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=-1.0 required=5.0 tests=MAILING_LIST_MULTI, RCVD_IN_DNSWL_NONE autolearn=ham autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 Received: (qmail 28917 invoked from network); 15 Aug 2020 01:33:57 -0000 Received: from minnie.tuhs.org (45.79.103.53) by inbox.vuxu.org with ESMTPUTF8; 15 Aug 2020 01:33:57 -0000 Received: by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix, from userid 112) id F3A5B9B5F4; Sat, 15 Aug 2020 11:33:55 +1000 (AEST) Received: from minnie.tuhs.org (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 43D4F9B620; Sat, 15 Aug 2020 11:33:17 +1000 (AEST) Received: by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix, from userid 112) id 0A66C9B5F4; Sat, 15 Aug 2020 11:33:14 +1000 (AEST) Received: from fourwinds.com (fourwinds.com [63.64.179.162]) by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 3FA059B5EC for ; Sat, 15 Aug 2020 11:33:13 +1000 (AEST) Received: from darkstar.fourwinds.com (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by fourwinds.com (8.15.2/8.15.2) with ESMTPS id 07F1XCnG1392916 (version=TLSv1.3 cipher=TLS_AES_256_GCM_SHA384 bits=256 verify=NOT) for ; Fri, 14 Aug 2020 18:33:12 -0700 Received: from darkstar.fourwinds.com (jon@localhost) by darkstar.fourwinds.com (8.15.2/8.15.2/Submit) with ESMTP id 07F1XCfE1392913 for ; Fri, 14 Aug 2020 18:33:12 -0700 Message-Id: <202008150133.07F1XCfE1392913@darkstar.fourwinds.com> From: Jon Steinhart To: The Eunuchs Hysterical Society In-reply-to: <4F69D0BB-C6C8-443C-A5A2-0F0C1E5578B0@cfcl.com> References: <202008141739.07EHdn2U1381389@darkstar.fourwinds.com> <4F69D0BB-C6C8-443C-A5A2-0F0C1E5578B0@cfcl.com> Comments: In-reply-to Rich message dated "Fri, 14 Aug 2020 17:33:09 -0700." MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-ID: <1392911.1597455191.1@darkstar.fourwinds.com> Date: Fri, 14 Aug 2020 18:33:11 -0700 X-JON-SPAM: local delivery Subject: Re: [TUHS] A/UX [was Linux is on-topic] X-BeenThere: tuhs@minnie.tuhs.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.26 Precedence: list List-Id: The Unix Heritage Society mailing list List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Errors-To: tuhs-bounces@minnie.tuhs.org Sender: "TUHS" Rich writes: > > On Aug 14, 2020, at 10:39, Jon Steinhart wrote: > > > > ...Was actually really > > nice to have a pretty bug-free system available. But, in the tried and true > > bad management style that was Tektronix, nobody every asked whether there was > > any customer value proposition. > > Some years ago, I asked a engineer friend about the ceramic terminal strips > (and accompanying spool of silver solder) that I had seen in Tektronix scopes. > He responded by asking me what a terminal strip was supposed to do. > > Erm, make connections and provide physical stability between some wires while > keeping all the connections insulated from each other? He said "yup", that's > what these strips do. In particular, they aren't capacitors, resistors, or > inductors to any significant degree... > > On a vaguely related note, I found it amusing that there was a well known hack > for Cray's (or perhaps 6600's) which were misbehaving: put a Tektronix scope > probe on a test point that generally had one there during final system checkout. > The load (extremely mnimal by design) was just enough to stabilize the system. > > -r Well, this is kind of off topic, but that wasn't my experience at Tek. There was an internal course called AFTR (amplifier frequency and transient response) which was basically a guide to black magic design, then things that you had to know if as we said, you needed to design amplifiers that were flat from DC to daylight. This is where one learned about things like t-coils which compensated for bonding wire impedance in ICs, hook (dC/dV of circuit certain circuit board dialectrics), and so on. Plus, we had a policy of making things bulletproof. Relating it back to workstations, it was a problem. We were unable to convince management (well, there really wasn't any management at Tek) that while customers expected a mil-spec scope to bounce and keep on working when dropped off of the back of a truck, the folks who bought workstations expected them to break when dropped. That's why we couldn't build an empty box of air for less than a thousand dollars. Jon