Computer History Wiki - User contributions [en]

User:Larsbrinkhoff

2025-11-28T07:07:37Z

Larsbrinkhoff: Reflecting recent work on ARPANET and a LINC emulator.

Mostly into [[Incompatible Timesharing System|ITS]], [[PDP-10]], [[Emacs]], [[Lisp]], [[Forth]], [[ARPANET]].

Sometimes branching off into [[WAITS]], [[TENEX]], [[PDP-11]], [[Logo]], [[LISP machine]]s, [[LINC]].

I run my own public ITS system at its.pdp10.se. Telnet to port 10003 for access. The unique PDP-11 operating system "[[SITS|Small ITS]]" is available sometimes on sits.pdp11.se port 54321. Perhaps also [[MINITS]]. As you can see, I like ITS.

[[Category:PDP-10 Users]]

Bucky bit

2025-11-21T13:38:34Z

Larsbrinkhoff: /* Examples */ Fix typo.

A '''bucky bit''' is a bit set to indicate a modifier key was pressed. The bucky bits are usually sent along with the key that was modified.

==Examples==

Some text [[terminal]]s and some [[terminal emulator]]s, have a [[meta key]] to set the most significant bit of the key code that is sent to the host.

[[X11]] has eight bucky bits: Shift, Lock, Control, Mod1, Mod2, Mod3, Mod4, and Mod5.

On [[Incompatible Timesharing System|ITS]], a character read from a terminal open in %TOFCI mode has four bucky bits: control, meta, super, and top. The closely related [[SUPDUP]] protocol has a subset: the super bit is not included.

{{stub}}

[[Category: Device Basics‎‎]]

Bucky bit

2025-11-20T11:52:26Z

Larsbrinkhoff: More examples.

A '''bucky bit''' is a bit set to indicate a modifier key was pressed. The bucky bits are usually sent along with the key that was modified.

==Examples==

Some text [[terminal]]s, and some [[terminal emulator]]s, has a [[meta key]] to set the most significant bit of the key code that is sent to the host.

[[X11]] has eight bucky bits: Shift, Lock, Control, Mod1, Mod2, Mod3, Mod4, and Mod5.

On [[Incompatible Timesharing System|ITS]], a character read from a terminal open in %TOFCI mode has four bucky bits: control, meta, super, and top. The closely related [[SUPDUP]] protocol has a subset: the super bit is not included.

{{stub}}

[[Category: Device Basics‎‎]]

TX-2

2025-11-20T10:39:58Z

Larsbrinkhoff: /* External links */ I find the use of "imput" quite charming.

[[Image:TX-2 module top.jpg|250px|thumb|right|TX-2 plug-in module]]

The '''TX-2''' was an early [[transistor]] computer; it was a follow-on to the ground-breaking [[TX-0]] at the [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology|MIT]] [[Lincoln Laboratory]]. Innovations around [[interrupt]]s used on the TX-2 were an important predecessor to the [[PDP-1]]. Its most important contributions were in the [[software]] developed on it.

One important [[application]] developed on the TX-2 was the ground-breaking [[Sketchpad]]. Later on, an important [[data network]]ing demonstration that preceded the [[ARPANET]] used the TX-2. Beginning in 1964 a [[time-sharing]] system called [[APEX]] was put together on the TX-2, under the guidance of Larry Roberts, using a small number of consoles with [[graphics]] capability.

The TX-2's [[magnetic tape]] [[mass storage]] system, created by Tom Stockebrand, used 1/2" tape, but was block addressable, unlike most magnetic tape systems, which could only write sequentially. He later moved to the [[LINC]] project, along with several other TX-2 alumni, where he helped create the descendant [[LINC tape]] system; he then moved to [[DEC]], where he helped create [[DECtape]], very similar to LINCtape.

The Lincoln Writer was used with the TX-2 as a [[printing terminal]]. Its [[keyboard]] had a right-pointing manicule called the [[Meta key|"Meta Hand"]], and was used to indicate an "aside" such as entering a "meta" command.

{{semi-stub}}

==Further reading==

* C. Gordon Bell, Gerald Butler, Robert Gray, John E. Mcnamara, Donald Vonada, and Ronald Wilson, [http://gordonbell.azurewebsites.net/Computer_Engineering/00000149.htm The PDP-1 and Other 18-Bit Computers], in C. Gordon Bell, J. Craig Mudge, John. E. McNamara, ''Computer Engineering: A DEC View of Hardware Systems Design'', Digital Press, Bedford, 1978
* Severo M. Ornstein, [https://archive.computerhistory.org/resources/access/text/2019/03/102785079-05-01-acc.pdf ''Computing in the Middle Ages: A View From the Trenches 1955-1983''] (AuthorHouse, 2002) - Some background about the end of the construction of the TX-2

==External links==

* [http://bitsavers.org/pdf/mit/tx-2/ Bitsavers TX-2 documents]
* [http://bitsavers.org/pdf/mit/lincolnLaboratory/division_6/6D-2631_TX-2_Circuitry_Handbook_Oct1958.pdf TX-2 Circuitry Handbook]
* [https://mitmuseum.mit.edu/collections/subject/computers-individual-computers-tx-2-computer-289 TX-2 Computer] - a collection of images
* [https://www.digibarn.com/stories/linc/documents/LINC-Personal-Workstation/LINC-Personal-Workstation.pdf The LINC Was Early and Small] - lengthy personal memoir by Wesley Clark; it also mentions the TX-2
* [https://web.stanford.edu/~learnest/nets/timesharing.htm Who invented Timesharing]
* [https://tx-2.github.io/ TX-2 simulation project]
** [https://tx-2.github.io/documentation/ TX-2 Documentation]
* [https://dl.acm.org/doi/pdf/10.1145/368873.368879 The Lincoln Keyboard — A Typewriter Keyboard Designed for Computers Imput Flexibility]

[[Category: Mainframes]]
[[Category: 36-bit Computers]]
[[Category: Unique Computers]]

Meta key

2025-11-20T09:13:14Z

Larsbrinkhoff: Link to informative web page.

{{stub}}

For now, some notes about the development of a "meta key" concept. Roughly in chronological order.

* "Meta Hand" on the [[TX-2]] keyboards. Typed to enter a "meta command", or special directions to the assembly program.
* META on the [[LINC]] keyboard. Typed as a prefix for commands, much like the TX-2 key.
* [[Incompatible Timesharing System|ITS]] and its preceding PDP-6 software uses [[Teletype]] model 33 Altmode key as a command prefix.
* EDIT on the [[IMSSS]] custom Datamedia keyboard for use with [[TVEDIT|TVEdit]]. Typed to enter editor commands.
* META modifier on the [[Stanford_Artificial_Intelligence_Laboratory|SAIL]] keyboard.
* META modifier on the [[Knight TV system|Knight keyboard]]; used with [[Emacs editors|EMACS]] as an alternative to the Altmode prefix. Also TOP.
* META modifier on the [[CADR|Kulp "space-cadet" keyboard]]. Also TOP, GREEK, SUPER, HYPER.
* Stanford [[SUN workstation]] proposal from 1980 mentions a META key.
* [[Sun-2]] keyboard has modifiers LEFT and RIGHT. Subsequent Sun keyboards have the diamond symbol.
* The [[X Window System]] protocol has five "mod" [[bucky bit]]s, of which the first is usually mapped to Meta and/or Alt.

==External links==

* [http://xahlee.info/kbd/meta_key.html History of Meta Key] by Xah Lee.

Meta key

2025-11-20T08:12:46Z

Larsbrinkhoff: Minor details.

TX-2

2025-11-19T10:26:07Z

Larsbrinkhoff: Link to meta key.

[[Image:TX-2 module top.jpg|250px|thumb|right|TX-2 plug-in module]]

The '''TX-2''' was an early [[transistor]] computer; it was a follow-on to the ground-breaking [[TX-0]] at the [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology|MIT]] [[Lincoln Laboratory]]. Innovations around [[interrupt]]s used on the TX-2 were an important predecessor to the [[PDP-1]]. Its most important contributions were in the [[software]] developed on it.

One important [[application]] developed on the TX-2 was the ground-breaking [[Sketchpad]]. Later on, an important [[data network]]ing demonstration that preceded the [[ARPANET]] used the TX-2. Beginning in 1964 a [[time-sharing]] system called [[APEX]] was put together on the TX-2, under the guidance of Larry Roberts, using a small number of consoles with [[graphics]] capability.

The TX-2's [[magnetic tape]] [[mass storage]] system, created by Tom Stockebrand, used 1/2" tape, but was block addressable, unlike most magnetic tape systems, which could only write sequentially. He later moved to the [[LINC]] project, along with several other TX-2 alumni, where he helped create the descendant [[LINC tape]] system; he then moved to [[DEC]], where he helped create [[DECtape]], very similar to LINCtape.

The Lincoln Writer was used with the TX-2 as a [[printing terminal]]. Its [[keyboard]] had a right-pointing manicule called the [[Meta key|"Meta Hand"]], and was used to indicate an "aside" such as entering a "meta" command.

{{semi-stub}}

==Further reading==

* C. Gordon Bell, Gerald Butler, Robert Gray, John E. Mcnamara, Donald Vonada, and Ronald Wilson, [http://gordonbell.azurewebsites.net/Computer_Engineering/00000149.htm The PDP-1 and Other 18-Bit Computers], in C. Gordon Bell, J. Craig Mudge, John. E. McNamara, ''Computer Engineering: A DEC View of Hardware Systems Design'', Digital Press, Bedford, 1978
* Severo M. Ornstein, [https://archive.computerhistory.org/resources/access/text/2019/03/102785079-05-01-acc.pdf ''Computing in the Middle Ages: A View From the Trenches 1955-1983''] (AuthorHouse, 2002) - Some background about the end of the construction of the TX-2

==External links==

* [http://bitsavers.org/pdf/mit/tx-2/ Bitsavers TX-2 documents]
* [http://bitsavers.org/pdf/mit/lincolnLaboratory/division_6/6D-2631_TX-2_Circuitry_Handbook_Oct1958.pdf TX-2 Circuitry Handbook]
* [https://mitmuseum.mit.edu/collections/subject/computers-individual-computers-tx-2-computer-289 TX-2 Computer] - a collection of images
* [https://www.digibarn.com/stories/linc/documents/LINC-Personal-Workstation/LINC-Personal-Workstation.pdf The LINC Was Early and Small] - lengthy personal memoir by Wesley Clark; it also mentions the TX-2
* [https://web.stanford.edu/~learnest/nets/timesharing.htm Who invented Timesharing]
* [https://tx-2.github.io/ TX-2 simulation project]
** [https://tx-2.github.io/documentation/ TX-2 Documentation]

[[Category: Mainframes]]
[[Category: 36-bit Computers]]
[[Category: Unique Computers]]

TX-2

2025-11-19T10:25:32Z

Larsbrinkhoff: Talk to the Meta Hand.

[[Image:TX-2 module top.jpg|250px|thumb|right|TX-2 plug-in module]]

The '''TX-2''' was an early [[transistor]] computer; it was a follow-on to the ground-breaking [[TX-0]] at the [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology|MIT]] [[Lincoln Laboratory]]. Innovations around [[interrupt]]s used on the TX-2 were an important predecessor to the [[PDP-1]]. Its most important contributions were in the [[software]] developed on it.

One important [[application]] developed on the TX-2 was the ground-breaking [[Sketchpad]]. Later on, an important [[data network]]ing demonstration that preceded the [[ARPANET]] used the TX-2. Beginning in 1964 a [[time-sharing]] system called [[APEX]] was put together on the TX-2, under the guidance of Larry Roberts, using a small number of consoles with [[graphics]] capability.

The TX-2's [[magnetic tape]] [[mass storage]] system, created by Tom Stockebrand, used 1/2" tape, but was block addressable, unlike most magnetic tape systems, which could only write sequentially. He later moved to the [[LINC]] project, along with several other TX-2 alumni, where he helped create the descendant [[LINC tape]] system; he then moved to [[DEC]], where he helped create [[DECtape]], very similar to LINCtape.

The Lincoln Writer was used with the TX-2 as a [[printing terminal]]. Its [[keyboard]] had a right-pointing manicule called the "Meta Hand", and was used to indicate an "aside" such as entering a "meta" command.

{{semi-stub}}

==Further reading==

* C. Gordon Bell, Gerald Butler, Robert Gray, John E. Mcnamara, Donald Vonada, and Ronald Wilson, [http://gordonbell.azurewebsites.net/Computer_Engineering/00000149.htm The PDP-1 and Other 18-Bit Computers], in C. Gordon Bell, J. Craig Mudge, John. E. McNamara, ''Computer Engineering: A DEC View of Hardware Systems Design'', Digital Press, Bedford, 1978
* Severo M. Ornstein, [https://archive.computerhistory.org/resources/access/text/2019/03/102785079-05-01-acc.pdf ''Computing in the Middle Ages: A View From the Trenches 1955-1983''] (AuthorHouse, 2002) - Some background about the end of the construction of the TX-2

==External links==

* [http://bitsavers.org/pdf/mit/tx-2/ Bitsavers TX-2 documents]
* [http://bitsavers.org/pdf/mit/lincolnLaboratory/division_6/6D-2631_TX-2_Circuitry_Handbook_Oct1958.pdf TX-2 Circuitry Handbook]
* [https://mitmuseum.mit.edu/collections/subject/computers-individual-computers-tx-2-computer-289 TX-2 Computer] - a collection of images
* [https://www.digibarn.com/stories/linc/documents/LINC-Personal-Workstation/LINC-Personal-Workstation.pdf The LINC Was Early and Small] - lengthy personal memoir by Wesley Clark; it also mentions the TX-2
* [https://web.stanford.edu/~learnest/nets/timesharing.htm Who invented Timesharing]
* [https://tx-2.github.io/ TX-2 simulation project]
** [https://tx-2.github.io/documentation/ TX-2 Documentation]

[[Category: Mainframes]]
[[Category: 36-bit Computers]]
[[Category: Unique Computers]]

Bucky bit

2025-11-19T10:20:56Z

Larsbrinkhoff: Stub.

A '''bucky bit''' is a bit set to indicate a modifier key was pressed. The bucky bits are usually sent along with the key that was modified.

As an example, [[X11]] has eight bucky bits: Shift, Lock, Control, Mod1, Mod2, Mod3, Mod4, and Mod5.

{{stub}}

[[Category: Device Basics‎‎]]

Meta key

2025-11-19T10:15:48Z

Larsbrinkhoff: Wrong, there is not meta but mod1.

{{stub}}

For now, some notes about the development of a "meta key" concept. Roughly in chronological order.

