[TUHS] Re: Earliest UNIX Workstations?

[Jonathan Gray <jsg@jsg.id.au>]

On Mon, Jan 30, 2023 at 12:20:52AM +0100, Paul Ruizendaal via TUHS wrote:
> 
> 3. Next is the 1989 NeWS book that has a nice overview and history of windowing systems in its chapter 3:
> 
> http://bitsavers.trailing-edge.com/pdf/sun/NeWS/The_NeWS_Book_1989.pdf
> 
> Both the UK conference and the NeWS book mention a Unix kernel-based windowing system done at MIT in 1981 or 1982, “NU" or “NUnix”, by Jack Test. That one had not been mentioned before here and may have been the first graphical windowing work on Unix, preceding the Blit. Who remembers this one?

"In April 1981, after the initial breadboard Nu Machines were
constructed at M.I.T. and the UNIX operating system was ported to
it, the design was licensed to Western Digital Corporation to be
re-engineered and marketed as a commercial product. By late 1982,
Western Digital had completed the redesign but decided not to enter
the workstation business. Texas Instruments acquired the Nu
Machine/NuBus technology including the original development group
located in Irvine, California."
pg 1

"The second category of software is the Nu Machine Operating System.
This is a port of Bell Lab’s UNIX Operating System. The Nu Machine
Operating System is derived from UNIX, Seventh Edition and contains,
in addition to the normal UNIX commands and kernel, enhancements
from the Berkeley version of UNIX and a proprietary window system
for the Nu Machine video display subsystem. Of course, the Nu Machine
Operating System will not run on Nu Machines that do not contain a
68010 processor board."
pg 35

https://bitsavers.org/pdf/lmi/LMI_Docs/HARDWARE_1.pdf

also mentioned on page 20 of
http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/perq/RD_Davis/Davis-PERQ_Workstations_Nov03.pdf

"    MIT Researchers were working on two systems which used the concepts
of the Alto using very different technology. This first was known as the Lisp
Machine project; the MIT Lisp Machine had all the features associated with
a workstation, but was much more expensive. There were two spinoffs of
this project which were less costly lisp machines produced by Symbolics and
LMI.

    The other MIT project which evolved from knowlege of the Alto was
the Nu machine; this was to be a workstation using a Motorolla 68000
microprocessor as its CPU. In various attempts to turn the Nu machine into
a commercially viable product, MIT teamed up with Exxon Enterprises,
then Heath/Schlumberger, and then Western Digital. All of these attempts
failed. The only thing that resulted from this was a deal between MIT
and Western Digital in which Western Digital was to make a Lisp processor
board which would plug into the bus of the Nu machine.

    After some officials from Prime Computer took a tour of MIT and saw
the Nu machine, Lisp Machine, and the Alto, it is runmored that the idea
for the Apollo workstations was formed. The head of engineering at Prime
Computer, William Poduska, started Apollo. Apollo had the added benefit
of much more financial backing than Three Rivers had. Apollo introduced
its Domain processor."