List of Archived Posts

2013 Newsgroup Postings (10/30 - 12/06)

'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamation made 30yearsagotoday
IBM board OK repurchase of another $15B of stock
'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamation made 30yearsagotoday
50th anniversary S/360 coming up
50th anniversary S/360 coming up
copyright, was Re: 'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamation made 30 yearsagotoday
ACA (Obamacare) website problems--article
50th anniversary S/360 coming up
copyright, was Re: 'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamation made 30 yearsagotoday
America's Defense Amnesia
Why the Death of the Tank Is Greatly Exaggerated
50th anniversary S/360 coming up
How the IETF plans to protect the web from NSA snooping
Bounded pointers
IBM board OK repurchase of another $15B of stock
Boyd Blasphemy: Justifying the F-35
z/OS is antique WAS: Aging Sysprogs = Aging Farmers
z/OS is antique WAS: Aging Sysprogs = Aging Farmers
z/OS is antique WAS: Aging Sysprogs = Aging Farmers
z/OS is antique WAS: Aging Sysprogs = Aging Farmers
Despite Eight Ongoing Criminal/Civil Investigations of JPMorgan, the Bank's a Law Enforcement Partner With the NYPD
50th anniversary S/360 coming up
Aging Sysprogs = Aging Farmers
Serialization without Enque
Aging Sysprogs = Aging Farmers
magnetic disk heritage
SNA vs TCP/IP
SNA vs TCP/IP
SNA vs TCP/IP
SNA vs TCP/IP
SNA vs TCP/IP
SNA vs TCP/IP
rebuild 1403 printer chain
SNA vs TCP/IP
SNA vs TCP/IP
'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamation made30yearsagotoday
'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamationmade30yearsagotoday
'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamationmade30yearsagotoday
Making mainframe technology hip again
'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamation made30yearsagotoday
The Wall Street Code: HFT Whisteblower Haim Bodek on Algorithmic Trading
more tpp
Serialization without Enque
more tpp
'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamationmade30yearsagotoday
'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamationmade30yearsagotoday
'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamation made30yearsagotoday
'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamation made30yearsagotoday
'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamationmade30yearsagotoday
Google works on Internet standards with TCP proposals, SPDY standardization
'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamation made30yearsagotoday
more tpp
Bridgestone Sues IBM For $600 Million Over Allegedly 'Defective' System That Plunged The Company Into 'Chaos'
'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamationmade30yearsagotoday
rebuild 1403 printer chain
Behind the Pentagon's doctored ledgers, a running tally of epic waste
rebuild 1403 printer chain
rebuild 1403 printer chain
2 v 2 - How the Typhoon kills the F-35
'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamation made30yearsagotoday
Bridgestone Sues IBM For $600 Million Over Allegedly 'Defective' System That Plunged The Company Into 'Chaos'
Bet Cloud Computing to Win
'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamation made30yearsagotoday
torte reform, was 'Free Unix!' proclamationmade30yearsagotoday
z/OS is antique WAS: Aging Sysprogs = Aging Farmers
'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamation made30yearsagotoday
Half an operating system: The triumph and tragedy of OS/2
ACA (Obamacare) website problems--article
'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamation made30yearsagotoday
'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamation made30yearsagotoday
Teaching Smart People How to Learn
Wylie discernible patterns
In Command, but Out Of Control
Wylie discernible patterns
z/OS is antique WAS: Aging Sysprogs = Aging Farmers
'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamation made30yearsagotoday
A Little More on the Computer
'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamation made30yearsagotoday
wtf ? - was Catalog system for Unix et al
wtf ? - was Catalog system for Unix et al
'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamation made30yearsagotoday
'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamation made30yearsagotoday
'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamation made30yearsagotoday
'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamationmade30yearsagotoday
'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamationmade30yearsagotoday
U.S. Sidelined as Iraq Becomes Bloodier
A Little More on the Computer
Logics of Transformation
Microsoft, IBM lobbying seen killing key anti-patent troll proposal
Another Batch of Wall Street Villains Freed on Technicality
Elizabeth Warren Responds To Third Way Attack By Asking Wall Street To Disclose Ties
rebuild 1403 printer chain
'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamation made30yearsagotoday
'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamation made30yearsagotoday
z/OS is antique WAS: Aging Sysprogs = Aging Farmers
'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamationmade30yearsagotoday
What Makes a Tax System Bizarre?
ACA (Obamacare) website problems--article
ACA (Obamacare) website problems--article