* "Meta Hand" on the [[TX-2]] keyboards.
* META on the [[LINC]] keyboard.
* [[Incompatible Timesharing System|ITS]] and its preceding PDP-6 software uses [[Teletype]] model 33 Altmode key as a command prefix.
* EDIT on the [[IMSSS]] custom Datamedia keyboard for use with [[TVEDIT|TVEdit]].
* META modifier on the [[Stanford_Artificial_Intelligence_Laboratory|SAIL]] keyboard.
* META modifier on the [[Knight TV system|Knight keyboard]]; used with [[Emacs editors|EMACS]] as an alternative to the Altmode prefix. Also TOP.
* META modifier on the [[CADR|Kulp "space-cadet" keyboard]]. Also TOP, GREEK, SUPER, HYPER.
* Stanford [[SUN workstation]] proposal from 1980 mentions a META key.
* [[Sun-2]] keyboard has modifiers LEFT and RIGHT. Subsequent Sun keyboards have the diamond symbol.
* The [[X Window System]] protocol has five "mod" [[bucky bit]]s, of which the first is usually mapped to Meta and/or Alt.

Micro-LINC 300

2025-11-19T10:08:26Z

Larsbrinkhoff: /* Memory banks */ Fix wording.

The '''micro-LINC 300''' was a [[LINC]] compatible computer by [[SPEaR, Inc]]. It was implemented with [[Motorola]] [[Emitter-coupled logic|ECL]] parts and came with 4K memory, expandable to 32K.

==Instruction set additions==

This is mostly reverse engineered from schematics.

===Memory banks===

The [[primary memory]] can be up to 32K, divided into 32 1K "pages". There are two five-bit registers, '''LP''' and '''UP'''. The '''LMB''' and '''UMB''' instructions take a five-bit page number and set the lower and upper memory banks, i.e. LP or UP. Both instructions set the '''Z''' register to an instruction code that will restore the previous bank, i.e. an LMB or UMB instruction with the previous page.

===Flag===

There is an additional '''flag''' register, which is a single bit. The '''MSC 2''' instruction sets the flag, and the '''MSC 12''' clears it. '''SKP 17''' skips if the flag is set.

===Buffered tape===

Tape transfers can run in parallel with the processor. There is a new tape accumulator, '''TA'''. '''MSC 4''' pauses if the tape is busy, and then transfers the TA to the regular accumulator. The '''MSC 3''' instruction makes a following tape instruction not pause. The '''SKP 16''' instruction skips if the tape is busy.

===Disable interrupts===

The '''MSC 7''' instruction disables interrupts.

Meta key

2025-11-19T07:48:17Z

Larsbrinkhoff: Add info on Altmode.

Emacs editors

2025-11-19T07:42:11Z

Larsbrinkhoff: Link to Meta key.

The '''Emacs editors''' are a group of extensible [[screen editor]] [[text editor]]s, united in having a common [[user interface]]. Multiple '[[window]]s' (actually, divisions of the main window) are standard, as are multiple buffers.

It is generally not 'moded'; characters typed as input are immediately inserted into the current buffer, or acted upon as a command. Most commands are not on regular printing keys, but 'Control' and '[[Meta key|Meta]]' keys (the former part of standard [[ASCII]], the latter ASCII codes with the high bit in the byte set). Less-often used commands are invoked by name, after typing an 'execute named command' command key.

The first, '''EMACS''', one of the first screen editors, was implemented in [[TECO]] [[macro]]s on the [[Incompatible Timesharing System|ITS]] [[operating system]] at [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology|MIT]]. Since TECO itself was written in [[assembly language]] for the [[PDP-10]], it was fairly quickly moved to [[TENEX]] and [[TOPS-20]].

In addition, MIT alumni who moved elsewhere wanted Emacs-like screen editor editing capabilities on the systems at their new locations, which generated a number of new implementations, including 'Montgomery EMACS' for [[PDP-11]] [[UNIX]] machines, and 'Gosling's Emacs' for [[VAX]] UNIX. This spread the usage of Emacs even further; and as people at those facilities saw it, things snow-balled.

[[SINE]] was created for the [[MagicSix]] operating system. A version was done in [[LISP]] for [[Multics]] by [[Bernie Greenberg]]. The [[Symbolics]] [[LISP machine]] had several Emacs clones, including '[[EINE]]' ('EINE Is Not EMACS') and 'ZWEI' ('ZWEI Was Eine Initially') - the two names are German for 'one' and 'two'.

A commercial version called '[[Epsilon]]', originally for [[MS-DOS]], later [[Microsoft Windows|Windows]], was produced early on; it is still sold and supported. SCAME ran on Unix V7 and BSD. MINCE ran on CP/M.

[[Richard Stallman]], who had done much of the first EMACS, did a version for the [[GNU]] project, also in LISP, which has proved immensely popular, and is now used very widely.

==External links==

* [https://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/5748 An Introduction to the EMACS Editor] - by Eugene Ciccarelli, one of the original EMACS hackers
* [https://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/6329 EMACS Manual for ITS Users] - the original EMACS
* [https://github.com/larsbrinkhoff/emacs-history/blob/sources/docs/Montgomery%20Emacs%20History.txt Montgomery Emacs History]
** [http://ana-3.lcs.mit.edu/~jnc/tech/unix/emacs/emacs.doc An Interactive Screen Editor for UNIX] - manual (date: May 27, 1981)
* [https://multicians.org/mepap.html Multics Emacs: The History, Design and Implementation]

[[Category: Editors]]

Meta key

2025-11-19T07:24:24Z

Larsbrinkhoff: Development of the meta key.

{{stub}}

For now, some notes about the development of a "meta key" concept. Roughly in chronological order.

* "Meta Hand" on the [[TX-2]] keyboards.
* META on the [[LINC]] keyboard.
* EDIT on the [[IMSSS]] custom Datamedia keyboard for use with [[TVEDIT|TVEdit]].
* META modifier on the [[Stanford_Artificial_Intelligence_Laboratory|SAIL]] keyboard.
* META modifier on the [[Knight TV system|Knight keyboard]]. Also TOP.
* META modifier on the [[CADR|Kulp "space-cadet" keyboard]]. Also TOP, GREEK, SUPER, HYPER.
* Stanford [[SUN workstation]] proposal from 1980 mentions a META key.
* [[Sun-2]] keyboard has modifiers LEFT and RIGHT. Subsequent Sun keyboards have the diamond symbol.
* The [[X Window System]] protocol has a Meta modifier.

WAITS

2025-11-19T07:14:13Z

Larsbrinkhoff: /* Notable contributions */

{{Infobox OS
| name = WAITS
| creator = [[Stanford AI Lab]]
| current version = 9.18/M
| year introduced = 1972 (diverged from [[TOPS-10]])
| type = Multi-tasking, multi-user, virtual memory
| architecture = [[PDP-10]]
}}

'''WAITS''' was the [[operating system]] used at the [[Stanford Artificial Intelligence Laboratory|Stanford AI Lab]]. There, it ran on a [[PDP-6]] (serial number 16), a [[KA10]] (#32) (to which had been added a [[BBN Pager]]), and a [[KL10]] (#1075) connected together in various configurations. It also ran on [[PDP-10]] clones manufactured by [[Foonly]], at other sites, such as [[CCRMA]] at [[Stanford University|Stanford]], and one at the [[S-1 supercomputer]] project.

The name unofficially means "West-coast Alternative to [[Incompatible Timesharing System|ITS]]", or "West-coast Artificial Intelligence Time-Sharing" (although these may be a 'backronym' - a SAIL page which discusses the meaning of the name does not mention it).

[[Image:Sail-kl10-ka10.jpeg|thumb|right|SAIL KL10 and KA10]]

Much like its "cousin" ITS, WAITS has support for exotic hardware: custom made [[vector graphics|vector displays]] from [[Information International Inc|III]], [[raster]] [[display]]s from [[Data Disc]], robotic devices, and a powerful sound synthesis device called the [[Samson Box]].

In modern times, WAITS is running on a KL10 at the [[Living Computer Museum]], and on Richard Cornwell's KA10 emulator. SAIL alumnus Bruce Baumgart's Saildart project has an archive of files from [[magnetic tape]] backups, and documents the history of SAIL and WAITS.

==Instances==

The SAIL timesharing system started 1966 on a PDP-6, running DEC's Monitor. A KA10 was added in 1968, making the PDP-6 a secondary processor for [[real-time]] tasks. In 1972, the system diverged from TOPS-10 4S72 and was initially just called the "Stanford monitor" or "Stanford system" until receiving the name WAITS. In 1976, a KL10 became the primary, making the KA10 secondary. Over the years, the PDP-6 and KA10 was retired, with the KL10 running alone until 1991.

CCRMA shared facilities with SAIL. When the KA10 arrived, CCRMA could use the PDP-6 for music research and to control the Samson Box. When the AI lab moved out, CCRMA stayed behind and arranged to run WAITS on a Foonly F2 with Grinnell framebuffers. After some years, it was upgraded to an F4.

The LLL S-1 project also ran WAITS on an F2.

==Notable contributions==

* [[Stanford Artificial Intelligence Language|SAIL]] was a dialect of [[Algol]] which was popular on many PDP-10 sites.
* [[TeX]] was first written in SAIL, and later re-written in [[Pascal]].
* The SAIL [[keyboard]] designed by Les Earnest was the first to feature a [[Meta key|META]] modifier key.
* [[Stanford University Design System|SUDS]] was used to design the [[Super Foonly]], KL10, the S-1 supercomputer, and the [[SUN workstation]]. It was ported to ITS, where it was used for the [[Knight TV system]], the [[CONS]] and [[CADR]] [[Lisp machine]]s, and Minsky's [[Turtle Terminal 2500|2500]].
* The [[Finger]] command and protocol.
* FM sound synthesis was invented at CCRMA.

==Version history==

Versions and events for the main WAITS track at SAIL. Offshoots include CCRMA and LLL S-1 project, both running on Foonly machines.

* Previous [[time-sharing]] experiments at IMSSS include Odin, Thor, and Zeus on a [[PDP-1]] with Philco vector displays. Many concepts were brought over to the SAIL system.
* The lab acquired a PDP-6 in June 1966.
* The SAIL monitor was based on an early PDP-6 Monitor from [[Digital Equipment Corporation|DEC]].
* The 2 series monitor had storage on [[DECtape]]s only.
* A [[PDP-10]] was installed September 1968.
* The 6 series introduced the use of [[disk]] file [[secondary storage|storage]].
* The first monitor version recorded on tape is Stanford 6.09F, from 1972-10-02.
* The last 6 series version is Stanford 6.19/B from 1975-04-14.
* The 7 series added use of the [[BBN]] [[memory management|pager]] to extend [[main memory|physical memory]] beyond 256K
* Stanford 7.01 dates from 1975-04-19.
* The last 7 series version is Stanford 7.05/I/1400P from 1976-05-06.
* The 8 series marked the port to the KL10 processor.
* Stanford 8.00 is from 1976-06-06.
* In September 1977, the old disk controller by Phil Petit was replaced with a Foonly C1 channel.
* 1978-04-09 marks the renaming of the system with WAITS 8.70/I.
* To differentiate between sites, the machine name was added to the version string.
* The last 8 series version is SU-AI WAITS 8.73/Q from 1978-12-21.
* The 9 series monitors had the "P2 processor separate" (unclear).
* SU-AI WAITS 9.01 is from 1978-12-30.
* The processor was upgraded to a KL10 "Model B" in 1983, and the disk system moved to an [[RH20]] controller with [[RP06]] and [[RP07]] drives.
* In 1988 the C1 channel was dropped, leaving WAITS with a single RP06.
* "Eventually, the insulation on the wire-wrapped backplane wires started to fail, and the CPU was kept going by strategically placing toothpicks to avoid shorts where the wires took a 90 degree turn around a pin" [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36147430 Source]
* The ultimate version is SAIL.Stanford.EDU WAITS 9.18/M from 1990-04-26.
* WAITS was shut down permanently on Friday 7 June 1991.

{{semi-stub}}

==See also==

* [[Text terminals supported by WAITS]]
* [[WAITS on-disk file structure]]
* [[WAITS system directories]]

==External links==

* [http://infolab.stanford.edu/pub/voy/museum/pictures/AIlab/SailFarewell.html The Autobiography of SAIL]
* [http://saildart.org/ Saildart]
* [https://github.com/PDP-10/waits/blob/master/doc/SAILDART_Prolegomenon_2016.pdf SAILDART Prolegomenon], book draft by Bruce Baumgart
* [http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/stanford/sail/SAILON-75A_DECsystem-1020_Hardware_Manual_DEC-10-XSRMA-D_Jan77.pdf DECsystem-10/20 Hardware Manual] - contains details on changes to SAIL's PDP-6 and -10's
* [https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/AD0776233.pdf The First Ten Years of Artificial Intelligence Research at Stanford]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BefgBDG2p8w "Display Terminals in the Stanford Timesharing System"], a demo of WAITS and the Data Disc displays by Brian Harvey et al.

[[Category: PDP-10 Operating Systems]]
[[Category: Non-DEC Operating Systems]]

WAITS

2025-11-19T07:03:38Z

Larsbrinkhoff: /* Notable contributions */ First modifier, but not first Meta.

{{Infobox OS
| name = WAITS
| creator = [[Stanford AI Lab]]
| current version = 9.18/M
| year introduced = 1972 (diverged from [[TOPS-10]])
| type = Multi-tasking, multi-user, virtual memory
| architecture = [[PDP-10]]
}}

'''WAITS''' was the [[operating system]] used at the [[Stanford Artificial Intelligence Laboratory|Stanford AI Lab]]. There, it ran on a [[PDP-6]] (serial number 16), a [[KA10]] (#32) (to which had been added a [[BBN Pager]]), and a [[KL10]] (#1075) connected together in various configurations. It also ran on [[PDP-10]] clones manufactured by [[Foonly]], at other sites, such as [[CCRMA]] at [[Stanford University|Stanford]], and one at the [[S-1 supercomputer]] project.

The name unofficially means "West-coast Alternative to [[Incompatible Timesharing System|ITS]]", or "West-coast Artificial Intelligence Time-Sharing" (although these may be a 'backronym' - a SAIL page which discusses the meaning of the name does not mention it).

[[Image:Sail-kl10-ka10.jpeg|thumb|right|SAIL KL10 and KA10]]

Much like its "cousin" ITS, WAITS has support for exotic hardware: custom made [[vector graphics|vector displays]] from [[Information International Inc|III]], [[raster]] [[display]]s from [[Data Disc]], robotic devices, and a powerful sound synthesis device called the [[Samson Box]].

In modern times, WAITS is running on a KL10 at the [[Living Computer Museum]], and on Richard Cornwell's KA10 emulator. SAIL alumnus Bruce Baumgart's Saildart project has an archive of files from [[magnetic tape]] backups, and documents the history of SAIL and WAITS.

==Instances==

The SAIL timesharing system started 1966 on a PDP-6, running DEC's Monitor. A KA10 was added in 1968, making the PDP-6 a secondary processor for [[real-time]] tasks. In 1972, the system diverged from TOPS-10 4S72 and was initially just called the "Stanford monitor" or "Stanford system" until receiving the name WAITS. In 1976, a KL10 became the primary, making the KA10 secondary. Over the years, the PDP-6 and KA10 was retired, with the KL10 running alone until 1991.

CCRMA shared facilities with SAIL. When the KA10 arrived, CCRMA could use the PDP-6 for music research and to control the Samson Box. When the AI lab moved out, CCRMA stayed behind and arranged to run WAITS on a Foonly F2 with Grinnell framebuffers. After some years, it was upgraded to an F4.

