'data
break' (i.e. DMA) mechanism.
Noel
27 Apr
27 Apr
7:06 a.m.
Charles Lasner.
On Mon, Apr 27, 2020 at 8:47 AM Noel Chiappa via cctalk
<cctalk at classiccmp.org> wrote:
From: Bob Smith <bobsmithofd at gmail.com>
saw a comment that this belonged to CJL.
Chris Lindblad? Sorry, I'm drawing a blank on someone with those initials who
is connected with the LINC.
From: Jon Elson
Wow, those were fairly rare back when, and now
there may only be a
couple in existence.
Yeah, that's why I was hoping that someone connected to this community would
get it, so we don't lose track of this rare artifact.
I'd buy it, but i) it's not a PDP-11, and fails my 'PDP-11's only'
test
(intended to put a strict limit on the amount of junk I accumulate), and ii) I
already have a whole bunch of PDP-11 gear I have yet to get to. :-( There's no
way I would ever get to it.
Two complete CPUs, capable of running at the same
time in shared memory
(I think).
The documentation (1967 Small Computer Handbook) is unclear. It is clear that
the general mode of operation was for only one CPU at a time to be running,
but that appears to be to simplify programming (although it does say that "In
the PDP-8 mode, the LINC subsystem is disabled"). The memory is indeed shared;
it's on the PDP-8, and the LINC gains access via the standard PDP-8 'data
break' (i.e. DMA) mechanism.
Noel
7:08 a.m.
On 4/27/2020 7:47 AM, Noel Chiappa via cctalk wrote:
Charles Lasner.? He passed the weekend of April 3rd due
to complications from the COVID-19 virus.? I'm fuzzy on his exact biography, but he
was big in the development of OS/8 for the PDP-8 at DEC.? His current project was an
update of OS/8 which he called P?S/8.? Apparently he owned multiple LINC-8's according
to comments on the Facebook group.
--
John H. Reinhardt
From: Bob
Smith <bobsmithofd at gmail.com>
saw a comment that this belonged to CJL.
Chris Lindblad? Sorry, I'm drawing a blank on someone with those initials who
is connected with the LINC. 
7:40 a.m.
New subject: Charles Lasner [Was: Re: LINC-8]
On Mon, Apr 27, 2020 at 09:08:24AM -0500, John H. Reinhardt via cctalk wrote:
Charles Lasner.? He passed the weekend of April 3rd
due to
complications from the COVID-19 virus.? I'm fuzzy on his exact
biography, but he was big in the development of OS/8 for the PDP-8 at
DEC.? His current project was an update of OS/8 which he called
P?S/8.? Apparently he owned multiple LINC-8's according to comments on
the Facebook group.
He also worked onKermit-12, for instance the code that identifies which
PDP-8 machine it is running on. It is quite fun to follow that code. It
can, impressively, separate between a PDP-5, LINC-8, PDP-12, Straight-8,
8/S, 8/I, 8/L, 8/E, 8/A, 6100 and 6120.
Here, search for "MACHINE,.-."
http://www.columbia.edu/kermit/ftp/d/k12mit.pal
A lot of PDP-8 know-how and trivia went with him, sorry to see him go.
/P
7:58 a.m.
New subject: Charles Lasner [Was: Re: LINC-8]
NL7776 /SETUP -2
TAD (-7776) /COMPARE TO EXPECTED VALUE
SZA CLA /SKIP IF OK
JMP IMA8S /JUMP IF RETARDED BROTHER
/ IF WE GET HERE, WE'RE NOT A PDP-8/S.
Ok, that made me laugh.....
C
On 4/27/2020 10:40 AM, Pontus Pihlgren via cctalk wrote:
On Mon, Apr 27, 2020 at 09:08:24AM -0500, John H.
Reinhardt via cctalk wrote:
Charles Lasner.? He passed the weekend of April
3rd due to
complications from the COVID-19 virus.? I'm fuzzy on his exact
biography, but he was big in the development of OS/8 for the PDP-8 at
DEC.? His current project was an update of OS/8 which he called
P?S/8.? Apparently he owned multiple LINC-8's according to comments on
the Facebook group.
He also worked onKermit-12, for instance the code that identifies which
PDP-8 machine it is running on. It is quite fun to follow that code. It
can, impressively, separate between a PDP-5, LINC-8, PDP-12, Straight-8,
8/S, 8/I, 8/L, 8/E, 8/A, 6100 and 6120.
Here, search for "MACHINE,.-."
http://www.columbia.edu/kermit/ftp/d/k12mit.pal
A lot of PDP-8 know-how and trivia went with him, sorry to see him go.
/P
8:17 a.m.
