Time-sharing - Revision history

Jnc: /* External links */ +AFIPS

2025-09-30T15:41:13Z

‎External links: +AFIPS

Jnc: /* External links */ +An Experimental Time-Sharing System

2025-09-30T15:20:09Z

‎External links: +An Experimental Time-Sharing System

Jnc: +links, avoid redirs

2023-01-23T00:53:49Z

+links, avoid redirs

Jnc: Avoid dab

2022-09-09T13:10:06Z

Avoid dab

Jnc: /* External links */ +JMc's 'Reminiscences'

2022-02-16T02:34:48Z

‎External links: +JMc's 'Reminiscences'

Jnc: /* External links */ +Les Earnest history memo

2021-08-20T12:52:17Z

‎External links: +Les Earnest history memo

Jnc: +cat

2018-12-16T21:16:48Z

+cat

Jnc: /* History */ clarify

2018-04-15T18:39:41Z

‎History: clarify

Jnc: Add some history

2017-11-11T01:50:24Z

Add some history

Jnc: link B+B

2017-09-27T11:59:59Z

link B+B

@@ Line 26: / Line 26: @@
 * John McCarthy, [http://www-formal.stanford.edu/jmc/history/timesharing/timesharing.html Reminiscences on the History of Time Sharing]
 * Les Earnest, [https://web.stanford.edu/~learnest/nets/timesharing.htm Who Invented Timesharing?] - archived [https://web.archive.org/web/20181004223857/https://web.stanford.edu/~learnest/nets/timesharing.htm here]
-* Fernando J. Corbato, Marjorie Merwin-Daggett, Robert C. Daley, [https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/1460833.1460871 ''An Experimental Time-Sharing System''], Spring Joint Computer Conference, 1962, pp. 335–344.
+* Fernando J. Corbato, Marjorie Merwin-Daggett, Robert C. Daley, [https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/1460833.1460871 ''An Experimental Time-Sharing System''], [[AFIPS]], Spring Joint Computer Conference, 1962, pp. 335–344.
 [[Category: OS Basics]]

@@ Line 23: / Line 23: @@
 ==External links==
-* [http://www-formal.stanford.edu/jmc/history/timesharing-memo.html Memorandum to P. M. Morse Proposing Time Sharing]
+* John McCarthy, [http://www-formal.stanford.edu/jmc/history/timesharing-memo.html ''Memorandum to P. M. Morse Proposing Time Sharing'']
-* [http://www-formal.stanford.edu/jmc/history/timesharing/timesharing.html Reminiscences on the History of Time Sharing]
+* John McCarthy, [http://www-formal.stanford.edu/jmc/history/timesharing/timesharing.html Reminiscences on the History of Time Sharing]
-* [https://web.stanford.edu/~learnest/nets/timesharing.htm Who Invented Timesharing?]
+* Les Earnest, [https://web.stanford.edu/~learnest/nets/timesharing.htm Who Invented Timesharing?] - archived [https://web.archive.org/web/20181004223857/https://web.stanford.edu/~learnest/nets/timesharing.htm here]
 [[Category: OS Basics]]