The LLL S-1 project also ran WAITS on an F2.

==Notable contributions==

* [[Stanford Artificial Intelligence Language|SAIL]] was a dialect of [[Algol]] which was popular on many PDP-10 sites.
* [[TeX]] was first written in SAIL, and later re-written in [[Pascal]].
* The SAIL [[keyboard]] designed by Les Earnest was the first to feature a [[META|Meta key]] modifier key.
* [[Stanford University Design System|SUDS]] was used to design the [[Super Foonly]], KL10, the S-1 supercomputer, and the [[SUN workstation]]. It was ported to ITS, where it was used for the [[Knight TV system]], the [[CONS]] and [[CADR]] [[Lisp machine]]s, and Minsky's [[Turtle Terminal 2500|2500]].
* The [[Finger]] command and protocol.
* FM sound synthesis was invented at CCRMA.

==Version history==

Versions and events for the main WAITS track at SAIL. Offshoots include CCRMA and LLL S-1 project, both running on Foonly machines.

* Previous [[time-sharing]] experiments at IMSSS include Odin, Thor, and Zeus on a [[PDP-1]] with Philco vector displays. Many concepts were brought over to the SAIL system.
* The lab acquired a PDP-6 in June 1966.
* The SAIL monitor was based on an early PDP-6 Monitor from [[Digital Equipment Corporation|DEC]].
* The 2 series monitor had storage on [[DECtape]]s only.
* A [[PDP-10]] was installed September 1968.
* The 6 series introduced the use of [[disk]] file [[secondary storage|storage]].
* The first monitor version recorded on tape is Stanford 6.09F, from 1972-10-02.
* The last 6 series version is Stanford 6.19/B from 1975-04-14.
* The 7 series added use of the [[BBN]] [[memory management|pager]] to extend [[main memory|physical memory]] beyond 256K
* Stanford 7.01 dates from 1975-04-19.
* The last 7 series version is Stanford 7.05/I/1400P from 1976-05-06.
* The 8 series marked the port to the KL10 processor.
* Stanford 8.00 is from 1976-06-06.
* In September 1977, the old disk controller by Phil Petit was replaced with a Foonly C1 channel.
* 1978-04-09 marks the renaming of the system with WAITS 8.70/I.
* To differentiate between sites, the machine name was added to the version string.
* The last 8 series version is SU-AI WAITS 8.73/Q from 1978-12-21.
* The 9 series monitors had the "P2 processor separate" (unclear).
* SU-AI WAITS 9.01 is from 1978-12-30.
* The processor was upgraded to a KL10 "Model B" in 1983, and the disk system moved to an [[RH20]] controller with [[RP06]] and [[RP07]] drives.
* In 1988 the C1 channel was dropped, leaving WAITS with a single RP06.
* "Eventually, the insulation on the wire-wrapped backplane wires started to fail, and the CPU was kept going by strategically placing toothpicks to avoid shorts where the wires took a 90 degree turn around a pin" [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36147430 Source]
* The ultimate version is SAIL.Stanford.EDU WAITS 9.18/M from 1990-04-26.
* WAITS was shut down permanently on Friday 7 June 1991.

{{semi-stub}}

==See also==

* [[Text terminals supported by WAITS]]
* [[WAITS on-disk file structure]]
* [[WAITS system directories]]

==External links==

* [http://infolab.stanford.edu/pub/voy/museum/pictures/AIlab/SailFarewell.html The Autobiography of SAIL]
* [http://saildart.org/ Saildart]
* [https://github.com/PDP-10/waits/blob/master/doc/SAILDART_Prolegomenon_2016.pdf SAILDART Prolegomenon], book draft by Bruce Baumgart
* [http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/stanford/sail/SAILON-75A_DECsystem-1020_Hardware_Manual_DEC-10-XSRMA-D_Jan77.pdf DECsystem-10/20 Hardware Manual] - contains details on changes to SAIL's PDP-6 and -10's
* [https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/AD0776233.pdf The First Ten Years of Artificial Intelligence Research at Stanford]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BefgBDG2p8w "Display Terminals in the Stanford Timesharing System"], a demo of WAITS and the Data Disc displays by Brian Harvey et al.

[[Category: PDP-10 Operating Systems]]
[[Category: Non-DEC Operating Systems]]

SPEaR, Inc

2025-11-16T15:43:20Z

Larsbrinkhoff: Add CLAS-300.

'''SPEaR''' - Signal Processing Equipment and Research - was a corporation in Waltham, Massachusetts which made [[LINC]] compatible computers. There were three models, the μ-LINC 1, the [[micro-LINC 300]], and the CLAS-300.

{{stub}}

LINC

2025-11-16T15:42:19Z

Larsbrinkhoff: /* External links */ Virtual tour to the Finnish Computer Museum (Suomen Tietokonemuseo).

The '''LINC (Laboratory INstrument Computer)''' was an early small computer (considered by many to be the first [[minicomputer]]), designed for use in laboratory environments (initially in biomedical research), and a distant descendent of the [[Whirlwind]] computer. The goal was to provide a computer for exclusive use by a single user; it is thus considered by many to be an important forerunner to the [[personal computer]].

It provided [[real-time]] capabilities, along with [[analog]] input, a small [[video display]] screen, and a pair of small [[magnetic tape drive]]s called [[LINC tape]]s (the latter being an integral part of the machine, not an optional [[peripheral]]). It was a 12-bit computer, built out of [[Digital Equipment Corporation|DEC]] [[System Module|System Building Blocks]]. The initial version had only 1024 words of [[core memory]]; it was later expanded to 2048 words.

==History==

It was designed starting in 1960 by [[Wesley A. Clark]] (who conceived of the basic concept of the machine); he had considerable design assistance from Charles Molnar. The prototype first ran in March of 1962; the first batch of machines were completed in a workshop for their eventual users held in the summer of 1963.

The project started at [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology|MIT]]'s [[Lincoln Laboratory]], then moved to MIT itself in January 1963 (because a switch to funding from NIH didn't interact well with Lincoln Labs' Air Force funding); after a big political fight at MIT over control, the project moved out to Washington University in St. Louis in the summer of 1964.

It was originally named the '''Linc''', from the project's origins, but was re-named to 'LINC'.

It became a product for DEC, which sold both the original, and several descendants: the [[LINC-8]], and later its replacement, the [[PDP-12]].

Spear, Inc made the μ-LINC 1 and [[micro-LINC 300]].

Artronix made the PC-12, a LINC with 4K memory and an "origin register" for address relocation.

==Models==

{| class="wikitable"
! Year || Manufacturer || Model || Memory || Instruction cycle time
|-
| 1962 || Lincoln Labs || Alpha Linc || 1K || 8 μs
|-
| 1963 || MIT || LINC III || 1K || 8 μs
|-
| 1965 || MIT || Classic LINC || 2K || 8 μs
|-
| 1965 || Spear || μ-LINC 1 || 4K || 8 μs
|-
| 1968 || Spear || micro-LINC 300 || 32K || 1 μs
|-
| 1968 || Spear || CLAS-300 || ||
|-
| 1966 || DEC || LINC-8 || 4K || 1.5 μs
|-
| 1969 || DEC || PDP-12 || 4K (expandable to 32K) || 1.2 μs
|-
| 1972 || Artronix || PC-1200 || ||
|-
| 1975 || Artronix || PC-12/710 || 8K ||
|-
| 1975 || Artronix || PC-12/730 || 16K ||
|-
| 1975 || Artronix || PC-12/750 || 32K ||
|-
| 1975 || Artronix || PC-12/770 || 48K ||
|-
| 1975 || Artronix || PC-12/790 || 64K ||
|}

==Further reading==

* Severo M. Ornstein, [https://archive.computerhistory.org/resources/access/text/2019/03/102785079-05-01-acc.pdf ''Computing in the Middle Ages: A View From the Trenches 1955-1983''] (AuthorHouse, 2002) - Considerable detail about the development of the LINC
* C. Gordon Bell and John E. McNamara, [http://gordonbell.azurewebsites.net/Computer_Engineering/00000197.htm The PDP-8 and Other 12-Bit Computers], in C. Gordon Bell, J. Craig Mudge, John. E. McNamara, ''Computer Engineering: A DEC View of Hardware Systems Design'', Digital Press, Bedford, 1978 - The LINC and its descendants

==External links==

* Wesley A. Clark, [https://www.digibarn.com/stories/linc/documents/LINC-Personal-Workstation/LINC-Personal-Workstation.pdf ''The LINC Was Early and Small''] [[Association for Computing Machinery|ACM]], Proceedings of the ACM Conference on the History of Personal Workstations, 1986, pp. 133-155 - lengthy personal memoir; also covers the [[TX-0]]
* LINC at Bitsavers:
** [http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/mit/linc/ MIT]
** [http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/washingtonUniversity/linc/ Washington University]
***[http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/washingtonUniversity/linc/LINC_Documents/LD27_Users_Guide_to_LINC_Variants_Jun68.pdf User's Guide to LINC Variants] - covers the Classic LINC, SPear, and LINC-8 models
** [http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/dec/linc/ DEC]
*** [http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/dec/linc/LINC_Brochure_May65.pdf LINC Brochure]
** [http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/mit/linc/Spear_Micro-LINC-300_Feb68.jpg Micro-LINC-300] - SPear 
** [http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/artronix/Artronix_PC12_Brochure_1975.pdf PC-12/7 Interactive Computer System] - Artronix
* [https://archive.computerhistory.org/resources/access/text/2024/06/102785480-05-0001-acc.pdf micro-LINC-300 "Interim Data Sheet" and Competitive Comparison]
* [https://suomentietokonemuseo.fi/laitteet-esineet/#micro-linc-m1965 A μ-LINK in Finland.] - Part of this [https://my.matterport.com/show/?m=6JWEXDqwTBt virtual tour].
* [https://www.digibarn.com/stories/linc/ DigiBarn Stories: The LINC, A History and Restoration (a 45 Year Retrospective)]
** [https://www.digibarn.com/collections/systems/linc/index.html Digibarn Systems: The LINC - Laboratory INstrument Computer The World's First Personal Computer]
* [https://digitalcommons.wustl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1022&context=bcl_progress Progress Report No. 9], Biomedical Computer Laboratory, Washington University School of Medicine, 1973 - lengthy report coving much beyond the LINC work, including much of the work done with the LINC

[[Category: Minicomputers]]
[[Category: Personal Computers]]
[[Category: 12-bit Computers]]

LINC

2025-11-16T14:31:04Z

Larsbrinkhoff: /* Models */ Per June 1968 issue of Computers and Automation. From Jonathan Gray.

The '''LINC (Laboratory INstrument Computer)''' was an early small computer (considered by many to be the first [[minicomputer]]), designed for use in laboratory environments (initially in biomedical research), and a distant descendent of the [[Whirlwind]] computer. The goal was to provide a computer for exclusive use by a single user; it is thus considered by many to be an important forerunner to the [[personal computer]].

It provided [[real-time]] capabilities, along with [[analog]] input, a small [[video display]] screen, and a pair of small [[magnetic tape drive]]s called [[LINC tape]]s (the latter being an integral part of the machine, not an optional [[peripheral]]). It was a 12-bit computer, built out of [[Digital Equipment Corporation|DEC]] [[System Module|System Building Blocks]]. The initial version had only 1024 words of [[core memory]]; it was later expanded to 2048 words.

==History==

It was designed starting in 1960 by [[Wesley A. Clark]] (who conceived of the basic concept of the machine); he had considerable design assistance from Charles Molnar. The prototype first ran in March of 1962; the first batch of machines were completed in a workshop for their eventual users held in the summer of 1963.

The project started at [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology|MIT]]'s [[Lincoln Laboratory]], then moved to MIT itself in January 1963 (because a switch to funding from NIH didn't interact well with Lincoln Labs' Air Force funding); after a big political fight at MIT over control, the project moved out to Washington University in St. Louis in the summer of 1964.

It was originally named the '''Linc''', from the project's origins, but was re-named to 'LINC'.

It became a product for DEC, which sold both the original, and several descendants: the [[LINC-8]], and later its replacement, the [[PDP-12]].

Spear, Inc made the μ-LINC 1 and [[micro-LINC 300]].

Artronix made the PC-12, a LINC with 4K memory and an "origin register" for address relocation.

==Models==

{| class="wikitable"
! Year || Manufacturer || Model || Memory || Instruction cycle time
|-
| 1962 || Lincoln Labs || Alpha Linc || 1K || 8 μs
|-
| 1963 || MIT || LINC III || 1K || 8 μs
|-
| 1965 || MIT || Classic LINC || 2K || 8 μs
|-
| 1965 || Spear || μ-LINC 1 || 4K || 8 μs
|-
| 1968 || Spear || micro-LINC 300 || 32K || 1 μs
|-
| 1968 || Spear || CLAS-300 || ||
|-
| 1966 || DEC || LINC-8 || 4K || 1.5 μs
|-
| 1969 || DEC || PDP-12 || 4K (expandable to 32K) || 1.2 μs
|-
| 1972 || Artronix || PC-1200 || ||
|-
| 1975 || Artronix || PC-12/710 || 8K ||
|-
| 1975 || Artronix || PC-12/730 || 16K ||
|-
| 1975 || Artronix || PC-12/750 || 32K ||
|-
| 1975 || Artronix || PC-12/770 || 48K ||
|-
| 1975 || Artronix || PC-12/790 || 64K ||
|}

==Further reading==

* Severo M. Ornstein, [https://archive.computerhistory.org/resources/access/text/2019/03/102785079-05-01-acc.pdf ''Computing in the Middle Ages: A View From the Trenches 1955-1983''] (AuthorHouse, 2002) - Considerable detail about the development of the LINC
* C. Gordon Bell and John E. McNamara, [http://gordonbell.azurewebsites.net/Computer_Engineering/00000197.htm The PDP-8 and Other 12-Bit Computers], in C. Gordon Bell, J. Craig Mudge, John. E. McNamara, ''Computer Engineering: A DEC View of Hardware Systems Design'', Digital Press, Bedford, 1978 - The LINC and its descendants

==External links==

* Wesley A. Clark, [https://www.digibarn.com/stories/linc/documents/LINC-Personal-Workstation/LINC-Personal-Workstation.pdf ''The LINC Was Early and Small''] [[Association for Computing Machinery|ACM]], Proceedings of the ACM Conference on the History of Personal Workstations, 1986, pp. 133-155 - lengthy personal memoir; also covers the [[TX-0]]
* LINC at Bitsavers:
** [http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/mit/linc/ MIT]
** [http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/washingtonUniversity/linc/ Washington University]
***[http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/washingtonUniversity/linc/LINC_Documents/LD27_Users_Guide_to_LINC_Variants_Jun68.pdf User's Guide to LINC Variants] - covers the Classic LINC, SPear, and LINC-8 models
** [http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/dec/linc/ DEC]
*** [http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/dec/linc/LINC_Brochure_May65.pdf LINC Brochure]
** [http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/mit/linc/Spear_Micro-LINC-300_Feb68.jpg Micro-LINC-300] - SPear 
** [http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/artronix/Artronix_PC12_Brochure_1975.pdf PC-12/7 Interactive Computer System] - Artronix
* [https://archive.computerhistory.org/resources/access/text/2024/06/102785480-05-0001-acc.pdf micro-LINC-300 "Interim Data Sheet" and Competitive Comparison]
* [https://suomentietokonemuseo.fi/laitteet-esineet/#micro-linc-m1965 A μ-LINK in Finland.]
* [https://www.digibarn.com/stories/linc/ DigiBarn Stories: The LINC, A History and Restoration (a 45 Year Retrospective)]
** [https://www.digibarn.com/collections/systems/linc/index.html Digibarn Systems: The LINC - Laboratory INstrument Computer The World's First Personal Computer]
* [https://digitalcommons.wustl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1022&context=bcl_progress Progress Report No. 9], Biomedical Computer Laboratory, Washington University School of Medicine, 1973 - lengthy report coving much beyond the LINC work, including much of the work done with the LINC

[[Category: Minicomputers]]
[[Category: Personal Computers]]
[[Category: 12-bit Computers]]

LINC

2025-11-16T12:46:06Z

Larsbrinkhoff: /* Models */ CLAS-300, tip from Jonathan Gray.