New subject: Charles Lasner [Was: Re: LINC-8]
On 4/27/2020 9:58 AM, Chris Zach via cctalk wrote:
I never had any exchanges with Charles, well,
none of significance, but he could be of rather, um, shall we say strong opinion on
topics.
--
John H. Reinhardt
> On 4/27/2020 10:40 AM, Pontus Pihlgren via cctalk wrote:
>> On Mon, Apr 27, 2020 at 09:08:24AM -0500, John H. Reinhardt via cctalk wrote:
>>> Charles Lasner.? He passed the weekend of April 3rd due to
>>> complications from the COVID-19 virus.? I'm fuzzy on his exact
>>> biography, but he was big in the development of OS/8 for the PDP-8 at
>>> DEC.? His current project was an update of OS/8 which he called
>>> P?S/8.? Apparently he owned multiple LINC-8's according to comments on
>>> the Facebook group.
> >> He also worked onKermit-12, for
instance the code that identifies which
>> PDP-8 machine it is running on. It is quite fun to follow that code. It
>> can, impressively, separate between a PDP-5, LINC-8, PDP-12, Straight-8,
>> 8/S, 8/I, 8/L, 8/E, 8/A, 6100 and 6120.
> >> Here, search for
"MACHINE,.-."
>> http://www.columbia.edu/kermit/ftp/d/k12mit.pal
> >> A lot of PDP-8 know-how and trivia went
with him, sorry to see him go.
> >> /P
????NL7776 /SETUP -2
????TAD??? (-7776)??????? /COMPARE TO EXPECTED VALUE
????SZA CLA??????????? /SKIP IF OK
????JMP??? IMA8S??????? /JUMP IF RETARDED BROTHER
/??? IF WE GET HERE, WE'RE NOT A PDP-8/S.
Ok, that made me laugh.....
C
5 p.m.
New subject: Charles Lasner [Was: Re: LINC-8]
I can say over the last 30 years or so, I enjoyed a number of
exchanges with CJL.
I did enjoy the repartee - iirc most of it was just between us, but
some was in some 8 related channel.
I found him knowledgeable, opinionated, but most of the time just
plain fun to argue with.
Over the last 6 or 7 years, sparse contact, but always remembered fondly.
Sorry to see him pass.
bb
On Mon, Apr 27, 2020 at 11:18 AM John H. Reinhardt via cctalk
<cctalk at classiccmp.org> wrote:
On 4/27/2020 9:58 AM, Chris Zach via cctalk wrote:
I never had any exchanges with Charles,
well, none of significance, but he could be of rather, um, shall we say strong opinion on
topics.
--
John H. Reinhardt
> On 4/27/2020 10:40 AM, Pontus Pihlgren via cctalk wrote:
>> On Mon, Apr 27, 2020 at 09:08:24AM -0500, John H. Reinhardt via cctalk wrote:
>>> Charles Lasner. He passed the weekend of April 3rd due to
>>> complications from the COVID-19 virus. I'm fuzzy on his exact
>>> biography, but he was big in the development of OS/8 for the PDP-8 at
>>> DEC. His current project was an update of OS/8 which he called
>>> P?S/8. Apparently he owned multiple LINC-8's according to comments on
>>> the Facebook group.
>>
>> He also worked onKermit-12, for instance the code that identifies which
>> PDP-8 machine it is running on. It is quite fun to follow that code. It
>> can, impressively, separate between a PDP-5, LINC-8, PDP-12, Straight-8,
>> 8/S, 8/I, 8/L, 8/E, 8/A, 6100 and 6120.
>>
>> Here, search for "MACHINE,.-."
>> http://www.columbia.edu/kermit/ftp/d/k12mit.pal
>>
>> A lot of PDP-8 know-how and trivia went with him, sorry to see him go.
>>
>> /P
NL7776 /SETUP -2
TAD (-7776) /COMPARE TO EXPECTED VALUE
SZA CLA /SKIP IF OK
JMP IMA8S /JUMP IF RETARDED BROTHER
/ IF WE GET HERE, WE'RE NOT A PDP-8/S.
Ok, that made me laugh.....
C
6:34 p.m.
New subject: Charles Lasner [Was: Re: LINC-8]
On Mon, Apr 27, 2020 at 8:01 PM Bob Smith via cctalk <cctalk at classiccmp.org>
wrote:
I can say over the last 30 years or so, I enjoyed a
number of
exchanges with CJL.
I did enjoy the repartee - iirc most of it was just between us, but
some was in some 8 related channel.
I found him knowledgeable, opinionated, but most of the time just
plain fun to argue with.
Over the last 6 or 7 years, sparse contact, but always remembered fondly.
