Tom, thanks for the notes on Lockheed MIS! I'm on travel and very limited bandwidth, but looking forward to reading up on these over the next few months. Thanks Lars on the "Tym Before" book, I hadn't come across that yet.
Carey: nope was not aware of a "paper tape" OS (nor the use of bi-directional papers tapes). I've used the QIC (DC300) tapes on the IBM5100, and some 9-tracks on Harris systems, which are bi-directional. I've seen plenty of taped-back-together paper tape repairs, I can't imagine how long it would last in a bi-directional system of any kind of high speed :) I guess it's why original rolled paper tapes can be hard to find - the ones that got used just wore out. Like that donated tape from Bill with original Altair BASIC always looked fairly beat up to me. Fan-fold seems to have maybe held up longer? Thanks all ! Still, no info on Honeywell ADMIRAL OS? And no love for the IBM 1800 w/ TSX/MPX? (I recall reading where I think one of these was used to control the traffic light system somewhere in New York) -Steve On Tue, Aug 25, 2026 at 1:10 PM Tom Gardner via cctalk < [email protected]> wrote: > Steve et al. > > I'm not exactly sure how it fits into this discussion, but you ought to > take a look at the Lockheed MIS system, which is now an IEEE milestone at: > https://ethw.org/Milestones: > Pioneering_Medical_Information_System,_1965-1974 > > Its prototype began in 1966 and was fully operational by 1968, running at > the Mayo Clinic on an SDS-92 and operating about five terminals and several > printers. It was then ported to an IBM/360 M40 and was in production on an > IBM S/370 M155 about 1972. > > Essentially, MIS software was a transaction processing supervisor that > took over control of the hardware and turned it into a multi-processing > transaction processor which by the mid-70s was in production servicing four > different hospitals with hundreds of terminals. A block diagram of the > system architecture is on sheet 52 of this document: > https://drive.google.com/file/d/1GogbWimvoNvh2n1550Qxa0wmHVDtZWVM/view?usp=sharing. > As it says, "This software is organized in three basic groups—each of which > operates relatively independently from the others on a time-shared > basis—and communicates with the others by passing messages back and > forth." In the IBM DOS era, DOS was just one of the three "basic groups" > with the others being a terminal handling group and a transaction > processor. How they managed to run it on later IBM OSs is a bit of a > mystery, but it ran on IBM mainframes until 2020! > > It died this century, mainly because management never extended its > capability into the physician's office. > > From a UX perspective, it was renowned for its response time and ease of > use, and most current users familiar with MIS say its performance still > isn't matched by today's medical informatics systems. > > tom > > > > > On Sun, Aug 23, 2026 at 3:47 AM Steve Lewis via cctalk < > [email protected]> wrote: > > > > Hey gang, a few months ago I presented about timeshare and some > > aspects about operating systems since the 1950s. > > > > To buzz through a PDF or PPT version of the notes: > > https://github.com/voidstar78/VCF2026 > > > > VCFSW has the talk archived here: > > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hE235ti9XQ > > > > Sorry being a bit dull as a speaker, but a few highlights: > > > > - overview of Douglass Ross "Director Tape" for Whirlwind (only "what > > it looked like" evidence that I was ever able to find, would be > > curious if others knew more about it) > > > > - 1965 Honeywell ADMIRAL OS: while I couldn't find much info about > > that specific OS, what I did find what Honeywell went to bat for us > > all vs RAND corp, putting an end some concerns about ENIAC hardware > > patents (that's a very short version of it) > > > > - today we fight about \ vs / slashes, when MULTICS split the > > difference and used > (greater than symbol), at least as far as I > > could tell from the manuals > > > > - some verification that UNIX was (sort of) originally called UNICS > > (see footnotes in the PPT notes), never formally written down but > > "verified" in the past year > > > > - I made a claim that Datapoint CTOS (1972) was the only OS ever on a > > cassette tape (not to be confused with the late 1970s CTOS) - that > > said, I suppose the MCM/70 did as well; really admires Mattis Lind's > > work on the > > DP2200 > > > > > > I never found too much info about "tymshare" (apparently a late 1960s > > kind of "corporate or business-to-business digital exchange" system, > > maybe for inventory or check-processing?). > > > > > > Tons of other OS's, obviously couldn't cover them all in a VCF talk. > > But there are a bunch of addendum notes after the end of the slides: > > > > - Mike Muuss ENIAC archive (at a .mil ftp if anyone wants to archive > > it more properly?) > > - I still claim that the word "operating system" was never used before > > 1960; the "SOS" or "share OS" was a name applied later (1962ish) to > > those pre-1960s concepts [ afaik ] > > - I couldn't fit in a bit about squozed :) really wanted to, just > > couldn't make it fit > > - AOSP, EXEC II, IBM 1800 derivatives (anyone ever see one of these > > in the wild?), > > > > > > Oh, not officially launched yet, but I'm now self hosting > oldsayings.info > > (with a telnet front-end at port 42525). Kicking around some ideas, > > but it's reliably staying up now with Starlink as the ISP. I got > > tired of waiting for fiber - but the county workers are getting > > closer, I see them running it ranch by ranch. > > > > > > > > Cheers, wish could have made it to VCF West this year. > > -Steve > > > > -- > --Carey > >