The '''LINC (Laboratory INstrument Computer)''' was an early small computer (considered by many to be the first [[minicomputer]]), designed for use in laboratory environments (initially in biomedical research), and a distant descendent of the [[Whirlwind]] computer. The goal was to provide a computer for exclusive use by a single user; it is thus considered by many to be an important forerunner to the [[personal computer]].

It provided [[real-time]] capabilities, along with [[analog]] input, a small [[video display]] screen, and a pair of small [[magnetic tape drive]]s called [[LINC tape]]s (the latter being an integral part of the machine, not an optional [[peripheral]]). It was a 12-bit computer, built out of [[Digital Equipment Corporation|DEC]] [[System Module|System Building Blocks]]. The initial version had only 1024 words of [[core memory]]; it was later expanded to 2048 words.

==History==

It was designed starting in 1960 by [[Wesley A. Clark]] (who conceived of the basic concept of the machine); he had considerable design assistance from Charles Molnar. The prototype first ran in March of 1962; the first batch of machines were completed in a workshop for their eventual users held in the summer of 1963.

The project started at [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology|MIT]]'s [[Lincoln Laboratory]], then moved to MIT itself in January 1963 (because a switch to funding from NIH didn't interact well with Lincoln Labs' Air Force funding); after a big political fight at MIT over control, the project moved out to Washington University in St. Louis in the summer of 1964.

It was originally named the '''Linc''', from the project's origins, but was re-named to 'LINC'.

It became a product for DEC, which sold both the original, and several descendants: the [[LINC-8]], and later its replacement, the [[PDP-12]].

Spear, Inc made the μ-LINC 1 and [[micro-LINC 300]].

Artronix made the PC-12, a LINC with 4K memory and an "origin register" for address relocation.

==Models==

{| class="wikitable"
! Year || Manufacturer || Model || Memory || Instruction cycle time
|-
| 1962 || Lincoln Labs || Alpha Linc || 1K || 8 μs
|-
| 1963 || MIT || LINC III || 1K || 8 μs
|-
| 1965 || MIT || Classic LINC || 2K || 8 μs
|-
| 1965 || Spear || μ-LINC 1 || 4K || 8 μs
|-
| 1968 || Spear || micro-LINC 300 || 32K || 1 μs
|-
| 1969 || Spear || CLAS-300 || ||
|-
| 1966 || DEC || LINC-8 || 4K || 1.5 μs
|-
| 1969 || DEC || PDP-12 || 4K (expandable to 32K) || 1.2 μs
|-
| 1972 || Artronix || PC-1200 || ||
|-
| 1975 || Artronix || PC-12/710 || 8K ||
|-
| 1975 || Artronix || PC-12/730 || 16K ||
|-
| 1975 || Artronix || PC-12/750 || 32K ||
|-
| 1975 || Artronix || PC-12/770 || 48K ||
|-
| 1975 || Artronix || PC-12/790 || 64K ||
|}

==Further reading==

* Severo M. Ornstein, [https://archive.computerhistory.org/resources/access/text/2019/03/102785079-05-01-acc.pdf ''Computing in the Middle Ages: A View From the Trenches 1955-1983''] (AuthorHouse, 2002) - Considerable detail about the development of the LINC
* C. Gordon Bell and John E. McNamara, [http://gordonbell.azurewebsites.net/Computer_Engineering/00000197.htm The PDP-8 and Other 12-Bit Computers], in C. Gordon Bell, J. Craig Mudge, John. E. McNamara, ''Computer Engineering: A DEC View of Hardware Systems Design'', Digital Press, Bedford, 1978 - The LINC and its descendants

==External links==

* Wesley A. Clark, [https://www.digibarn.com/stories/linc/documents/LINC-Personal-Workstation/LINC-Personal-Workstation.pdf ''The LINC Was Early and Small''] [[Association for Computing Machinery|ACM]], Proceedings of the ACM Conference on the History of Personal Workstations, 1986, pp. 133-155 - lengthy personal memoir; also covers the [[TX-0]]
* LINC at Bitsavers:
** [http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/mit/linc/ MIT]
** [http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/washingtonUniversity/linc/ Washington University]
***[http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/washingtonUniversity/linc/LINC_Documents/LD27_Users_Guide_to_LINC_Variants_Jun68.pdf User's Guide to LINC Variants] - covers the Classic LINC, SPear, and LINC-8 models
** [http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/dec/linc/ DEC]
*** [http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/dec/linc/LINC_Brochure_May65.pdf LINC Brochure]
** [http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/mit/linc/Spear_Micro-LINC-300_Feb68.jpg Micro-LINC-300] - SPear 
** [http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/artronix/Artronix_PC12_Brochure_1975.pdf PC-12/7 Interactive Computer System] - Artronix
* [https://archive.computerhistory.org/resources/access/text/2024/06/102785480-05-0001-acc.pdf micro-LINC-300 "Interim Data Sheet" and Competitive Comparison]
* [https://suomentietokonemuseo.fi/laitteet-esineet/#micro-linc-m1965 A μ-LINK in Finland.]
* [https://www.digibarn.com/stories/linc/ DigiBarn Stories: The LINC, A History and Restoration (a 45 Year Retrospective)]
** [https://www.digibarn.com/collections/systems/linc/index.html Digibarn Systems: The LINC - Laboratory INstrument Computer The World's First Personal Computer]
* [https://digitalcommons.wustl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1022&context=bcl_progress Progress Report No. 9], Biomedical Computer Laboratory, Washington University School of Medicine, 1973 - lengthy report coving much beyond the LINC work, including much of the work done with the LINC

[[Category: Minicomputers]]
[[Category: Personal Computers]]
[[Category: 12-bit Computers]]

SPEaR, Inc

2025-11-15T16:08:08Z

Larsbrinkhoff: Stub.

'''SPEaR''' - Signal Processing Equipment and Research - was a corporation in Waltham, Massachusetts which made [[LINC]] compatible computers. There were two models, the μ-LINC 1 and the [[micro-LINC 300]].

{{stub}}

Micro-LINC 300

2025-11-15T15:54:37Z

Larsbrinkhoff: More details.

The '''micro-LINC 300''' was a [[LINC]] compatible computer by [[SPEaR, Inc]]. It was implemented with [[Motorola]] [[Emitter-coupled logic|ECL]] parts and came with 4K memory, expandable to 32K.

==Instruction set additions==

This is mostly reverse engineered from schematics.

===Memory banks===

The [[primary memory]] can be up to 32K, divided into 32 1K pages. There are two five-bit registers, '''LP''' and '''UP'''. The '''LMB''' and '''UMB''' instructions set the lower and upper memory banks, i.e. LP or UP. Both instructions take a five-bit page number. The '''Z''' register is set an instruction code that will restore the previous bank, i.e. an LMB or UMB instruction with the previous page.

===Flag===

There is an additional '''flag''' register, which is a single bit. The '''MSC 2''' instruction sets the flag, and the '''MSC 12''' clears it. '''SKP 17''' skips if the flag is set.

===Buffered tape===

Tape transfers can run in parallel with the processor. There is a new tape accumulator, '''TA'''. '''MSC 4''' pauses if the tape is busy, and then transfers the TA to the regular accumulator. The '''MSC 3''' instruction makes a following tape instruction not pause. The '''SKP 16''' instruction skips if the tape is busy.

===Disable interrupts===

The '''MSC 7''' instruction disables interrupts.

Micro-LINC 300

2025-11-15T13:19:39Z

Larsbrinkhoff: Work in progress to reverse engineer the additions over a classic LINC.

The '''micro-LINC 300''' was a [[LINC]] compatible computer by SPEaR, Inc. It came with 4K memory, expandable to 32K.

==Instruction set additions==

===Memory banks===

The [[primary memory]]] can be up to 32K, divided into 32 1K pages. There are two five-bit registers, '''LP''' and '''UP'''. The '''LMB''' and '''UMB''' instructions set the lower and upper memory banks, i.e. LP or UP. Both instructions take a five-bit page number. The '''Z''' register is set to the previous contents of the page register.

===Flag===

There is an additional '''flag''' register, which is a single bit. The '''MSC 2''' instruction sets the flag, and the '''MSC 12''' clears it. '''SKP 17''' skips if the flag is set.

===Buffered tape===

Tape transfers can run in parallel with the processor. There is a new tape accumulator, '''TA'''. '''MSC 4''' transfers the TA to the regular accumulator. The '''MSC 3''' instruction makes a following tape instruction not pause. The '''SKP 16''' instruction skips if the tape is busy.

===Disable interrupts===

The '''MSC 7''' instruction disables interrupts.

LINC

2025-11-15T13:00:22Z

Larsbrinkhoff: /* History */ Linc to micro-LINC 300.

The '''LINC (Laboratory INstrument Computer)''' was an early small computer (considered by many to be the first [[minicomputer]]), designed for use in laboratory environments (initially in biomedical research), and a distant descendent of the [[Whirlwind]] computer. The goal was to provide a computer for exclusive use by a single user; it is thus considered by many to be an important forerunner to the [[personal computer]].

It provided [[real-time]] capabilities, along with [[analog]] input, a small [[video display]] screen, and a pair of small [[magnetic tape drive]]s called [[LINC tape]]s (the latter being an integral part of the machine, not an optional [[peripheral]]). It was a 12-bit computer, built out of [[Digital Equipment Corporation|DEC]] [[System Module|System Building Blocks]]. The initial version had only 1024 words of [[core memory]]; it was later expanded to 2048 words.

==History==

It was designed starting in 1960 by [[Wesley A. Clark]] (who conceived of the basic concept of the machine); he had considerable design assistance from Charles Molnar. The prototype first ran in March of 1962; the first batch of machines were completed in a workshop for their eventual users held in the summer of 1963.

The project started at [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology|MIT]]'s [[Lincoln Laboratory]], then moved to MIT itself in January 1963 (because a switch to funding from NIH didn't interact well with Lincoln Labs' Air Force funding); after a big political fight at MIT over control, the project moved out to Washington University in St. Louis in the summer of 1964.

It was originally named the '''Linc''', from the project's origins, but was re-named to 'LINC'.

It became a product for DEC, which sold both the original, and several descendants: the [[LINC-8]], and later its replacement, the [[PDP-12]].

Spear, Inc made the μ-LINC 1 and [[micro-LINC 300]].

Artronix made the PC-12, a LINC with 4K memory and an "origin register" for address relocation.

==Models==

{| class="wikitable"
! Year || Manufacturer || Model || Memory || Instruction cycle time
|-
| 1962 || Lincoln Labs || Alpha Linc || 1K || 8 μs
|-
| 1963 || MIT || LINC III || 1K || 8 μs
|-
| 1965 || MIT || Classic LINC || 2K || 8 μs
|-
| 1965 || Spear || μ-LINC 1 || 4K || 8 μs
|-
| 1968 || Spear || micro-LINC 300 || 32K || 1 μs
|-
| 1966 || DEC || LINC-8 || 4K || 1.5 μs
|-
| 1969 || DEC || PDP-12 || 4K (expandable to 32K) || 1.2 μs
|-
| 1972 || Artronix || PC-1200 || ||
|-
| 1975 || Artronix || PC-12/710 || 8K ||
|-
| 1975 || Artronix || PC-12/730 || 16K ||
|-
| 1975 || Artronix || PC-12/750 || 32K ||
|-
| 1975 || Artronix || PC-12/770 || 48K ||
|-
| 1975 || Artronix || PC-12/790 || 64K ||
|}

==Further reading==

* Severo M. Ornstein, [https://archive.computerhistory.org/resources/access/text/2019/03/102785079-05-01-acc.pdf ''Computing in the Middle Ages: A View From the Trenches 1955-1983''] (AuthorHouse, 2002) - Considerable detail about the development of the LINC
* C. Gordon Bell and John E. McNamara, [http://gordonbell.azurewebsites.net/Computer_Engineering/00000197.htm The PDP-8 and Other 12-Bit Computers], in C. Gordon Bell, J. Craig Mudge, John. E. McNamara, ''Computer Engineering: A DEC View of Hardware Systems Design'', Digital Press, Bedford, 1978 - The LINC and its descendants

==External links==

* Wesley A. Clark, [https://www.digibarn.com/stories/linc/documents/LINC-Personal-Workstation/LINC-Personal-Workstation.pdf ''The LINC Was Early and Small''] [[Association for Computing Machinery|ACM]], Proceedings of the ACM Conference on the History of Personal Workstations, 1986, pp. 133-155 - lengthy personal memoir; also covers the [[TX-0]]
* LINC at Bitsavers:
** [http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/mit/linc/ MIT]
** [http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/washingtonUniversity/linc/ Washington University]
***[http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/washingtonUniversity/linc/LINC_Documents/LD27_Users_Guide_to_LINC_Variants_Jun68.pdf User's Guide to LINC Variants] - covers the Classic LINC, SPear, and LINC-8 models
** [http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/dec/linc/ DEC]
*** [http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/dec/linc/LINC_Brochure_May65.pdf LINC Brochure]
** [http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/mit/linc/Spear_Micro-LINC-300_Feb68.jpg Micro-LINC-300] - SPear 
** [http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/artronix/Artronix_PC12_Brochure_1975.pdf PC-12/7 Interactive Computer System] - Artronix
* [https://archive.computerhistory.org/resources/access/text/2024/06/102785480-05-0001-acc.pdf micro-LINC-300 "Interim Data Sheet" and Competitive Comparison]
* [https://suomentietokonemuseo.fi/laitteet-esineet/#micro-linc-m1965 A μ-LINK in Finland.]
* [https://www.digibarn.com/stories/linc/ DigiBarn Stories: The LINC, A History and Restoration (a 45 Year Retrospective)]
** [https://www.digibarn.com/collections/systems/linc/index.html Digibarn Systems: The LINC - Laboratory INstrument Computer The World's First Personal Computer]
* [https://digitalcommons.wustl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1022&context=bcl_progress Progress Report No. 9], Biomedical Computer Laboratory, Washington University School of Medicine, 1973 - lengthy report coving much beyond the LINC work, including much of the work done with the LINC

[[Category: Minicomputers]]
[[Category: Personal Computers]]
[[Category: 12-bit Computers]]

Talk:LINC

2025-11-10T08:59:02Z

Larsbrinkhoff: Wording.

