From mboxrd@z Thu Jan  1 00:00:00 1970
From: nw@retrocomputingtasmania.com (Nigel Williams)
Date: Wed, 1 Feb 2017 08:07:05 +1100
Subject: [TUHS] PDP-10 in the news today
In-Reply-To: <20170131193303.GA30737@minnie.tuhs.org>
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 <20170131193303.GA30737@minnie.tuhs.org>
Message-ID: <CACCFpdz7G808rODwcTuRY-26HpO4U=HWg3S4uu3oOMY=FPjUoA@mail.gmail.com>

In the wikipedia entry on the DEC PDP-10, it has this comment:

"The PDP-10 is the machine that made time-sharing common, and this and
other features made it a common fixture in many university computing
facilities and research labs during the 1970s..."

Is it a reasonable claim that the PDP-10 made time-sharing "common"
(note it says "the machine")? I'm presuming that "common" should be
read as ubiquitous and accessible (as in lower-cost than
competing/alternative options from other manufacturers or even DEC).

I'm wondering if it was really the combination of the PDP-11
(lower-cost more models) and Unix ("free" license to universities)
that propelled time-sharing, at least at universities.