'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamation made 30yearsagotoday

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From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Subject: Re: 'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamation made 30yearsagotoday
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Date: Wed, 30 Oct 2013 16:44:12 -0400
"yes its me" <yim89876@gmail.com> writes:
How odd that all those airline booking systems, banking systems, etc etc etc don't just use plain text files. There might just be a reason why they don't.

celebration for Jim Gray pointed out his formulization of transaction semantics significantly advanced computers for financial operations ... it gave the financial auditors higher level of confidence in the computer records.

misc. past posts mentioning original sql/relational implementation (including various references working with Jim Gray)
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/submain.html#systemr

I've periodically mentioned that there were various trade-offs made in system/r & RDBMS that made financial transactions (atm cash machines, electronic commerce, etc) more efficient.

on the other hand, I've previously posted about nearly 20yrs ago about being brought in to the largest airline res system to look at system and start with their ten "impossible" things for route/flight search/selection.

from 1950s, route/flight information was larger than could be fit in computer memory ... so process grew up lots of human effort to build indexed disk file of possible solutions (actually turns out restricted subset of possible solutions) ... a paradigm that continued to evolve over 40yr period.

I looked at it and realized that the complete flt information for all commercial airlines and all airports in the world could fit in 90s computer memory (orders of magnitude smaller than the database of restricted subset of possible solutions). Then with some optimization it was possible to do a search of the in-memory image of all flts and come up solutions in 1/100th pathlength of doing index file (dbms) lookup of restricted subset of possible solutions. With all the information, it was then possible to implement (and demonstrate) all ten impossible things ... and still be ten times faster pathlength than the index file lookup.

then came the hand-wringing ... it turns out that an organization of several hundred people had grown up around the care & feeding of the index file of restricted subset solutions ... which would be totally obsoleted (threatening large number of jobs ... including executives in charge). finally they said that they hadn't wanted me to actually fix the ten impossible things ... they had just wanted to tell the board of the parent company that I was working on it (turns out one of the board members had been an ibm executive that I had known 15yrs earlier).