==Early history and names==

I'm curious about the source for the changes to the name.

I would tend to put a fair amount of faith in Severo Ornstein's [https://archive.computerhistory.org/resources/access/text/2019/03/102785079-05-01-acc.pdf ''Computing in the Middle Ages''], since he was there at the time. On the other hand, that as written decades later, and his memory might have dropped a few bits. Are there some contemporary documents from Lincoln and MIT that you are relying on? I took a quick look on Bitsavers, but didn't see anything.

'Computing in the Middle Ages' confirms that the machine was initially named the 'α-Linc'. However, it insists that the name then became 'LINC' at Lincoln, shortly later (pg. 140 of the PDF). What else can I look at? [[User:Jnc|Jnc]] ([[User talk:Jnc|talk]]) 09:39, 29 October 2025 (UTC)

: I think "Early and Small" is the premier reference for LINC history. For one, it was written by Wes Clark referring to his notebooks, and second, it was written in 1986 which is closer in time than "Middle Ages". Direct link: https://dl.acm.org/doi/pdf/10.1145/12178.12187
: Texts vary between Greek α or spelled out alpha or Alpha. It's unclear to me whether "Alpha Linc" was the initial name for the computers in general, or if it was only applied to the first prototype machine as in "alpha version".
: There's a similar variation in micro-LINC = μ-LINC = μLINC. [[User:Larsbrinkhoff|Larsbrinkhoff]] ([[User talk:Larsbrinkhoff|talk]]) 08:08, 1 November 2025 (UTC)

== Spear, Inc ==

What's your source for spelling it "SPear"? This document has it "SPEaR"
https://archive.computerhistory.org/resources/access/text/2024/06/102785480-05-0001-acc.pdf
SPEaR apparently means "SIGNAL PROCESSING EQUIPMENT and RESEARCH"
[[User:Larsbrinkhoff|Larsbrinkhoff]] ([[User talk:Larsbrinkhoff|talk]]) 08:29, 7 November 2025 (UTC)

== μ-LINC and micro-LINC ==

The Finnish μ-LINC front panel says "μ-LINC". The Computer Design photo of the micro-LINC 300 front panels says "micro-LINC 300". The article currently honors this usage. [[User:Larsbrinkhoff|Larsbrinkhoff]] ([[User talk:Larsbrinkhoff|talk]]) 08:40, 10 November 2025 (UTC)

Talk:LINC

2025-11-10T08:40:41Z

Larsbrinkhoff: /* μ-LINC and micro-LINC */ new section

==Early history and names==

I'm curious about the source for the changes to the name.

I would tend to put a fair amount of faith in Severo Ornstein's [https://archive.computerhistory.org/resources/access/text/2019/03/102785079-05-01-acc.pdf ''Computing in the Middle Ages''], since he was there at the time. On the other hand, that as written decades later, and his memory might have dropped a few bits. Are there some contemporary documents from Lincoln and MIT that you are relying on? I took a quick look on Bitsavers, but didn't see anything.

'Computing in the Middle Ages' confirms that the machine was initially named the 'α-Linc'. However, it insists that the name then became 'LINC' at Lincoln, shortly later (pg. 140 of the PDF). What else can I look at? [[User:Jnc|Jnc]] ([[User talk:Jnc|talk]]) 09:39, 29 October 2025 (UTC)

: I think "Early and Small" is the premier reference for LINC history. For one, it was written by Wes Clark referring to his notebooks, and second, it was written in 1986 which is closer in time than "Middle Ages". Direct link: https://dl.acm.org/doi/pdf/10.1145/12178.12187
: Texts vary between Greek α or spelled out alpha or Alpha. It's unclear to me whether "Alpha Linc" was the initial name for the computers in general, or if it was only applied to the first prototype machine as in "alpha version".
: There's a similar variation in micro-LINC = μ-LINC = μLINC. [[User:Larsbrinkhoff|Larsbrinkhoff]] ([[User talk:Larsbrinkhoff|talk]]) 08:08, 1 November 2025 (UTC)

== Spear, Inc ==

What's your source for spelling it "SPear"? This document has it "SPEaR"
https://archive.computerhistory.org/resources/access/text/2024/06/102785480-05-0001-acc.pdf
SPEaR apparently means "SIGNAL PROCESSING EQUIPMENT and RESEARCH"
[[User:Larsbrinkhoff|Larsbrinkhoff]] ([[User talk:Larsbrinkhoff|talk]]) 08:29, 7 November 2025 (UTC)

== μ-LINC and micro-LINC ==

The Finnish μ-LINC front panel says "μ-LINC". Photos of the micro-LINC 300 front panels says "micro-LINC 300". The article currently honors this usage. [[User:Larsbrinkhoff|Larsbrinkhoff]] ([[User talk:Larsbrinkhoff|talk]]) 08:40, 10 November 2025 (UTC)

LINC

2025-11-07T12:08:16Z

Larsbrinkhoff: /* External links */ μ-LINK in Finland.

The '''LINC (Laboratory INstrument Computer)''' was an early small computer (considered by many to be the first [[minicomputer]]), designed for use in laboratory environments (initially in biomedical research), and a distant descendent of the [[Whirlwind]] computer. The goal was to provide a computer for exclusive use by a single user; it is thus considered by many to be an important forerunner to the [[personal computer]].

It provided [[real-time]] capabilities, along with [[analog]] input, a small [[video display]] screen, and a pair of small [[magnetic tape drive]]s called [[LINC tape]]s (the latter being an integral part of the machine, not an optional [[peripheral]]). It was a 12-bit computer, built out of [[Digital Equipment Corporation|DEC]] [[System Module|System Building Blocks]]. The initial version had only 1024 words of [[core memory]]; it was later expanded to 2048 words.

==History==

It was designed starting in 1960 by [[Wesley A. Clark]] (who conceived of the basic concept of the machine); he had considerable design assistance from Charles Molnar. The prototype first ran in March of 1962; the first batch of machines were completed in a workshop for their eventual users held in the summer of 1963.

The project started at [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology|MIT]]'s [[Lincoln Laboratory]], then moved to MIT itself in January 1963 (because a switch to funding from NIH didn't interact well with Lincoln Labs' Air Force funding); after a big political fight at MIT over control, the project moved out to Washington University in St. Louis in the summer of 1964.

It was originally named the '''Linc''', from the project's origins, but was re-named to 'LINC'.

It became a product for DEC, which sold both the original, and several descendants: the [[LINC-8]], and later its replacement, the [[PDP-12]].

Spear, Inc made the μ-LINC 1 and micro-LINC 300.

Artronix made the PC-12, a LINC with 4K memory and an "origin register" for address relocation.

==Models==

{| class="wikitable"
! Year || Manufacturer || Model || Memory || Instruction cycle time
|-
| 1962 || Lincoln Labs || Alpha Linc || 1K || 8 μs
|-
| 1963 || MIT || LINC III || 1K || 8 μs
|-
| 1965 || MIT || Classic LINC || 2K || 8 μs
|-
| 1965 || Spear || μ-LINC 1 || 4K || 8 μs
|-
| 1968 || Spear || micro-LINC 300 || 32K || 1 μs
|-
| 1966 || DEC || LINC-8 || 4K || 1.5 μs
|-
| 1969 || DEC || PDP-12 || 4K (expandable to 32K) || 1.2 μs
|-
| 1972 || Artronix || PC-1200 || ||
|-
| 1975 || Artronix || PC-12/710 || 8K ||
|-
| 1975 || Artronix || PC-12/730 || 16K ||
|-
| 1975 || Artronix || PC-12/750 || 32K ||
|-
| 1975 || Artronix || PC-12/770 || 48K ||
|-
| 1975 || Artronix || PC-12/790 || 64K ||
|}

==Further reading==

* Severo M. Ornstein, [https://archive.computerhistory.org/resources/access/text/2019/03/102785079-05-01-acc.pdf ''Computing in the Middle Ages: A View From the Trenches 1955-1983''] (AuthorHouse, 2002) - Considerable detail about the development of the LINC
* C. Gordon Bell and John E. McNamara, [http://gordonbell.azurewebsites.net/Computer_Engineering/00000197.htm The PDP-8 and Other 12-Bit Computers], in C. Gordon Bell, J. Craig Mudge, John. E. McNamara, ''Computer Engineering: A DEC View of Hardware Systems Design'', Digital Press, Bedford, 1978 - The LINC and its descendants

==External links==

* Wesley A. Clark, [https://www.digibarn.com/stories/linc/documents/LINC-Personal-Workstation/LINC-Personal-Workstation.pdf ''The LINC Was Early and Small''] [[Association for Computing Machinery|ACM]], Proceedings of the ACM Conference on the History of Personal Workstations, 1986, pp. 133-155 - lengthy personal memoir; also covers the [[TX-0]]
* LINC at Bitsavers:
** [http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/mit/linc/ MIT]
** [http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/washingtonUniversity/linc/ Washington University]
***[http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/washingtonUniversity/linc/LINC_Documents/LD27_Users_Guide_to_LINC_Variants_Jun68.pdf User's Guide to LINC Variants] - covers the Classic LINC, SPear, and LINC-8 models
** [http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/dec/linc/ DEC]
*** [http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/dec/linc/LINC_Brochure_May65.pdf LINC Brochure]
** [http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/mit/linc/Spear_Micro-LINC-300_Feb68.jpg Micro-LINC-300] - SPear 
** [http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/artronix/Artronix_PC12_Brochure_1975.pdf PC-12/7 Interactive Computer System] - Artronix
* [https://archive.computerhistory.org/resources/access/text/2024/06/102785480-05-0001-acc.pdf micro-LINC-300 "Interim Data Sheet" and Competitive Comparison]
* [https://suomentietokonemuseo.fi/laitteet-esineet/#micro-linc-m1965 A μ-LINK in Finland.]
* [https://www.digibarn.com/stories/linc/ DigiBarn Stories: The LINC, A History and Restoration (a 45 Year Retrospective)]
** [https://www.digibarn.com/collections/systems/linc/index.html Digibarn Systems: The LINC - Laboratory INstrument Computer The World's First Personal Computer]
* [https://digitalcommons.wustl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1022&context=bcl_progress Progress Report No. 9], Biomedical Computer Laboratory, Washington University School of Medicine, 1973 - lengthy report coving much beyond the LINC work, including much of the work done with the LINC

[[Category: Minicomputers]]
[[Category: Personal Computers]]
[[Category: 12-bit Computers]]

Talk:LINC

2025-11-07T10:26:19Z

Larsbrinkhoff: /* Spear, Inc */ "SIGNAL PROCESSING EQUIPMENT and RESEARCH"

LINC

2025-11-07T10:25:26Z

Larsbrinkhoff: /* External links */ micro-LINC-300 "Interim Data Sheet" and Competitive Comparison.

The '''LINC (Laboratory INstrument Computer)''' was an early small computer (considered by many to be the first [[minicomputer]]), designed for use in laboratory environments (initially in biomedical research), and a distant descendent of the [[Whirlwind]] computer. The goal was to provide a computer for exclusive use by a single user; it is thus considered by many to be an important forerunner to the [[personal computer]].

It provided [[real-time]] capabilities, along with [[analog]] input, a small [[video display]] screen, and a pair of small [[magnetic tape drive]]s called [[LINC tape]]s (the latter being an integral part of the machine, not an optional [[peripheral]]). It was a 12-bit computer, built out of [[Digital Equipment Corporation|DEC]] [[System Module|System Building Blocks]]. The initial version had only 1024 words of [[core memory]]; it was later expanded to 2048 words.

==History==

It was designed starting in 1960 by [[Wesley A. Clark]] (who conceived of the basic concept of the machine); he had considerable design assistance from Charles Molnar. The prototype first ran in March of 1962; the first batch of machines were completed in a workshop for their eventual users held in the summer of 1963.

The project started at [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology|MIT]]'s [[Lincoln Laboratory]], then moved to MIT itself in January 1963 (because a switch to funding from NIH didn't interact well with Lincoln Labs' Air Force funding); after a big political fight at MIT over control, the project moved out to Washington University in St. Louis in the summer of 1964.

It was originally named the '''Linc''', from the project's origins, but was re-named to 'LINC'.

It became a product for DEC, which sold both the original, and several descendants: the [[LINC-8]], and later its replacement, the [[PDP-12]].

Spear, Inc made the μ-LINC 1 and micro-LINC 300.

Artronix made the PC-12, a LINC with 4K memory and an "origin register" for address relocation.

==Models==

{| class="wikitable"
! Year || Manufacturer || Model || Memory || Instruction cycle time
|-
| 1962 || Lincoln Labs || Alpha Linc || 1K || 8 μs
|-
| 1963 || MIT || LINC III || 1K || 8 μs
|-
| 1965 || MIT || Classic LINC || 2K || 8 μs
|-
| 1965 || Spear || μ-LINC 1 || 4K || 8 μs
|-
| 1968 || Spear || micro-LINC 300 || 32K || 1 μs
|-
| 1966 || DEC || LINC-8 || 4K || 1.5 μs
|-
| 1969 || DEC || PDP-12 || 4K (expandable to 32K) || 1.2 μs
|-
| 1972 || Artronix || PC-1200 || ||
|-
| 1975 || Artronix || PC-12/710 || 8K ||
|-
| 1975 || Artronix || PC-12/730 || 16K ||
|-
| 1975 || Artronix || PC-12/750 || 32K ||
|-
| 1975 || Artronix || PC-12/770 || 48K ||
|-
| 1975 || Artronix || PC-12/790 || 64K ||
|}

==Further reading==

* Severo M. Ornstein, [https://archive.computerhistory.org/resources/access/text/2019/03/102785079-05-01-acc.pdf ''Computing in the Middle Ages: A View From the Trenches 1955-1983''] (AuthorHouse, 2002) - Considerable detail about the development of the LINC
* C. Gordon Bell and John E. McNamara, [http://gordonbell.azurewebsites.net/Computer_Engineering/00000197.htm The PDP-8 and Other 12-Bit Computers], in C. Gordon Bell, J. Craig Mudge, John. E. McNamara, ''Computer Engineering: A DEC View of Hardware Systems Design'', Digital Press, Bedford, 1978 - The LINC and its descendants

==External links==

* Wesley A. Clark, [https://www.digibarn.com/stories/linc/documents/LINC-Personal-Workstation/LINC-Personal-Workstation.pdf ''The LINC Was Early and Small''] [[Association for Computing Machinery|ACM]], Proceedings of the ACM Conference on the History of Personal Workstations, 1986, pp. 133-155 - lengthy personal memoir; also covers the [[TX-0]]
* LINC at Bitsavers:
** [http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/mit/linc/ MIT]
** [http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/washingtonUniversity/linc/ Washington University]
***[http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/washingtonUniversity/linc/LINC_Documents/LD27_Users_Guide_to_LINC_Variants_Jun68.pdf User's Guide to LINC Variants] - covers the Classic LINC, SPear, and LINC-8 models
** [http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/dec/linc/ DEC]
*** [http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/dec/linc/LINC_Brochure_May65.pdf LINC Brochure]
** [http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/mit/linc/Spear_Micro-LINC-300_Feb68.jpg Micro-LINC-300] - SPear 
** [http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/artronix/Artronix_PC12_Brochure_1975.pdf PC-12/7 Interactive Computer System] - Artronix
* [https://archive.computerhistory.org/resources/access/text/2024/06/102785480-05-0001-acc.pdf micro-LINC-300 "Interim Data Sheet" and Competitive Comparison]
* [https://www.digibarn.com/stories/linc/ DigiBarn Stories: The LINC, A History and Restoration (a 45 Year Retrospective)]
** [https://www.digibarn.com/collections/systems/linc/index.html Digibarn Systems: The LINC - Laboratory INstrument Computer The World's First Personal Computer]
* [https://digitalcommons.wustl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1022&context=bcl_progress Progress Report No. 9], Biomedical Computer Laboratory, Washington University School of Medicine, 1973 - lengthy report coving much beyond the LINC work, including much of the work done with the LINC

[[Category: Minicomputers]]
[[Category: Personal Computers]]
[[Category: 12-bit Computers]]

Talk:LINC

2025-11-07T08:29:57Z

Larsbrinkhoff: /* Spear, Inc */ new section

==Early history and names==

I'm curious about the source for the changes to the name.

