From: Paul Ruizendaal <pnr@planet.nl>
To: "tuhs@tuhs.org" <tuhs@tuhs.org>
Subject: [TUHS] Earliest UNIX Workstations?
Date: Thu, 26 Jan 2023 16:58:11 +0100 [thread overview]
Message-ID: <0C5D8AF8-BAB2-48B5-854B-34E3A949DE50@planet.nl> (raw)
As a result of the recent discussion on this list I’m trying to understand the timeline of graphical computing on Unix, first of all in my preferred time slot ’75 -’85.
When it comes to Bell Labs I’m aware of the following:
- around 1975 the Labs worked on the Glance-G vector graphics terminal. This was TSS-516 based with no Unix overlap I think.
- around the same time the Labs seem to have used the 1973 Dec VT11 vector graphics terminal; at least the surviving LSX Unix source has a driver for it
- in 1976 there was the Terak 8510; this ran primarily USCD pascal, but it also ran LSX and/or MX (but maybe only much later)
- then it seems to jump 1981 and to the Blit.
- in 1984 there was MGR that was done at Bellcore
Outside of the labs (but on Unix), I have:
- I am not sure what graphics software ran on the SUN-1, but it must have been something
- Clem just mentioned the 1981 Tektronix Magnolia system
- Wikipedia says that X1 was 1984 and X11 was 1987; I’m not sure when it became Unix centered
- Sun’s NeWS arrived only in 1989, I think?
Outside of Unix, in the microcomputer world there was a lot of cheap(er) graphics hardware. Lot’s of stuff at 256 x 192 resolution, but up to 512 x 512 at the higher end. John Walker writes that the breakout product for Autodesk was Interact (the precursor to AutoCAD). Initially developed for S-100 bus systems it quickly moved to the PC. There was a lot of demand for CAD at a 5K price point that did not exist at a 50K price point.
next reply other threads:[~2023-01-26 15:58 UTC|newest]
Thread overview: 27+ messages / expand[flat|nested] mbox.gz Atom feed top
2023-01-26 15:58 Paul Ruizendaal [this message]
2023-01-26 16:04 ` [TUHS] " Larry McVoy
2023-01-26 16:37 ` emanuel stiebler
2023-01-26 16:51 ` segaloco via TUHS
2023-01-26 16:29 ` Clem Cole
2023-01-26 22:17 ` Paul Ruizendaal
2023-01-26 22:45 ` Bakul Shah
2023-01-27 0:19 ` Paul Ruizendaal
2023-01-27 17:16 ` Paul Ruizendaal via TUHS
2023-01-27 17:36 ` Warner Losh
2023-01-27 17:37 ` Warner Losh
2023-01-27 17:45 ` Rich Salz
2023-01-27 17:54 ` Warner Losh
2023-01-28 9:14 ` Lars Brinkhoff
2023-01-28 11:05 ` Paul Ruizendaal
2023-01-28 15:38 ` Warner Losh
2023-01-28 18:50 ` Lars Brinkhoff
2023-01-29 6:48 ` Lars Brinkhoff
2023-01-29 20:39 ` Paul Ruizendaal
2023-01-27 17:43 ` josh
2023-01-26 16:51 ` Warner Losh
2023-01-26 18:15 ` Lars Brinkhoff
2023-01-26 19:39 ` Bakul Shah
2023-01-27 10:59 ` Lars Brinkhoff
2023-01-26 18:14 ` Jon Steinhart
2023-01-26 20:44 ` Rob Pike
-- strict thread matches above, loose matches on Subject: below --
2023-01-26 0:31 [TUHS] " Joseph Holsten
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