From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.4 (2020-01-24) on inbox.vuxu.org X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-0.8 required=5.0 tests=DKIM_ADSP_CUSTOM_MED, DKIM_INVALID,DKIM_SIGNED,FREEMAIL_FROM,MAILING_LIST_MULTI, T_SCC_BODY_TEXT_LINE autolearn=ham autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 Received: (qmail 24968 invoked from network); 28 Jul 2023 16:18:36 -0000 Received: from minnie.tuhs.org (50.116.15.146) by inbox.vuxu.org with ESMTPUTF8; 28 Jul 2023 16:18:36 -0000 Received: from minnie.tuhs.org (localhost [IPv6:::1]) by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id C133640AE6; Sat, 29 Jul 2023 02:18:33 +1000 (AEST) Received: from mail-pj1-x102d.google.com (mail-pj1-x102d.google.com [IPv6:2607:f8b0:4864:20::102d]) by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id DB04D4000D for ; Sat, 29 Jul 2023 02:18:20 +1000 (AEST) Received: by mail-pj1-x102d.google.com with SMTP id 98e67ed59e1d1-268128a0105so1603365a91.3 for ; Fri, 28 Jul 2023 09:18:20 -0700 (PDT) DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=gmail.com; s=20221208; t=1690561100; x=1691165900; h=cc:to:subject:message-id:date:from:references:in-reply-to :mime-version:from:to:cc:subject:date:message-id:reply-to; bh=xgDcgqrz/w8rhMp6BhfPL8LpUp800MEGxk4snXQZR9I=; b=BggIQpcIrCiL+9XH2vLitSJGy0/PFDTttg3+LniH+yAXhqdtYmK0xJQMBB8aRR/2jH CmnU/pTYy2NvdVP8c7SWaP/UpocuzH9W3490XHNp96P+1hB4HMU+JxSXiWd+JnEGHQ4+ jeccasxNwptD26ib9kHQFgkYoBbBItKL4SmQx/vxR0uV1ktnKyuZROT0iIFHX4CbWLx4 zTVw9wnF/xtpQyjfTWW1ezZKuJ4zyYFtbMl/w2Jop8Ca5LTv8dCipDRstnJXARELQx+M 7IP+1VIOx82cy8WP5Mz10n+o5vmdPLuui/0fu3oBCkffPUbOjX84HyDsqiFoQxq7cY7q cHpQ== X-Google-DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=1e100.net; s=20221208; t=1690561100; x=1691165900; h=cc:to:subject:message-id:date:from:references:in-reply-to :mime-version:x-gm-message-state:from:to:cc:subject:date:message-id :reply-to; bh=xgDcgqrz/w8rhMp6BhfPL8LpUp800MEGxk4snXQZR9I=; b=gNE0ZoN8p+Es1/+hKMx1ok9qv5IJVU6vS/uf5Mw47Da9nSw35CR+csaY2qYllzpHhy EWXVIHLobJuRXTVH1BfZ/60N3pEpzPH5reuM9romGc3hBzXuF4/jdYcyvjPTwJ8LlLto 0z5S1g+LlsrZ90MLuwUerD1pa4TEcxrqi1qdslBgPkLyxr2/3k85mvPCIRjJNjTZ7K0d W1OCG61TEo2u9HDuC/+aAlpe1jmvpTx6u5ykrw5Z8+4QdqTG1LfrzllEa6KCM1QrP3V3 qpBeH95AdI+qTbVzsQlFJ6KihdjysjBQUYIS4DdCFkiTqfuH3dWzYLZLXbEjDm29WS5U TR2w== X-Gm-Message-State: ABy/qLYCxA6QvKkF0iDezzrxiNqwGnU8QSFTk+MXOFJvNGtuX/HZWGlW QXlIY71bMjObPD+ls6TAXe5oIATvWSAESgahYBtv3ZB5 X-Google-Smtp-Source: APBJJlFzv/+/xDz+FUQY1gd0m/TF2+FIa/PVFkv3eSdHlaFfWE6JdEypAe8gwTYx6GNuG4/r962PIbuu5P15tIWa/E8= X-Received: by 2002:a17:90a:69a3:b0:268:dad:2fdc with SMTP id s32-20020a17090a69a300b002680dad2fdcmr2176549pjj.21.1690561099979; Fri, 28 Jul 2023 09:18:19 -0700 (PDT) MIME-Version: 1.0 Received: by 2002:a05:6a11:af19:b0:4c1:7ec0:eb04 with HTTP; Fri, 28 Jul 2023 09:18:19 -0700 (PDT) In-Reply-To: <20230728033818.GG92211@eureka.lemis.com> References: <20230727191643.AE34718C079@mercury.lcs.mit.edu> <20230728033818.GG92211@eureka.lemis.com> From: Paul Winalski Date: Fri, 28 Jul 2023 12:18:19 -0400 Message-ID: To: "Greg 'groggy' Lehey" Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8" Message-ID-Hash: UAKH56DJGI2VDGFO37UN7R5SWXWF6VN5 X-Message-ID-Hash: UAKH56DJGI2VDGFO37UN7R5SWXWF6VN5 X-MailFrom: paul.winalski@gmail.com X-Mailman-Rule-Misses: dmarc-mitigation; no-senders; approved; emergency; loop; banned-address; member-moderation; nonmember-moderation; administrivia; implicit-dest; max-recipients; max-size; news-moderation; no-subject; digests; suspicious-header CC: COFF X-Mailman-Version: 3.3.6b1 Precedence: list Subject: [COFF] Re: What Happened to Interdata? List-Id: Computer Old Farts Forum Archived-At: List-Archive: List-Help: List-Owner: List-Post: List-Subscribe: List-Unsubscribe: On 7/27/23, Greg 'groggy' Lehey wrote: > > My guess was that binary compatibility > wasn't a big issue in those days, since nearly all applications > software was written only for specific installations. And of course > licensing issues would preclude running IBM OS on the other machines. That certainly was true for S/360 in the 1960s. IBM bundled its software offerings with its hardware. If you leased an IBM S/360, you got the development toolset (compilers, link editor, assembler) for free, as well as utilities such as sort/merge. Source code for the OS and the utilities was readily available in microfiche form. There were very few thrid-party software offerings. One that sticks in my mind is SyncSort, a sort/merge utility that far outperformed IBM's sort/merge program. If you were a big S/360 data center doing really serious, high-volume stuff, you used Storage Technology tape drives and SyncSort. That all changed when a 1969 antitrust complaint caused IBM to unbundle its software from hardware. Before, you got the software for free as part of your hardware lease. After, you had to buy a separate license for each software product. -Paul W.