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-'''Time-sharing''' refers to an [[operating system]] which allows the use of a single computer in real time by multiple users at the same time - as opposed to the earlier [[batch operating system]]s, in which users submitted 'jobs', which were run, after which the results (print-out, etc) were returned to them.
+'''Time-sharing''' refers to an [[operating system]] which allows the use of a single computer by multiple [[user]]s at the same time - as opposed to the earlier [[batch operating system]]s, in which users submitted '[[job]]s', which were run, after which the results (print-out, etc) were returned to them.
-With the growth of the [[personal computer]], most computers are no longer used in this way. However, the technical features needed to allow time-sharing (e.g. support for multiple [[process]]es running simultaneously) are such that current OS's are effectively time-sharing OS's. (In fact, some of the most common current ones, such as [[Unix]] and its descendants, such as [[Linux]], started off as actual time-sharing OS's.)
+With the growth of the [[personal computer]], most computers are no longer used in this way. However, the technical features needed to allow time-sharing (e.g. support for multiple [[process]]es running simultaneously) are such that current OS's are effectively time-sharing OS's. (In fact, some of the most common current ones, such as [[UNIX]] and its descendants, such as [[Linux]], started off as actual time-sharing OS's.)
 ==Technical details==
-Most time-sharing OS's relied upon hardware features to prevent one user (or process) from interfering with another. These features typically included the provision of two modes for the CPU, a 'user' mode in which users ran, and a 'kernel' or 'executive' mode, used by the OS - the former had restricted capabilities (e.g. it was usually not able to peform I/O operations).
+Most time-sharing OS's relied upon hardware features to prevent one user (or process) from interfering with another. These features typically included the provision of two modes for the [[Central Processing Unit|CPU]], a 'user' mode in which users ran, and a 'kernel' or 'executive' mode, used by the OS - the former had restricted capabilities (e.g. it was usually not able to perform [[input/output|I/O]] operations).
-Memory protection (originally, usually [[base and bounds]] [[register]]s) were also used, to prevent a rogue or erroneous used program from damaging other users, or the OS itself. In later machines, [[virtual memory]] included this functionality.
+[[Memory management|Memory protection]] (originally, usually [[base and bounds]] [[register]]s) was also used, to prevent a rogue or erroneous used program from damaging other users, or the OS itself. In later machines, [[virtual memory]] included this functionality.
-However, it was not essential to have hardware support for time-sharing; in computers which provided only an interpreted language (such as [[BASIC]], in the [[RSTS-11]] OS), the interpreter could keep the users from interfering with each other.
+However, it was not essential to have hardware support for time-sharing; in computers which provided only an [[interpreter|interpreted]] [[programming language|language]] (such as [[BASIC]], in the [[RSTS-11]] OS), the interpreter could keep the users from interfering with each other.
 One hardware feature which was essential was a clock which could [[interrupt]] the computer; this prevented one user's process from going into a [[loop]] and monopolizing the machine.
@@ Line 15: / Line 15: @@
 ==History==
-'Time-sharing' was a concept much discussed at the end of the 1950's, but there was no general agreement at that point on the modern meaning; e.g. Christopher Strachey used it to mean a computer which was mostly running a mix of batch jobs (a mix, so that [[Central Processing Unit|CPU]] time was not wasted while some jobs were waiting for I/O), but made provision for one user to debug a program.
+'Time-sharing' was a concept much discussed at the end of the 1950's, but there was no general agreement at that point on the modern meaning; e.g. Christopher Strachey used it to mean a [[mainframe]] computer which was mostly running a mix of batch jobs (a mix, so that CPU time was not wasted while some jobs were waiting for I/O), but made provision for one user to [[debug]] a program.
-One person who clearly visualized the utility of multiple users being able to interact with a computer in real-time was John McCarthy (then of [[MIT]]), who in January 1959 wrote an influential memo which described clearly how the productivity of programmers would be greatly improved by time-sharing (in the modern sense). This eventually led to MIT building [[CTSS]], the first time-sharing OS to go into production service.
+One person who clearly visualized the utility of multiple users being able to interact with such a computer in real-time was John McCarthy (then of [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology|MIT]]), who in January 1959 wrote an influential memo which described clearly how the productivity of programmers would be greatly improved by time-sharing (in the modern sense). This eventually led to MIT building [[Compatible Time-Sharing System|CTSS]], the first time-sharing OS to go into production service.
 ==External links==

← Older revision		Revision as of 13:10, 9 September 2022
Line 1:		Line 1:
−	'''Time-sharing''' refers to an [[operating system]] which allows the use of a single computer in real time by multiple users at the same time - as opposed to the ~~ealier~~ [[batch]] ~~operating systems~~, in which users submitted 'jobs', which were run, after which the results (print-out, etc) were returned to them.	+	'''Time-sharing''' refers to an [[operating system]] which allows the use of a single computer in real time by multiple users at the same time - as opposed to the earlier [[batch operating system]]s, in which users submitted 'jobs', which were run, after which the results (print-out, etc) were returned to them.

	With the growth of the [[personal computer]], most computers are no longer used in this way. However, the technical features needed to allow time-sharing (e.g. support for multiple [[process]]es running simultaneously) are such that current OS's are effectively time-sharing OS's. (In fact, some of the most common current ones, such as [[Unix]] and its descendants, such as [[Linux]], started off as actual time-sharing OS's.)		With the growth of the [[personal computer]], most computers are no longer used in this way. However, the technical features needed to allow time-sharing (e.g. support for multiple [[process]]es running simultaneously) are such that current OS's are effectively time-sharing OS's. (In fact, some of the most common current ones, such as [[Unix]] and its descendants, such as [[Linux]], started off as actual time-sharing OS's.)

@@ Line 22: / Line 22: @@
 * [http://www-formal.stanford.edu/jmc/history/timesharing-memo.html Memorandum to P. M. Morse Proposing Time Sharing]
 * [https://web.stanford.edu/~learnest/nets/timesharing.htm Who Invented Timesharing?]
 [[Category: OS Basics]]

← Older revision		Revision as of 21:16, 16 December 2018
Line 22:		Line 22:

	* [http://www-formal.stanford.edu/jmc/history/timesharing-memo.html Memorandum to P. M. Morse Proposing Time Sharing]		* [http://www-formal.stanford.edu/jmc/history/timesharing-memo.html Memorandum to P. M. Morse Proposing Time Sharing]
		+
		+	[[Category: OS Basics]]