Sorry to see him pass.
bb
Oh wow, I just realized what you're talking about here....I spoke with him
on the phone two months ago...He said he was not well but he did not
elaborate. I did not know him well but I am sorry to hear this happened.
From what I knew of him, very knowledgeable and
passionate about the PDP
8. He said he had his own OS that he wanted me to try out,
I hope someday
to get a copy of the RK05 boot pack.
Bill
6:53 p.m.
New subject: Charles Lasner [Was: Re: LINC-8]
On 4/27/20 6:34 PM, Bill Degnan via cctalk wrote:
He said he had his own OS that he wanted me to try out
that wish has dragged on for decades
I hope whoever ends up with his estate knows people are interested in P?S/8
http://www.vcfed.org/forum/showthread.php?49581-Some-P-S-8-files-have-appea…
11:26 p.m.
New subject: Charles Lasner [Was: Re: LINC-8]
On 4/27/2020 6:53 PM, Al Kossow via cctalk wrote:
On 4/27/20 6:34 PM, Bill Degnan via cctalk wrote:
Talk on the PDP8 page that there will be a dump of all of the OS and
other assets to be public.
Bob Vines:??? 4/27/20
Charlie Lasner passed from COVID-19 on 03 Apr 2020. He was still
perfecting P?S/8. We've managed to image his non-password-protected
computer drives in an attempt at recovering P?S/8.
Assuming that we're successful _and_ his widow gives permission, we'll
make it available "as is." We'll also have his documentation (that he
wrote & used before writing the code) and make it available too. When
bugs turn up, hopefully skilled users will make corrections and share
them -- perhaps on GitHub.
Bob
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1751201531858202/
Thanks
Jim
He said he had his own OS that he wanted me to
try out
that wish has dragged on for decades
I hope whoever ends up with his estate knows people are interested in
P?S/8
http://www.vcfed.org/forum/showthread.php?49581-Some-P-S-8-files-have-appea…
28 Apr
28 Apr
9:29 a.m.
New subject: Charles Lasner [Was: Re: LINC-8]
On Mon, 27 Apr 2020 10:58:59 -0400
Chris Zach via cctalk <cctalk at classiccmp.org> wrote:
NL7776 /SETUP -2
TAD (-7776) /COMPARE TO EXPECTED VALUE
SZA CLA /SKIP IF OK
JMP IMA8S /JUMP IF RETARDED BROTHER
/ IF WE GET HERE, WE'RE NOT A PDP-8/S.
Ok, that made me laugh.....
Charles and I have many emails over the years going back and forth regarding
OS/8 vs. P?S/8.
He was one of those folks that when you sent him a five line email, you would
often get a five page response. Charles was definitely opinionated - but often
proven to be right.
Both Charles and Merrill (author of FOCAL) teased me when I got my PDP-8/S
running. It was definitely SLOW (8/S where S=Slow). Merrill told me that DEC
management was furious when FOCAL displayed which kind of 8 it was running on.
Management wanted folks to think all 8's were totally compatible.
Charles designed P?S/8 to run in a 4K PDP-8 - making it feasible to run on a
basic 8/S (OS/8 requires a minimum of 8K). I hope it gets "released" someday :)
I'll miss Charles and his passion for P?S/8.
Lyle
--
On 4/27/2020 10:40 AM, Pontus Pihlgren via cctalk
wrote:
> On Mon, Apr 27, 2020 at 09:08:24AM -0500, John H. Reinhardt via cctalk
> wrote:
>> Charles Lasner.? He passed the weekend of April 3rd due to
>> complications from the COVID-19 virus.? I'm fuzzy on his exact
>> biography, but he was big in the development of OS/8 for the PDP-8 at
>> DEC.? His current project was an update of OS/8 which he called
>> P?S/8.? Apparently he owned multiple LINC-8's according to comments on
>> the Facebook group.
>
> He also worked onKermit-12, for instance the code that identifies which
> PDP-8 machine it is running on. It is quite fun to follow that code. It
> can, impressively, separate between a PDP-5, LINC-8, PDP-12, Straight-8,
> 8/S, 8/I, 8/L, 8/E, 8/A, 6100 and 6120.
>
> Here, search for "MACHINE,.-."
> http://www.columbia.edu/kermit/ftp/d/k12mit.pal
>
> A lot of PDP-8 know-how and trivia went with him, sorry to see him go.
>
> /P
>
--
73 NM6Y
Bickley Consulting West Inc.
https://bickleywest.com
"Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"
4:08 p.m.
New subject: Charles Lasner [Was: Re: LINC-8]
Rick Merrill is doing well last time I exchanged comments with him.
We wired in 8 engineering, DecComm11, and LCG together over the years.
