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 autolearn=ham autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 Received: (qmail 19389 invoked from network); 8 Mar 2023 14:24:45 -0000 Received: from minnie.tuhs.org (2600:3c01:e000:146::1) by inbox.vuxu.org with ESMTPUTF8; 8 Mar 2023 14:24:45 -0000 Received: from minnie.tuhs.org (localhost [IPv6:::1]) by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 5214841288; Thu, 9 Mar 2023 00:24:41 +1000 (AEST) Received: from mail-lf1-x130.google.com (mail-lf1-x130.google.com [IPv6:2a00:1450:4864:20::130]) by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 3296D41277 for ; Thu, 9 Mar 2023 00:24:35 +1000 (AEST) Received: by mail-lf1-x130.google.com with SMTP id k14so21556423lfj.7 for ; Wed, 08 Mar 2023 06:24:35 -0800 (PST) DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=gmail.com; s=20210112; t=1678285473; h=content-transfer-encoding:cc:to:subject:message-id:date:from :in-reply-to:references:mime-version:from:to:cc:subject:date :message-id:reply-to; bh=Mv8Ew/Rc8Co/mF61BujibZahCAMD7RMJzzX8kWnM3Is=; b=NFSTPRulevV4GS8pD9fqg++0SNE8FwyUG2waz6a/mhIDmmxEL28Q//iJNykv+DsWyr HnkdaGRcxjnHowK9BZ/0o9EfHbDcyTVoofrWWfhVUzWAC56soMzktr9nHa89O4kMq8Ri Lk5tOpIkeeAS8c3c32q5QF7acquxgHJzpMVs0Om4bltQ8lmksVzgqKeLLKCMbmahZQzQ CBvK9t2ekGWtC/O73YENSa2w+POeHuTCh59pjNDef4erRmfxOuuyO9f5dDI8n3utZqUV DNniMk8C3xSft+DrtB1h3S/NJESTIGOlfuzB3Pjn3xte+cUdEHtr9M8xXBNeJumx2AWg RREQ== X-Google-DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=1e100.net; s=20210112; t=1678285473; h=content-transfer-encoding:cc:to:subject:message-id:date:from :in-reply-to:references:mime-version:x-gm-message-state:from:to:cc :subject:date:message-id:reply-to; bh=Mv8Ew/Rc8Co/mF61BujibZahCAMD7RMJzzX8kWnM3Is=; b=wKC2OcYlv5HFPY4LlfiuFHqkBYK/EsNH5EQQilKFORXV2iRUIEI4P9TRsUYhGnX//h p+7VqjQnKLr2S1C+XpKWuxL6IwryPIsoleeFsVwlxl1eeq2bF+7QpCCW/G8LtRjMG5H1 kdC1VseRQSK3j9q143s7PxJoMy4rIK4KCd1+CjiR8DODD6+YlkdY2fsyS8H2yVQWO+we NEmS2g454mu2gyj5xr8Fvnoh8zdnXZVbS5vz059nf18m2+8H1xaa6nm5A0if0twEwAfG 0v6B+Bx+dYBwYh4KNayLLn2p547vztVtrCjk0Roy1+551ox3xMXrLWaqQTcOrVOZ9cFx rIIQ== X-Gm-Message-State: AO0yUKWRRNTEZTfoyo9lLja39yQAM8g5telRas+jXNKqLqGB3pkmx6/8 AKpHEob14hWC5bwlY/4QfNChfAYONKC7zKO6PMYaNkna X-Google-Smtp-Source: AK7set+6ANxNn5xVqgQLhFqkDwWx/W7cPozmCQK2en2BHHczZUB93W+t71fakEnFhtCEwXkxiO6GRON3bpTqTfUC9o0= X-Received: by 2002:a05:6512:3c83:b0:4d8:86c2:75ea with SMTP id h3-20020a0565123c8300b004d886c275eamr10698369lfv.3.1678285473213; Wed, 08 Mar 2023 06:24:33 -0800 (PST) MIME-Version: 1.0 References: <1297BE06-BE03-477A-AC60-40A269090295@planet.nl> <73309724-1F69-49D4-B54B-63DD298CBD27@planet.nl> In-Reply-To: From: Dan Cross Date: Wed, 8 Mar 2023 09:23:56 -0500 Message-ID: To: Paul Ruizendaal Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Message-ID-Hash: TP6U6J3VNQ4JHYKO4YHKCLCAHXY3XW6P X-Message-ID-Hash: TP6U6J3VNQ4JHYKO4YHKCLCAHXY3XW6P X-MailFrom: crossd@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: "tuhs@tuhs.org" X-Mailman-Version: 3.3.6b1 Precedence: list Subject: [TUHS] Re: Origins of the frame buffer device List-Id: The Unix Heritage Society mailing list Archived-At: List-Archive: List-Help: List-Owner: List-Post: List-Subscribe: List-Unsubscribe: On Wed, Mar 8, 2023 at 7:53=E2=80=AFAM Paul Ruizendaal wrot= e: > This also has a relation to the point about what constitutes a "workstati= on" and one of the comments was that it needs to have "integrated graphics"= . What is integrated in this historical context -- is it a shared memory fr= ame buffer, is it a shared CPU, is it physically in the same box or just an= integrated user experience? It seems to me that it is not easy to delineat= e. Consider a Vax connected to a Tek raster scan display, a Vax connected t= o a Blit, Clem=E2=80=99s Magnolia and a networked Sun-1. Which ones are wor= kstations? If shared memory is the key only Clem=E2=80=99s Magnolia and the= Sun-1 qualify. If it is a shared CPU only a standalone Sun-1 qualifies, bu= t its CPU would be heavily taxed when doing graphics, so standalone graphic= s was maybe not a normal use case. For now my rule of thumb is that it mean= s (in a 1980=E2=80=99s-1990=E2=80=99s context) a high-bandwidth path betwee= n the compute side and display side, with enough total combined power to dr= ive both the workload and the display. I wouldn't try to be too rigid in your terms here. The term "workstation" was probably never well-defined; it had more of an intuitive connotation of a machine that was more powerful than something you could get on the consumer market (like a PC or 8-bit microcomputer), but wasn't a minicomputer or mainframe/supercomputer. By the early 90s this was understood to mean a single-user machine in a desktop or deskside form factor with a graphics display, and a more advanced operating system than something you'd get on a consumer-grade machine. But the term probably predated that. Generally, workstations were machines marketed towards science/engineering/technology applications, and so intended for a person doing "work", as opposed to home computing or large scale business data-processing. Would a Tek 4014 connected to a VAX count? Maybe? I mean, bicycles have saddles, but we also put saddles on horses, so sure, in the late 70s or early 80s, why not. By the 1990s, maybe not so much. - Dan C.