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- Xref: sparky comp.arch:8404 alt.folklore.computers:11346
- Newsgroups: comp.arch,alt.folklore.computers
- Path: sparky!uunet!iWarp.intel.com|ssd.intel.com!SSD.intel.com!prp
- From: prp@SSD.intel.com (Paul Pierce)
- Subject: Re: Proposal: Computer History Project
- Message-ID: <1992Jul29.015101.7523@SSD.intel.com>
- Keywords: software, history, computer
- Sender: usenet@SSD.intel.com
- Nntp-Posting-Host: nautilus
- Reply-To: prp@SSD.intel.com (Paul Pierce)
- Organization: Intel
- References: <1992Jul24.144643.19792@crl.dec.com>
- Date: Wed, 29 Jul 1992 01:51:01 GMT
- Lines: 48
-
- In article <1992Jul24.144643.19792@crl.dec.com>, stewart@crl.dec.com (Larry Stewart) writes:
- |> Here is the beginning of an idea. Let's kick it around and build on it.
- |>
- |> THE COMPUTER HISTORY PROJECT
- |>
-
-
- Someone connected with the Computer Museum in Boston was looking into the idea of
- preserving software a couple of years ago. I don't know what became of that
- investigation, it would be a good idea to check with them.
-
- I think the proposal has a great deal of merit, especially since it
- includes the essential elements to preserve the most important aspect of historic
- software, the ability to run it on later machines. Key to that is machine and/or
- OS emulators, well defined storage formats for obsolete media,
-
- and **documentation**.
-
- To make preserved software accessible, you need something like step-by-step
- instructions for bringing it up on the emulator so that it is not necessary to
- relearn everything about the old machine in order to run the software.
-
-
- I have an IBM 709/7090/7094 emulator in progress, along with diagnostics and
- the IBSYS operating system to verify its accuracy. (Currently, they verify its
- inaccuracy.) It follows the style Doug was talking about, attempting to
- reproduce the feel of the machine and run the real OS in addition to merely
- running the same application software.
- I think that this is the better approach, rather than an OS emulator,
- especially for the oldest machines with lights and switches and clunky IO devices.
-
- For the 7090 emulator I have defined some storage formats for 7-track tape
- and 80-column cards which preserve things like parity and record length.
- They might be a good starting point for saving images of these media.
-
- A "treasure trove" of fun old software to preserve would be the SHARE and
- DECUS libraries. Do IBM and DEC maintain copies of these back into the early
- days? If not, I know of a company that recently had the SHARE library for
- the 7090 family.
-
- Other projects I am aware of include emulators for the IBM 1401, 1410, and 650.
- There are Z80 and IBM/370 simulators (which include OS simulation) for the PC.
- And of course there are several PDP-8 simulators.
-
- So who's in charge, Larry?
- --
- Paul Pierce prp@ssd.intel.com
- Intel
-