I will have to rattle his cage just for fun now.
bb
On Tue, Apr 28, 2020 at 12:29 PM Lyle Bickley via cctalk
<cctalk at classiccmp.org> wrote:
On Mon, 27 Apr 2020 10:58:59 -0400
Chris Zach via cctalk <cctalk at classiccmp.org> wrote:
NL7776 /SETUP -2
TAD (-7776) /COMPARE TO EXPECTED VALUE
SZA CLA /SKIP IF OK
JMP IMA8S /JUMP IF RETARDED BROTHER
/ IF WE GET HERE, WE'RE NOT A PDP-8/S.
Ok, that made me laugh.....
Charles and I have many emails over the years going back and forth regarding
OS/8 vs. P?S/8.
He was one of those folks that when you sent him a five line email, you would
often get a five page response. Charles was definitely opinionated - but often
proven to be right.
Both Charles and Merrill (author of FOCAL) teased me when I got my PDP-8/S
running. It was definitely SLOW (8/S where S=Slow). Merrill told me that DEC
management was furious when FOCAL displayed which kind of 8 it was running on.
Management wanted folks to think all 8's were totally compatible.
Charles designed P?S/8 to run in a 4K PDP-8 - making it feasible to run on a
basic 8/S (OS/8 requires a minimum of 8K). I hope it gets "released" someday
:)
I'll miss Charles and his passion for P?S/8.
Lyle
--
On 4/27/2020 10:40 AM, Pontus Pihlgren via cctalk
wrote:
> On Mon, Apr 27, 2020 at 09:08:24AM -0500, John H. Reinhardt via cctalk
> wrote:
>> Charles Lasner. He passed the weekend of April 3rd due to
>> complications from the COVID-19 virus. I'm fuzzy on his exact
>> biography, but he was big in the development of OS/8 for the PDP-8 at
>> DEC. His current project was an update of OS/8 which he called
>> P?S/8. Apparently he owned multiple LINC-8's according to comments on
>> the Facebook group.
>
> He also worked onKermit-12, for instance the code that identifies which
> PDP-8 machine it is running on. It is quite fun to follow that code. It
> can, impressively, separate between a PDP-5, LINC-8, PDP-12, Straight-8,
> 8/S, 8/I, 8/L, 8/E, 8/A, 6100 and 6120.
>
> Here, search for "MACHINE,.-."
> http://www.columbia.edu/kermit/ftp/d/k12mit.pal
>
> A lot of PDP-8 know-how and trivia went with him, sorry to see him go.
>
> /P
>
--
73 NM6Y
Bickley Consulting West Inc.
https://bickleywest.com
"Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"
27 Apr
27 Apr
12:30 p.m.
New subject: Charles Lasner [Was: Re: LINC-8]
On 4/27/2020 7:40 AM, Pontus Pihlgren via cctalk wrote:
On Mon, Apr 27, 2020 at 09:08:24AM -0500, John H.
Reinhardt via cctalk wrote:
I looked up his obituaries, and include some? links here.? Also a link
discussing his visit to the RICM
I left a note on each of these.? Everhear requires some sort of login.
https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/name/charles-lasner-obituary?pid=195884420
https://www.everhere.com/us/obituaries/ny/west-babylon/charles-lasner-10663…
visit to RICM
https://groups.google.com/forum/?#!topic/alt.sys.pdp8/ZUVbAdtV8RA
Very sad to hear of his passing.
Jim
Charles Lasner.? He passed the weekend of April
3rd due to
complications from the COVID-19 virus.? I'm fuzzy on his exact
biography, but he was big in the development of OS/8 for the PDP-8 at
DEC.? His current project was an update of OS/8 which he called
P?S/8.? Apparently he owned multiple LINC-8's according to comments on
the Facebook group.
He also worked onKermit-12, for instance the code that
identifies which
PDP-8 machine it is running on. It is quite fun to follow that code. It
can, impressively, separate between a PDP-5, LINC-8, PDP-12, Straight-8,
8/S, 8/I, 8/L, 8/E, 8/A, 6100 and 6120.
Here, search for "MACHINE,.-."
http://www.columbia.edu/kermit/ftp/d/k12mit.pal
A lot of PDP-8 know-how and trivia went with him, sorry to see him go.
/P
1699
days inactive
1700
days old
12 comments
9 participants
participants (9)
-
aek＠bitsavers.org -
billdegnan＠gmail.com -
bobsmithofd＠gmail.com -
cz＠alembic.crystel.com -
jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu -
johnhreinhardt＠thereinhardts.org -
jwsmail＠jwsss.com -
lbickley＠bickleywest.com -
pontus＠Update.UU.SE