I would tend to put a fair amount of faith in Severo Ornstein's [https://archive.computerhistory.org/resources/access/text/2019/03/102785079-05-01-acc.pdf ''Computing in the Middle Ages''], since he was there at the time. On the other hand, that as written decades later, and his memory might have dropped a few bits. Are there some contemporary documents from Lincoln and MIT that you are relying on? I took a quick look on Bitsavers, but didn't see anything.

'Computing in the Middle Ages' confirms that the machine was initially named the 'α-Linc'. However, it insists that the name then became 'LINC' at Lincoln, shortly later (pg. 140 of the PDF). What else can I look at? [[User:Jnc|Jnc]] ([[User talk:Jnc|talk]]) 09:39, 29 October 2025 (UTC)

: I think "Early and Small" is the premier reference for LINC history. For one, it was written by Wes Clark referring to his notebooks, and second, it was written in 1986 which is closer in time than "Middle Ages". Direct link: https://dl.acm.org/doi/pdf/10.1145/12178.12187
: Texts vary between Greek α or spelled out alpha or Alpha. It's unclear to me whether "Alpha Linc" was the initial name for the computers in general, or if it was only applied to the first prototype machine as in "alpha version".
: There's a similar variation in micro-LINC = μ-LINC = μLINC. [[User:Larsbrinkhoff|Larsbrinkhoff]] ([[User talk:Larsbrinkhoff|talk]]) 08:08, 1 November 2025 (UTC)

== Spear, Inc ==

What's your source for spelling it "SPear"? This document has it "SPEaR"
https://archive.computerhistory.org/resources/access/text/2024/06/102785480-05-0001-acc.pdf
[[User:Larsbrinkhoff|Larsbrinkhoff]] ([[User talk:Larsbrinkhoff|talk]]) 08:29, 7 November 2025 (UTC)

Talk:Instruction

2025-11-06T11:19:48Z

Larsbrinkhoff: /* Order/order code */ Typo.

==Order/order code==

I actually have the impression that the 'order/order code' terminology was more common in the UK; at Cambridge (see [https://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/relics/orders.notes.html The EDSAC Order Code], and descendants such as the [[LEO]]); and at Manchester (see [https://www.cs.man.ac.uk/CCS/res/res02.htm From Cathode Ray Tube to Ferranti Mark I]). In the US, [[Whirlwind]] mostly used 'instruction' and 'operation code'. [[User:Jnc|Jnc]] ([[User talk:Jnc|talk]]) 13:11, 4 November 2025 (UTC)

I had a look through some [[PDP-1]] documentation, but didn't see 'order' being used. Where should I look? [[User:Jnc|Jnc]] ([[User talk:Jnc|talk]]) 19:10, 5 November 2025 (UTC)

: I'm looking through the results from https://google.com/search?q=%22pdp-1%22+%22order+code%22
: I don't see much usage of "order code" for the PDP-1 by DEC, only this http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/dec/pdp1/PDP-1CoverLetter.pdf
: However, there are many examples from MIT.
: Interestingly, I do see it in the handbooks for the PDP-11/20 and 11/40! I.e. "The basic order code of the PDP-11 uses both single and double operand address instructions for words or bytes." [[User:Larsbrinkhoff|Larsbrinkhoff]] ([[User talk:Larsbrinkhoff|talk]]) 10:31, 6 November 2025 (UTC)

Talk:Instruction

2025-11-06T10:31:53Z

Larsbrinkhoff: Not so much DEC as MIT, apparently.

==Order/order code==

I actually have the impression that the 'order/order code' terminology was more common in the UK; at Cambridge (see [https://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/relics/orders.notes.html The EDSAC Order Code], and descendants such as the [[LEO]]); and at Manchester (see [https://www.cs.man.ac.uk/CCS/res/res02.htm From Cathode Ray Tube to Ferranti Mark I]). In the US, [[Whirlwind]] mostly used 'instruction' and 'operation code'. [[User:Jnc|Jnc]] ([[User talk:Jnc|talk]]) 13:11, 4 November 2025 (UTC)

I had a look through some [[PDP-1]] documentation, but didn't see 'order' being used. Where should I look? [[User:Jnc|Jnc]] ([[User talk:Jnc|talk]]) 19:10, 5 November 2025 (UTC)

: I'm looking through the results from https://google.com/search?q=%22pdp-1%22+%22order+code%22
: I don't see much usage of "order code" for the PDP-1 by DEC, only this http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/dec/pdp1/PDP-1CoverLetter.pdf
: However, there are many examples from MIT.
: Interestingly, I do see it in the handbooks for the PDP-11/20 and 11/40! I.e. "The basic order code of the PDP-l1 uses both single and double operand address instructions for words or bytes." [[User:Larsbrinkhoff|Larsbrinkhoff]] ([[User talk:Larsbrinkhoff|talk]]) 10:31, 6 November 2025 (UTC)

L-1

2025-11-05T08:29:36Z

Larsbrinkhoff: Link to Early&Small.

The '''L-1''' was a unique computer created by Wes Clark at the [[Lincoln Laboratory]], for processing RF receiver signals in real-time. One of his previous devices - the [[ARC-1]] - was hardwired, and Clark noted it would have been more flexible as a [[stored-program]] computer. These ideas were borne out in the L-1.

{{stub}}

==External links==

* [https://bitsavers.org/pdf/mit/lincolnLaboratory/51G-0012_Functional_Description_of_the_L1_Computer_Mar60.pdf A Functional Description of the L-1 Computer]
* Wesley A. Clark, [https://www.digibarn.com/stories/linc/documents/LINC-Personal-Workstation/LINC-Personal-Workstation.pdf The LINC Was Early and Small], [[Association for Computing Machinery|ACM]], ''Proceedings of the ACM Conference on the History of Personal Workstations'', 1986, pp. 133-155 - covers the L-1 on pp. 136-137

[[Category: 10-bit Computers]]
[[Category: Unique Computers]]

L-1

2025-11-05T08:26:14Z

Larsbrinkhoff: Note connection to the ARC-1.

Average Response Computer

2025-11-05T08:21:28Z

Larsbrinkhoff: Fix URLs.

The '''Average Response Computer''' (sometimes referred to as the '''ARC-1''') was not actually a [[computer]] (as implied by the name), but a [[digital]] [[transistor]] data recording/analysis device. It took a number of data samples, provided by an [[analog-to-digital converter]], and summed and averaged them (hence the 'computer', since 'computing' is being done), to remove the [[noise]]. It was built at [[Lincoln Laboratory]] in 1958. Its importance was as a predecessor to the [[LINC]] (see the tale in the Clark history, below).

==Further reading==

* W. A. Clark, R. M. Brown, M. H. Goldstein, C. E. Molnar, D. F. O'Brien, H.E. Zieman, "The Average Response Computer (ARC): A Digital Device for Computing Averages and Amplitude and Time Histograms of Electrophysiological Responses", ''IRE Trans. Biomed. Electronics'', 1961
* W. A. Clark, Section B, "Average Response Computer (ARC-1)", in [https://dspace.mit.edu/bitstream/handle/1721.1/52163/RLE_QPR_049_XIV.pdf Communications Biophysics Quarterly Progress Report, No. 49], [[Research Laboratory of Electronics]], April, 1958 - includes a description, block diagram and sample data

==External links==

* Wesley A. Clark, [https://www.digibarn.com/stories/linc/documents/LINC-Personal-Workstation/LINC-Personal-Workstation.pdf The LINC Was Early and Small], [[Association for Computing Machinery|ACM]], ''Proceedings of the ACM Conference on the History of Personal Workstations'', 1986, pp. 133-155 - covers the ARC on pp. 136-137
* John C. Conley, [https://bitsavers.org/pdf/dec/pdp1/memos/M-1086_Apr60.pdf Average Response Computer Program (ARC)], 1960 - program to implement the functionality of the ARC on a [[PDP-1]]

[[Category: Test Equipment]]

Category:10-bit Computers

2025-11-04T06:30:39Z

Larsbrinkhoff: Create.

All computers with a 10-[[bit]] [[word]] length.

[[Category: Computers by Word Length]]

L-1

2025-11-04T06:29:42Z

Larsbrinkhoff: Stub.

The '''L-1''' was a unique computer created by Wes Clark at the [[Lincoln Laboratory]], for processing RF receiver signals in real-time.

{{stub}}

==External links==

* [https://bitsavers.org/pdf/mit/lincolnLaboratory/51G-0012_Functional_Description_of_the_L1_Computer_Mar60.pdf A Functional Description of the L-1 Computer]

[[Category: 10-bit Computers]]
[[Category: Unique Computers]]

Lincoln Laboratory

2025-11-04T06:22:30Z

Larsbrinkhoff: /* Computers done at Lincoln */ FX = (magnetic) film experiment.

'''Lincoln Laboratory''', while formally a part of [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology|MIT]], is effectively an independent research organization.

It is in some sense a descendant of the Radiation Laboratory, set up at MIT in WWII to do work on radar (although the only connection is that some people from the Rad Lab later worked at Lincoln). Lincoln was set up in 1951 to help build the [[Semi-Automatic Ground Environment]], the US's first air defense system. It has been involved in research work useful for national defense, and more recently, other national priorities as well, ever since.

The [[Memory Test Computer]] was built there in 1952, by Group 62 and Group 63, to test the first [[core memory]], intended for use in [[Whirlwind]] (which was used for a prototype of SAGE). The [[TX-0]] computer was built at Lincoln Laboratory in 1955, to try out using [[transistor]]s to build a computer. It was later followed by the [[TX-2]], which was the host for [[Sketchpad]].

==Computers done at Lincoln==

Several innovative early computers were created at Lincoln Laboratory. They include:

* [[Memory Test Computer]] - first computer with [[core memory]]
* [[TX-0]] - supposedly the first [[transistor]] computer
* [[TX-2]]
* [[FX-1]] - magnetic film memory experiment
* [[LINC]] - supposedly the first [[personal computer]]

{{semi-stub}}

==Further reading==

* Ed. Eva C. Freeman, ''MIT Lincoln Laboratory: Technology in the National Interest'', MIT Lincoln Laboratory, Lexington, 1995
* Ed. Alan A. Grometstein, [https://web.archive.org/web/20140828224121/http://www.ll.mit.edu/about/History/MIT_Lincoln_Laboratory_history_book.pdf ''MIT Lincoln Laboratory: Technology in Support of National Security''], MIT Lincoln Laboratory, Lexington, 2011

==External links==

* [https://www.ll.mit.edu/about/history History]
** [https://www.ll.mit.edu/about/history/sage-semi-automatic-ground-environment-air-defense-system SAGE: Semi-Automatic Ground Environment Air Defense System]]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20140930210150/http://www.ll.mit.edu/about/about.html About Lincoln Laboratory]
** [https://web.archive.org/web/20140930203157/http://www.ll.mit.edu/employment/orgtechdivisions.html Organization of Technical Divisions]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20140828220219/http://www.ll.mit.edu/about/History/RadLab.html MIT Radiation Laboratory]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20140828223103/http://www.ll.mit.edu/about/History/SAGE_TOCpage.html SAGE: Semi-Automatic Ground Environment Air Defense System]
** [https://web.archive.org/web/20140828221136/http://www.ll.mit.edu/about/History/newthreat.html A New Threat]
** [https://web.archive.org/web/20140828224042/http://www.ll.mit.edu/about/History/origins.html Lincoln Laboratory Origins]
** [https://web.archive.org/web/20161204075643/http://www.ll.mit.edu/about/History/projectcharles.html Lincoln Laboratory Origins (part 2)]
** [https://web.archive.org/web/20140828213825/http://www.ll.mit.edu/about/History/SAGEairdefensesystem.html The SAGE Air Defense System]
** [https://web.archive.org/web/20140828221740/http://www.ll.mit.edu/about/History/earlydigitalcomputing.html Early Digital Computing]
** [https://web.archive.org/web/20150208150649/http://www.ll.mit.edu/about/History/digitalcomputing_2.html Early Digital Computing (part 2)]
** [https://web.archive.org/web/20140828223207/http://www.ll.mit.edu/about/History/capecodprototype.html Cape Cod SAGE Prototype]
** [https://web.archive.org/web/20140811144042/http://www.ll.mit.edu/about/History/capecodprototype-2.html Cape Cod SAGE Prototype (part 2)]
** [https://web.archive.org/web/20140828221032/http://www.ll.mit.edu/about/History/earlywarningradars.html Early-Warning Radars]
** [https://web.archive.org/web/20140828221032/http://www.ll.mit.edu/about/History/earlywarningradars2.html Part 2: MIT Lincoln Laboratory develops UHF early-warning radar]
** [https://web.archive.org/web/20140828221032/http://www.ll.mit.edu/about/History/earlywarningradars3.html Part 3: Jug Handle, Boston Hill, and Texas Tower radars]
** [https://web.archive.org/web/20140828221442/http://www.ll.mit.edu/about/History/transition.html SAGE Transition] - covers the creation of [[MITRE]]
** [https://web.archive.org/web/20140828222855/http://www.ll.mit.edu/about/History/reflections.html Reflections on SAGE]

** [https://web.archive.org/web/20140828223543/http://www.ll.mit.edu/about/History/newcallings.html New Callings]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20140828224121/http://www.ll.mit.edu/about/History/historybook.html MIT Lincoln Laboratory's History Book]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20160811032204/http://www.ll.mit.edu/about/History/60-innovations.pdf 60 Innovations Over Sixty Years: Highlights of Technology Advances at MIT Lincoln Laboratory]
* [http://bitsavers.org/pdf/mit/lincolnLaboratory/ Lincoln Laboratory] - documents at [[Bitsavers]]

[[Category: Research Organizations]]

Instruction

2025-11-04T06:19:26Z

Larsbrinkhoff: Add order code. Maybe also ILLIAC and UNIVAC.

