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_INVALID,DKIM_SIGNED, MAILING_LIST_MULTI autolearn=ham autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 Received: (qmail 26989 invoked from network); 13 Dec 2022 22:50:58 -0000 Received: from minnie.tuhs.org (50.116.15.146) by inbox.vuxu.org with ESMTPUTF8; 13 Dec 2022 22:50:58 -0000 Received: from minnie.tuhs.org (localhost [IPv6:::1]) by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id A115542375; Wed, 14 Dec 2022 08:50:51 +1000 (AEST) Received: from mail-ua1-f41.google.com (mail-ua1-f41.google.com [209.85.222.41]) by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id BA2DF42364 for ; Wed, 14 Dec 2022 08:50:46 +1000 (AEST) Received: by mail-ua1-f41.google.com with SMTP id ay42so2703315uab.6 for ; Tue, 13 Dec 2022 14:50:46 -0800 (PST) DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=dartmouth.edu; s=google1; h=cc:to:subject:message-id:date:from:in-reply-to:references :mime-version:from:to:cc:subject:date:message-id:reply-to; bh=DqPIbSBHJpPZMtao0Fz1Csjzt+fcD1KV0Ub4XyruIhM=; b=vtb62Lw+lZ/0K+fGTuFML5LDv4p+FNVQVXQVt44e2GhgoV9jAto2ax35q6tAkaaKWf Q+/oxaz1+EOAvH1YbR8VSuq/2si3YnQvL5PXUIWAdTs841BsW/baTwhXav7BhBeU31pS o2T57JjvLAN0+Jq08rE1B4J1Wpr/nKyWGvvGuZVI+i5C9lNvSB6fcOFw/LKcPlYh2FCH 6E+3NGwXoEU2hsMYZIDGkcJni1dcqcVho2Fn/MT1px1mDUDV9smQhzCa2DaEPuMtLdIw +c5UcpFTVYP0JL4+kQqGlkoRkF3wY7Xtn4SOM9WBrVItu3zSy5veGfe7CsfDRKyd5D8a 3uPQ== X-Google-DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=1e100.net; s=20210112; h=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=DqPIbSBHJpPZMtao0Fz1Csjzt+fcD1KV0Ub4XyruIhM=; b=h5gxKYCPPCzvnQxv33Ha2H09bJQrDu1zQXr5szljZiY4oinNb1JegQAeIS5cURKbVH TTG5V3HxE8sTGdUMA9DFL+HlLAMZY2tDOE8/e7ZSLfgv3+QR/epH4y9gn2NJAtlVVQbE DoYDQIjthT/neg2cZlG6GcVtlQxqZX9sQwOc73Nn1Et34jT/AprPGLQ4SqRSNOSkPF8j NcoR54FvS6LpJlF9rblJrpHilv00O9B3xiXLDakcg+ejK+oALYn/6hceO6XwaOh1AQ7A Op01p/Iv9oPiEeod9vIVR3YJMlZJ8AujwmWRPY6LhEGFiMXdOBdFOQLFmZPQb7jrXYAn +N9A== X-Gm-Message-State: ANoB5pmYQNDklR97yvOxx7JNhmELif/gyOiztd7nDmiChCkk5IgntlD+ /zP0KI53OZF0xG3PYRxp/hyP2dSBJIhAnCV6hzTHsPC+k+pnMQ== X-Google-Smtp-Source: AA0mqf4Pgjev1h1Bux42nnxxC+Bi3m0/clZwP85JiKafVMwK0WwiVkpjlAR2/L25aPgeBrHUb51ZSQ1WWbtrpWeDVXg= X-Received: by 2002:ab0:6cf0:0:b0:419:2190:258 with SMTP id l16-20020ab06cf0000000b0041921900258mr30219488uai.5.1670971785770; Tue, 13 Dec 2022 14:49:45 -0800 (PST) MIME-Version: 1.0 References: <202212131714.2BDHE22g1863684@darkstar.fourwinds.com> In-Reply-To: <202212131714.2BDHE22g1863684@darkstar.fourwinds.com> From: Douglas McIlroy Date: Tue, 13 Dec 2022 17:49:40 -0500 Message-ID: To: Jon Steinhart Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8" Message-ID-Hash: Y67T7YT7UUVAYWTB2V4CAGT73F76XXKI X-Message-ID-Hash: Y67T7YT7UUVAYWTB2V4CAGT73F76XXKI X-MailFrom: douglas.mcilroy@dartmouth.edu X-Mailman-Rule-Misses: dmarc-mitigation; no-senders; approved; emergency; loop; banned-address; member-moderation; header-match-tuhs.tuhs.org-0; 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: Clever code [ really PB 250 ] List-Id: The Unix Heritage Society mailing list Archived-At: List-Archive: List-Help: List-Owner: List-Post: List-Subscribe: List-Unsubscribe: That would be Claude Kagan. A bunch of kids called the R.E.S.I.S.T.O.R.S met there regularly to play with the computers. Claude, who worked for Western Electric, implemented a version of Calvin Mooers's TRAC macroprocessor. Mooers sued for infringing the copyright on a journal article. AT&T settled, out of fear of the consequences of an (unlikely) win for Mooers. The issue remained in the air until a Supreme Court case (Google v Oracle) about a year ago, which fortunately came down against copyrights on software interfaces. Doug On Tue, Dec 13, 2022 at 12:14 PM Jon Steinhart wrote: > > Wow, this brings back memories. When I was a kid I remember visiting > a guy who had a barn full of computers in or around Princeton, N.J. > There was a Burroughs 500, a PB 250, and a PDP-8. The 500 was a vacuum > tube and nixie display machine. That sucker used a lot of neon, and I > seem to remember that it used about $100 worth of electricity in 1960s > dollars just to warm it up. I think that the PB 250 was one of the > first machines built using transistors. I assume that all of you know > what a PDP-8 is. I remember using the PDP-8 using SNAP (simple numeric > arithmetic processor) to crank out my math homework. Note that the PB > 250 also had SNAP, but in that case it was their assembler. > > Some of the first serious programming that I did was later at BTL on > 516-TSS using FSNAP (floating-point SNAP) written by Heinz. Maybe he > can fill us in on whether it was derived from SNAP. > > Anyway, I could only visit the place occasionally because it was far > from home. Does anyone else out there know anything about it? It's a > vague memory brought back by the mention of the 250. > > Jon