UNIX/370

From Computer History Wiki
Jump to navigationJump to search
The printable version is no longer supported and may have rendering errors. Please update your browser bookmarks and please use the default browser print function instead.

UNIX/370 was the name adopted by two separate efforts to run UNIX on an IBM System/370 class machine.

The first, at Bell Laboratories, ran Unix Seventh Edition as a 'supervisor' to user processes, under the TSS/370 Resident Supervisor. This approach, instead of running it directly on the bare hardware, was taken because System/370 machines had characteristics which made doing so un-attractive. For one, the I/O system of the System/370 was quite complex, with a large number of channels, device controllers, and devices, which could be interconnected in multiple ways. For another, IBM field service expected the operating system to provide error logs in a particular format, which UNIX running on the bare hardware would have to provide. The TSS-based approach was successful, and Bell ran the result on a number of large System/370 machines.

The second, originally at Princeton University, proposed to run UNIX Sixth Edition under VM/370; this was made to run in a preliminary manner. The project then moved (along with its progenitor) to Amdahl, where it ran on an Amdahl 470V/6, under VM/370; the result was named 'Au'. (Amdahl later got UNIX Version 7, and then announced Amdahl UTS.)

External links