An '''instruction''' is, at the highest level of abstraction, the smallest unit of computation which a [[programmer]] can direct the [[Central Processing Unit|CPU]] to perform.

In more practical terms, the CPU operates by fetching items from [[main memory]]; each item contains a single directive for the CPU (e.g. add the contents of one [[register]] to another, or move a unit of data from a register, to main memory) - those items are instructions. (An instruction is usually a [[word]], but on some CPUs, multiple instructions could be packed in each word, while on others, some instructions took multiple words.)

Some early computers used the alternative term '''order''' for instructions, and '''order code''' for [[Object code|machine code]]. Notable examples include the [[Lincoln Laboratory]] computers, and the [[PDP-1]].

{{semi-stub}}

==See also==

* [[Instruction set]]

[[Category: CPU Basics]]

Talk:LINC

2025-11-01T08:08:38Z

Larsbrinkhoff: /* Early history and names */ I suggest Early and Small.

LINC

2025-10-28T11:28:15Z

Larsbrinkhoff: /* Models */ By 1963 the LINC was at MIT.

The '''LINC (Laboratory INstrument Computer)''' was an early small computer (considered by many to be the first [[minicomputer]]), designed for use in laboratory environments (initially in biomedical research), and a distant descendent of the [[Whirlwind]] computer. The goal was to provide a computer for exclusive use by a single user; it is thus considered by many to be an important forerunner to the [[personal computer]].

It provided [[real-time]] capabilities, along with [[analog]] input, a small [[video display]] screen, and a pair of small [[magnetic tape drive]]s called [[LINC tape]]s (the latter being an integral part of the machine, not an optional [[peripheral]]). It was a 12-bit computer, built out of [[Digital Equipment Corporation|DEC]] [[System Module|System Building Blocks]]. The initial version had only 1024 words of [[core memory]]; it was later expanded to 2048 words.

==History==

It was designed starting in 1960 by [[Wesley A. Clark]] (who conceived of the basic concept of the machine); he had considerable design assistance from Charles Molnar. The prototype first ran in March of 1962; the first batch of machines were completed in a workshop for their eventual users held in the summer of 1963.

The project started at [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology|MIT]]'s [[Lincoln Laboratory]], then moved to MIT itself in January 1963 (because a switch to funding from NIH didn't interact well with Lincoln Labs' Air Force funding); after a big political fight at MIT over control, the project moved out to Washington University in St. Louis in the summer of 1964.

It was originally named the '''Linc''', from the project's origins, but was re-named to 'LINC'.

It became a product for DEC, which sold both the original, and several descendants: the [[LINC-8]], and later its replacement, the [[PDP-12]].

Spear, Inc made the μ-LINC 1 and micro-LINC 300.

Artronix made the PC-12, a LINC with 4K memory and an "origin register" for address relocation.

==Models==

{| class="wikitable"
! Year || Manufacturer || Model || Memory || Instruction cycle time
|-
| 1962 || Lincoln Labs || Alpha Linc || 1K || 8 μs
|-
| 1963 || MIT || LINC III || 1K || 8 μs
|-
| 1965 || MIT || Classic LINC || 2K || 8 μs
|-
| 1965 || Spear || μ-LINC 1 || 4K || 8 μs
|-
| 1968 || Spear || micro-LINC 300 || 32K || 1 μs
|-
| 1966 || DEC || LINC-8 || 4K || 1.5 μs
|-
| 1969 || DEC || PDP-12 || 4K (expandable to 32K) || 1.2 μs
|-
| 1972 || Artronix || PC-1200 || ||
|-
| 1975 || Artronix || PC-12/710 || 8K ||
|-
| 1975 || Artronix || PC-12/730 || 16K ||
|-
| 1975 || Artronix || PC-12/750 || 32K ||
|-
| 1975 || Artronix || PC-12/770 || 48K ||
|-
| 1975 || Artronix || PC-12/790 || 64K ||
|}

==Further reading==

* Severo M. Ornstein, [https://archive.computerhistory.org/resources/access/text/2019/03/102785079-05-01-acc.pdf ''Computing in the Middle Ages: A View From the Trenches 1955-1983''] (AuthorHouse, 2002) - Considerable detail about the development of the LINC
* C. Gordon Bell and John E. McNamara, [http://gordonbell.azurewebsites.net/Computer_Engineering/00000197.htm The PDP-8 and Other 12-Bit Computers], in C. Gordon Bell, J. Craig Mudge, John. E. McNamara, ''Computer Engineering: A DEC View of Hardware Systems Design'', Digital Press, Bedford, 1978 - The LINC and its descendants

==External links==

* Wesley A. Clark, [https://www.digibarn.com/stories/linc/documents/LINC-Personal-Workstation/LINC-Personal-Workstation.pdf ''The LINC Was Early and Small''] [[Association for Computing Machinery|ACM]], Proceedings of the ACM Conference on the History of Personal Workstations, 1986, pp. 133-155 - lengthy personal memoir; also covers the [[TX-0]]
* LINC at Bitsavers:
** [http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/mit/linc/ MIT]
** [http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/washingtonUniversity/linc/ Washington University]
***[http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/washingtonUniversity/linc/LINC_Documents/LD27_Users_Guide_to_LINC_Variants_Jun68.pdf User's Guide to LINC Variants] - covers the Classic LINC, SPear, and LINC-8 models
** [http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/dec/linc/ DEC]
*** [http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/dec/linc/LINC_Brochure_May65.pdf LINC Brochure]
** [http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/mit/linc/Spear_Micro-LINC-300_Feb68.jpg Micro-LINC-300] - SPear 
** [http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/artronix/Artronix_PC12_Brochure_1975.pdf PC-12/7 Interactive Computer System] - Artronix
* [https://www.digibarn.com/stories/linc/ DigiBarn Stories: The LINC, A History and Restoration (a 45 Year Retrospective)]
** [https://www.digibarn.com/collections/systems/linc/index.html Digibarn Systems: The LINC - Laboratory INstrument Computer The World's First Personal Computer]
* [https://digitalcommons.wustl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1022&context=bcl_progress Progress Report No. 9], Biomedical Computer Laboratory, Washington University School of Medicine, 1973 - lengthy report coving much beyond the LINC work, including much of the work done with the LINC

[[Category: Minicomputers]]
[[Category: Personal Computers]]
[[Category: 12-bit Computers]]

LINC

2025-10-28T11:20:03Z

Larsbrinkhoff: /* Models */ Add "alpha" Linc.

The '''LINC (Laboratory INstrument Computer)''' was an early small computer (considered by many to be the first [[minicomputer]]), designed for use in laboratory environments (initially in biomedical research), and a distant descendent of the [[Whirlwind]] computer. The goal was to provide a computer for exclusive use by a single user; it is thus considered by many to be an important forerunner to the [[personal computer]].

It provided [[real-time]] capabilities, along with [[analog]] input, a small [[video display]] screen, and a pair of small [[magnetic tape drive]]s called [[LINC tape]]s (the latter being an integral part of the machine, not an optional [[peripheral]]). It was a 12-bit computer, built out of [[Digital Equipment Corporation|DEC]] [[System Module|System Building Blocks]]. The initial version had only 1024 words of [[core memory]]; it was later expanded to 2048 words.

==History==

It was designed starting in 1960 by [[Wesley A. Clark]] (who conceived of the basic concept of the machine); he had considerable design assistance from Charles Molnar. The prototype first ran in March of 1962; the first batch of machines were completed in a workshop for their eventual users held in the summer of 1963.

The project started at [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology|MIT]]'s [[Lincoln Laboratory]], then moved to MIT itself in January 1963 (because a switch to funding from NIH didn't interact well with Lincoln Labs' Air Force funding); after a big political fight at MIT over control, the project moved out to Washington University in St. Louis in the summer of 1964.

It was originally named the '''Linc''', from the project's origins, but was re-named to 'LINC'.

It became a product for DEC, which sold both the original, and several descendants: the [[LINC-8]], and later its replacement, the [[PDP-12]].

Spear, Inc made the μ-LINC 1 and micro-LINC 300.

Artronix made the PC-12, a LINC with 4K memory and an "origin register" for address relocation.

==Models==

{| class="wikitable"
! Year || Manufacturer || Model || Memory || Instruction cycle time
|-
| 1962 || Lincoln Labs || Alpha Linc || 1K || 8 μs
|-
| 1963 || Lincoln Labs || Linc || 1K || 8 μs
|-
| 1965 || MIT || Classic LINC || 2K || 8 μs
|-
| 1965 || Spear || μ-LINC 1 || 4K || 8 μs
|-
| 1968 || Spear || micro-LINC 300 || 32K || 1 μs
|-
| 1966 || DEC || LINC-8 || 4K || 1.5 μs
|-
| 1969 || DEC || PDP-12 || 4K (expandable to 32K) || 1.2 μs
|-
| 1972 || Artronix || PC-1200 || ||
|-
| 1975 || Artronix || PC-12/710 || 8K ||
|-
| 1975 || Artronix || PC-12/730 || 16K ||
|-
| 1975 || Artronix || PC-12/750 || 32K ||
|-
| 1975 || Artronix || PC-12/770 || 48K ||
|-
| 1975 || Artronix || PC-12/790 || 64K ||
|}

==Further reading==

* Severo M. Ornstein, [https://archive.computerhistory.org/resources/access/text/2019/03/102785079-05-01-acc.pdf ''Computing in the Middle Ages: A View From the Trenches 1955-1983''] (AuthorHouse, 2002) - Considerable detail about the development of the LINC
* C. Gordon Bell and John E. McNamara, [http://gordonbell.azurewebsites.net/Computer_Engineering/00000197.htm The PDP-8 and Other 12-Bit Computers], in C. Gordon Bell, J. Craig Mudge, John. E. McNamara, ''Computer Engineering: A DEC View of Hardware Systems Design'', Digital Press, Bedford, 1978 - The LINC and its descendants

==External links==

* Wesley A. Clark, [https://www.digibarn.com/stories/linc/documents/LINC-Personal-Workstation/LINC-Personal-Workstation.pdf ''The LINC Was Early and Small''] [[Association for Computing Machinery|ACM]], Proceedings of the ACM Conference on the History of Personal Workstations, 1986, pp. 133-155 - lengthy personal memoir; also covers the [[TX-0]]
* LINC at Bitsavers:
** [http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/mit/linc/ MIT]
** [http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/washingtonUniversity/linc/ Washington University]
***[http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/washingtonUniversity/linc/LINC_Documents/LD27_Users_Guide_to_LINC_Variants_Jun68.pdf User's Guide to LINC Variants] - covers the Classic LINC, SPear, and LINC-8 models
** [http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/dec/linc/ DEC]
*** [http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/dec/linc/LINC_Brochure_May65.pdf LINC Brochure]
** [http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/mit/linc/Spear_Micro-LINC-300_Feb68.jpg Micro-LINC-300] - SPear 
** [http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/artronix/Artronix_PC12_Brochure_1975.pdf PC-12/7 Interactive Computer System] - Artronix
* [https://www.digibarn.com/stories/linc/ DigiBarn Stories: The LINC, A History and Restoration (a 45 Year Retrospective)]
** [https://www.digibarn.com/collections/systems/linc/index.html Digibarn Systems: The LINC - Laboratory INstrument Computer The World's First Personal Computer]
* [https://digitalcommons.wustl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1022&context=bcl_progress Progress Report No. 9], Biomedical Computer Laboratory, Washington University School of Medicine, 1973 - lengthy report coving much beyond the LINC work, including much of the work done with the LINC

[[Category: Minicomputers]]
[[Category: Personal Computers]]
[[Category: 12-bit Computers]]

APEX

2025-10-07T11:09:15Z

Larsbrinkhoff: /* External links */ Direct link to PDF.

[[Time-sharing]] [[operating system]] for [[TX-2]].

{{stub}}

==External links==

* [https://dl.acm.org/doi/pdf/10.1145/1463891.1463956 A time- and memory-sharing executive program for quick-response on-line applications]

[[Category:Operating Systems]]

APEX

2025-10-07T11:04:59Z

Larsbrinkhoff: Link to paper. Sci-hub later?

[[Time-sharing]] [[operating system]] for [[TX-2]].

{{stub}}

==External links==

* [https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/1463891.1463956 A time- and memory-sharing executive program for quick-response on-line applications]

[[Category:Operating Systems]]

LINC

2025-10-07T06:25:25Z

Larsbrinkhoff: /* Models */ Speed.

The '''LINC (Laboratory INstrument Computer)''' was an early small computer (considered by many to be the first [[minicomputer]]), designed for use in laboratory environments (initially in biomedical research), and a distant descendent of the [[Whirlwind]] computer. The goal was to provide a computer for exclusive use by a single user; it is thus considered by many to be an important forerunner to the [[personal computer]].

It provided [[real-time]] capabilities, along with [[analog]] input, a small [[video display]] screen, and a pair of small [[magnetic tape drive]]s called [[LINC tape]]s (the latter being an integral part of the machine, not an optional [[peripheral]]). It was a 12-bit computer, built out of [[Digital Equipment Corporation|DEC]] [[System Module|System Building Blocks]]. The initial version had only 1024 words of [[core memory]]; it was later expanded to 2048 words.

==History==

It was designed starting in 1960 by [[Wesley A. Clark]] (who conceived of the basic concept of the machine); he had considerable design assistance from Charles Molnar. The prototype first ran in March of 1962; the first batch of machines were completed in a workshop for their eventual users held in the summer of 1963.

The project started at [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology|MIT]]'s [[Lincoln Laboratory]], then moved to MIT itself in January 1963 (because a switch to funding from NIH didn't interact well with Lincoln Labs' Air Force funding); after a big political fight at MIT over control, the project moved out to Washington University in St. Louis in the summer of 1964.

It was originally named the '''Linc''', from the project's origins, but was re-named to 'LINC'.

It became a product for DEC, which sold both the original, and several descendants: the [[LINC-8]], and later its replacement, the [[PDP-12]].

Spear, Inc made the μ-LINC 1 and micro-LINC 300.

Artronix made the PC-12, a LINC with 4K memory and an "origin register" for address relocation.

==Models==

{| class="wikitable"
! Year || Manufacturer || Model || Memory || Instruction cycle time
|-
| 1963 || Lincoln Labs || LINC || 1K || 8 μs
|-
| 1965 || MIT || LINC || 2K || 8 μs
|-
| 1965 || Spear || μ-LINC 1 || 4K || 8 μs
|-
| 1968 || Spear || micro-LINC 300 || 32K || 1 μs
|-
| 1966 || DEC || LINC-8 || 4K || 1.5 μs
|-
| 1969 || DEC || PDP-12 || 4K (expandable to 32K) || 1.2 μs
|-
| 1972 || Artronix || PC-1200 || ||
|-
| 1975 || Artronix || PC-12/710 || 8K ||
|-
| 1975 || Artronix || PC-12/730 || 16K ||
|-
| 1975 || Artronix || PC-12/750 || 32K ||
|-
| 1975 || Artronix || PC-12/770 || 48K ||
|-
| 1975 || Artronix || PC-12/790 || 64K ||
|}

==Further reading==

* Severo M. Ornstein, [https://archive.computerhistory.org/resources/access/text/2019/03/102785079-05-01-acc.pdf ''Computing in the Middle Ages: A View From the Trenches 1955-1983''] (AuthorHouse, 2002) - Considerable detail about the development of the LINC

==External links==

* C. Gordon Bell and John E. McNamara, [http://gordonbell.azurewebsites.net/Computer_Engineering/00000197.htm The PDP-8 and Other 12-Bit Computers], in C. Gordon Bell, J. Craig Mudge, John. E. McNamara, ''Computer Engineering: A DEC View of Hardware Systems Design'', Digital Press, Bedford, 1978 - The LINC and its descendants
* [https://www.digibarn.com/stories/linc/documents/LINC-Personal-Workstation/LINC-Personal-Workstation.pdf The LINC Was Early and Small] - lengthy personal memoir by Wesley Clark; also covers the [[TX-0]]
* LINC at Bitsavers:
** [http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/dec/linc/ DEC]
*** [http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/dec/linc/LINC_Brochure_May65.pdf LINC Brochure]
** [http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/mit/linc/ MIT]
** [http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/washingtonUniversity/linc/ Washington University]
***[http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/washingtonUniversity/linc/LINC_Documents/LD27_Users_Guide_to_LINC_Variants_Jun68.pdf User's Gudie to LINC Variants]
** [http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/mit/linc/Spear_Micro-LINC-300_Feb68.jpg Micro-LINC-300]
* http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/artronix/Artronix_PC12_Brochure_1975.pdf
* [https://digitalcommons.wustl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1022&context=bcl_progress Washington University School of Medicine, Biomedical Computer Laboratory; Progress Report No. 9]

[[Category: Minicomputers]]
[[Category: Personal Computers]]
[[Category: 12-bit Computers]]

LINC

2025-10-07T06:17:07Z

Larsbrinkhoff: /* Models */ Clean up.

The '''LINC (Laboratory INstrument Computer)''' was an early small computer (considered by many to be the first [[minicomputer]]), designed for use in laboratory environments (initially in biomedical research), and a distant descendent of the [[Whirlwind]] computer. The goal was to provide a computer for exclusive use by a single user; it is thus considered by many to be an important forerunner to the [[personal computer]].

It provided [[real-time]] capabilities, along with [[analog]] input, a small [[video display]] screen, and a pair of small [[magnetic tape drive]]s called [[LINC tape]]s (the latter being an integral part of the machine, not an optional [[peripheral]]). It was a 12-bit computer, built out of [[Digital Equipment Corporation|DEC]] [[System Module|System Building Blocks]]. The initial version had only 1024 words of [[core memory]]; it was later expanded to 2048 words.

==History==

It was designed starting in 1960 by [[Wesley A. Clark]] (who conceived of the basic concept of the machine); he had considerable design assistance from Charles Molnar. The prototype first ran in March of 1962; the first batch of machines were completed in a workshop for their eventual users held in the summer of 1963.

The project started at [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology|MIT]]'s [[Lincoln Laboratory]], then moved to MIT itself in January 1963 (because a switch to funding from NIH didn't interact well with Lincoln Labs' Air Force funding); after a big political fight at MIT over control, the project moved out to Washington University in St. Louis in the summer of 1964.

It was originally named the '''Linc''', from the project's origins, but was re-named to 'LINC'.

It became a product for DEC, which sold both the original, and several descendants: the [[LINC-8]], and later its replacement, the [[PDP-12]].

Spear, Inc made the μ-LINC 1 and micro-LINC 300.

Artronix made the PC-12, a LINC with 4K memory and an "origin register" for address relocation.

==Models==

{| class="wikitable"
! Year || Manufacturer || Model || Memory
|-
| 1963 || Lincoln Labs || LINC || 1K
|-
| 1965 || MIT || LINC || 2K
|-
| 1965 || Spear || μ-LINC 1 || 4K
|-
| 1968 || Spear || micro-LINC 300 || 32K
|-
| 1966 || DEC || LINC-8 || 4K
|-
| 1969 || DEC || PDP-12 || 4K (expandable to 32K)
|-
| 1972 || Artronix || PC-1200 ||
|-
| 1975 || Artronix || PC-12/710 || 8K
|-
| 1975 || Artronix || PC-12/730 || 16K
|-
| 1975 || Artronix || PC-12/750 || 32K
|-
| 1975 || Artronix || PC-12/770 || 48K
|-
| 1975 || Artronix || PC-12/790 || 64K
|}

==Further reading==

* Severo M. Ornstein, [https://archive.computerhistory.org/resources/access/text/2019/03/102785079-05-01-acc.pdf ''Computing in the Middle Ages: A View From the Trenches 1955-1983''] (AuthorHouse, 2002) - Considerable detail about the development of the LINC

==External links==

* C. Gordon Bell and John E. McNamara, [http://gordonbell.azurewebsites.net/Computer_Engineering/00000197.htm The PDP-8 and Other 12-Bit Computers], in C. Gordon Bell, J. Craig Mudge, John. E. McNamara, ''Computer Engineering: A DEC View of Hardware Systems Design'', Digital Press, Bedford, 1978 - The LINC and its descendants
* [https://www.digibarn.com/stories/linc/documents/LINC-Personal-Workstation/LINC-Personal-Workstation.pdf The LINC Was Early and Small] - lengthy personal memoir by Wesley Clark; also covers the [[TX-0]]
* LINC at Bitsavers:
** [http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/dec/linc/ DEC]
*** [http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/dec/linc/LINC_Brochure_May65.pdf LINC Brochure]
** [http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/mit/linc/ MIT]
** [http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/washingtonUniversity/linc/ Washington University]
***[http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/washingtonUniversity/linc/LINC_Documents/LD27_Users_Guide_to_LINC_Variants_Jun68.pdf User's Gudie to LINC Variants]
** [http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/mit/linc/Spear_Micro-LINC-300_Feb68.jpg Micro-LINC-300]
* http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/artronix/Artronix_PC12_Brochure_1975.pdf
* [https://digitalcommons.wustl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1022&context=bcl_progress Washington University School of Medicine, Biomedical Computer Laboratory; Progress Report No. 9]

[[Category: Minicomputers]]
[[Category: Personal Computers]]
[[Category: 12-bit Computers]]

LINC

2025-10-07T06:16:53Z

Larsbrinkhoff: First pass at listing the various models.

The '''LINC (Laboratory INstrument Computer)''' was an early small computer (considered by many to be the first [[minicomputer]]), designed for use in laboratory environments (initially in biomedical research), and a distant descendent of the [[Whirlwind]] computer. The goal was to provide a computer for exclusive use by a single user; it is thus considered by many to be an important forerunner to the [[personal computer]].

It provided [[real-time]] capabilities, along with [[analog]] input, a small [[video display]] screen, and a pair of small [[magnetic tape drive]]s called [[LINC tape]]s (the latter being an integral part of the machine, not an optional [[peripheral]]). It was a 12-bit computer, built out of [[Digital Equipment Corporation|DEC]] [[System Module|System Building Blocks]]. The initial version had only 1024 words of [[core memory]]; it was later expanded to 2048 words.

==History==

It was designed starting in 1960 by [[Wesley A. Clark]] (who conceived of the basic concept of the machine); he had considerable design assistance from Charles Molnar. The prototype first ran in March of 1962; the first batch of machines were completed in a workshop for their eventual users held in the summer of 1963.

The project started at [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology|MIT]]'s [[Lincoln Laboratory]], then moved to MIT itself in January 1963 (because a switch to funding from NIH didn't interact well with Lincoln Labs' Air Force funding); after a big political fight at MIT over control, the project moved out to Washington University in St. Louis in the summer of 1964.

It was originally named the '''Linc''', from the project's origins, but was re-named to 'LINC'.

It became a product for DEC, which sold both the original, and several descendants: the [[LINC-8]], and later its replacement, the [[PDP-12]].

Spear, Inc made the μ-LINC 1 and micro-LINC 300.

Artronix made the PC-12, a LINC with 4K memory and an "origin register" for address relocation.

==Models==

LINC
LINC
μ-LINC 1
micro-LINC 300
LINC-8
PDP-12
PC-12/710

{| class="wikitable"
! Year || Manufacturer || Model || Memory
|-
| 1963 || Lincoln Labs || LINC || 1K
|-
| 1965 || MIT || LINC || 2K
|-
| 1965 || Spear || μ-LINC 1 || 4K
|-
| 1968 || Spear || micro-LINC 300 || 32K
|-
| 1966 || DEC || LINC-8 || 4K
|-
| 1969 || DEC || PDP-12 || 4K (expandable to 32K)
|-
| 1972 || Artronix || PC-1200 ||
|-
| 1975 || Artronix || PC-12/710 || 8K
|-
| 1975 || Artronix || PC-12/730 || 16K
|-
| 1975 || Artronix || PC-12/750 || 32K
|-
| 1975 || Artronix || PC-12/770 || 48K
|-
| 1975 || Artronix || PC-12/790 || 64K
|}

==Further reading==

* Severo M. Ornstein, [https://archive.computerhistory.org/resources/access/text/2019/03/102785079-05-01-acc.pdf ''Computing in the Middle Ages: A View From the Trenches 1955-1983''] (AuthorHouse, 2002) - Considerable detail about the development of the LINC

==External links==

* C. Gordon Bell and John E. McNamara, [http://gordonbell.azurewebsites.net/Computer_Engineering/00000197.htm The PDP-8 and Other 12-Bit Computers], in C. Gordon Bell, J. Craig Mudge, John. E. McNamara, ''Computer Engineering: A DEC View of Hardware Systems Design'', Digital Press, Bedford, 1978 - The LINC and its descendants
* [https://www.digibarn.com/stories/linc/documents/LINC-Personal-Workstation/LINC-Personal-Workstation.pdf The LINC Was Early and Small] - lengthy personal memoir by Wesley Clark; also covers the [[TX-0]]
* LINC at Bitsavers:
** [http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/dec/linc/ DEC]
*** [http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/dec/linc/LINC_Brochure_May65.pdf LINC Brochure]
** [http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/mit/linc/ MIT]
** [http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/washingtonUniversity/linc/ Washington University]
***[http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/washingtonUniversity/linc/LINC_Documents/LD27_Users_Guide_to_LINC_Variants_Jun68.pdf User's Gudie to LINC Variants]
** [http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/mit/linc/Spear_Micro-LINC-300_Feb68.jpg Micro-LINC-300]
* http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/artronix/Artronix_PC12_Brochure_1975.pdf
* [https://digitalcommons.wustl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1022&context=bcl_progress Washington University School of Medicine, Biomedical Computer Laboratory; Progress Report No. 9]

[[Category: Minicomputers]]
[[Category: Personal Computers]]
[[Category: 12-bit Computers]]

FX-1

2025-10-06T07:40:36Z

Larsbrinkhoff: Stub.

The '''FX-1''' (supposedly '''Film Experiment 1''') was an experimental computer created at [[Lincoln Laboratory]] to test magnetic film memory technology. It followed the [[TX-0]] and [[TX-2]] transistor experiments - the latter had a small film memory. The 12-bit design of the FX-1 perhaps inspired the [[LINC]].

{{stub}}

==External links==

* https://bitsavers.org/magazines/Computers_And_Automation/196110.pdf#page=9
* http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/mit/whirlwind/history/WW_in_ONR_Newsletters.pdf#page=16
* https://bitsavers.org/pdf/afips/1962-05_%2321.pdf#page=117

[[Category: 12-bit Computers]]

LINC

2025-10-06T06:34:50Z

Larsbrinkhoff: Laboratory INstrument Computer.

LINC

2025-10-03T05:35:17Z

Larsbrinkhoff: /* History */ Artronix PC-12.

The '''LINC (Laboratory INstrument Computer)''' was a early small computer (considered by many to be the first [[minicomputer]]), designed for use in laboratory environments (initially in biomedical research), and a distant descendent of the [[Whirlwind]] computer. The goal was to provide a computer for exclusive use by a single user; it is thus considered by many to be an important forerunner to the [[personal computer]].

It provided real time capabilities, along with [[analog]] input, a small [[video display]] screen, and a pair of small [[magnetic tape drive]]s called [[LINC tape]]s (the latter being an integral part of the machine, not an optional [[peripheral]]). It was a 12-bit computer, built out of [[Digital Equipment Corporation|DEC]] [[System Module|System Building Blocks]]. The initial version had only 1024 words of [[core memory]]; it was later expanded to 2048 words.

==History==

It was designed starting in 1960 by [[Wesley A. Clark]] (who conceived of the basic concept of the machine); he had considerable design assistance from Charles Molnar. The prototype first ran in Match of 1962; the first batch of machines were completed in a workshop for their eventual users held in the summer of 1963.

The project started at [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology|MIT]]'s [[Lincoln Laboratory]], then moved to MIT itself in January 1963 (because a switch to funding from NIH didn't interact well with Lincoln Labs' Air Force funding); after a big political fight at MIT over control, the project moved out to Washington University in St. Louis in the summer of 1964.

It was originally named the '''Linc''', from the project's origins, but was re-named to 'LINC'.

It became a product for DEC, which sold both the original, and several descendants: the [[LINC-8]], and later its replacement, the [[PDP-12]].

Spear, Inc made the μ-LINC 1 and micro-LINC 300.

Artronix made the PC-12, a LINC with 4K memory and an "origin register" for address relocation.

==Further reading==

* Severo M. Ornstein, [https://archive.computerhistory.org/resources/access/text/2019/03/102785079-05-01-acc.pdf ''Computing in the Middle Ages: A View From the Trenches 1955-1983''] (AuthorHouse, 2002) - Considerable detail about the development of the LINC

==External links==

* C. Gordon Bell and John E. McNamara, [http://gordonbell.azurewebsites.net/Computer_Engineering/00000197.htm The PDP-8 and Other 12-Bit Computers], in C. Gordon Bell, J. Craig Mudge, John. E. McNamara, ''Computer Engineering: A DEC View of Hardware Systems Design'', Digital Press, Bedford, 1978 - The LINC and its descendants
* [https://www.digibarn.com/stories/linc/documents/LINC-Personal-Workstation/LINC-Personal-Workstation.pdf The LINC Was Early and Small] - lengthy personal memoir by Wesley Clark; also covers the [[TX-0]]
* LINC at Bitsavers:
** [http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/dec/linc/ DEC]
*** [http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/dec/linc/LINC_Brochure_May65.pdf LINC Brochure]
** [http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/mit/linc/ MIT]
** [http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/washingtonUniversity/linc/ Washington University]
***[http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/washingtonUniversity/linc/LINC_Documents/LD27_Users_Guide_to_LINC_Variants_Jun68.pdf User's Gudie to LINC Variants]
** [http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/mit/linc/Spear_Micro-LINC-300_Feb68.jpg Micro-LINC-300]

[[Category: Minicomputers]]
[[Category: Personal Computers]]
[[Category: 12-bit Computers]]