a few past posts mentioning Jim Gray
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2007.html#1 "The Elements of Programming Style"
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2007.html#13 "The Elements of Programming Style"
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2007d.html#4 Jim Gray Is Missing
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2007d.html#6 Jim Gray Is Missing
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2007d.html#8 Jim Gray Is Missing
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2007d.html#17 Jim Gray Is Missing
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2007d.html#33 Jim Gray Is Missing
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2007e.html#4 The Genealogy of the IBM PC
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2007g.html#28 Jim Gray Is Missing
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2007i.html#68 A tribute to Jim Gray
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2007s.html#21 Ellison Looks Back As Oracle Turns 30
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2007v.html#42 Newbie question about db normalization theory: redundant keys OK?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2007v.html#43 distributed lock manager
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2008c.html#65 No Glory for the PDP-15
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2008d.html#25 Remembering The Search For Jim Gray, A Year Later
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2008e.html#16 Kernels
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2008h.html#79 Microsoft versus Digital Equipment Corporation
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2008i.html#32 A Tribute to Jim Gray: Sometimes Nice Guys Do Finish First
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2008i.html#36 A Tribute to Jim Gray: Sometimes Nice Guys Do Finish First
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2008i.html#37 American Airlines
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2008i.html#40 A Tribute to Jim Gray: Sometimes Nice Guys Do Finish First
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2008i.html#62 Ransomware
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2008i.html#63 DB2 25 anniversary
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2008i.html#63a DB2 25 anniversary: Birth Of An Accidental Empire
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2008i.html#70 Next Generation Security
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2008i.html#94 Lynn - You keep using the term "we" - who is "we"?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2008i.html#95 Accidentally Deleted or Overwrote Files?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2008i.html#97 We're losing the battle
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2008n.html#51 Baudot code direct to computers?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2008n.html#63 To what extent do IP networks meet the stringent requirements of High Availability (HA) where the target performance is 99.999%? What performance is obtained in practice
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2008p.html#27 Father Of Financial Dataprocessing
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2008s.html#77 Is SUN going to become x86'ed ??
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009.html#5 Is SUN going to become x86'ed ??
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009d.html#4 Why do IBMers think disks are 'Direct Access'?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009e.html#26 Microminiaturized Modules
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009g.html#18 Top 10 Cybersecurity Threats for 2009, will they cause creation of highly-secure Corporate-wide Intranets?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009i.html#29 Online Computer Conferencing
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009m.html#78 ATMs by the Numbers
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009n.html#19 Mainframe Hall of Fame: Three New Members Added
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009n.html#38 Cybersecurity Today: The Wild, Wild West
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009o.html#77 Is it time to stop research in Computer Architecture ?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009q.html#3 Arpanet
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009q.html#26 Check out Computer glitch to cause flight delays across U.S. - MarketWatch
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009q.html#28 Check out Computer glitch to cause flight delays across U.S. - MarketWatch
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009r.html#62 some '83 references to boyd
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009s.html#30 Larrabee delayed: anyone know what's happening?

a few past posts mentioning airline routes solution:
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/99.html#136a checks (was S/390 on PowerPC?)
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2000f.html#20 Competitors to SABRE?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2001d.html#69 Block oriented I/O over IP
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2002g.html#2 Computers in Science Fiction
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2002j.html#83 Summary: Robots of Doom
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2004b.html#6 Mainframe not a good architecture for interactive workloads
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2004o.html#23 Demo: Things in Hierarchies (w/o RM/SQL)
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2004q.html#85 The TransRelational Model: Performance Concerns
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2006o.html#18 RAMAC 305(?)
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2008i.html#19 American Airlines
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2008p.html#41 Automation is still not accepted to streamline the business processes... why organizations are not accepting newer technologies?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009q.html#10 The 50th Anniversary of the Legendary IBM 1401
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2010b.html#73 Happy DEC-10 Day
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2010b.html#74 Happy DEC-10 Day
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2010c.html#19 Processes' memory
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2010j.html#53 Article says mainframe most cost-efficient platform
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011c.html#42 If IBM Hadn't Bet the Company
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011d.html#43 Sabre; The First Online Reservation System
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011e.html#8 Multiple Virtual Memory
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012n.html#16 System/360--50 years--the future?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012n.html#59 history of Programming language and CPU in relation to each
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013g.html#87 Old data storage or data base

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

IBM board OK repurchase of another $15B of stock

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From: lynn@garlic.com
Subject: IBM board OK repurchase of another $15B of stock
Date: 31 Oct, 2013
Blog: IBMers
IBM board OK repurchase of another $15B of stock
http://phys.org/news/2013-10-ibm-board-repurchase-15b-stock.html

Stockman in "The Great Deformation: The Corruption of Capitalism in America" pg464/loc9995-10000:
IBM was not the born-again growth machine trumpeted by the mob of Wall Street momo traders. It was actually a stock buyback contraption on steroids. During the five years ending in fiscal 2011, the company spent a staggering $67 billion repurchasing its own shares, a figure that was equal to 100 percent of its net income.

pg465/10014-17:
Total shareholder distributions, including dividends, amounted to $82 billion, or 122 percent, of net income over this five-year period. Likewise, during the last five years IBM spent less on capital investment than its depreciation and amortization charges, and also shrank its constant dollar spending for research and development by nearly 2 percent annually.

... snip ...

Stockman goes into some detail how stock buybacks (reducing number of shares and increasing corp. value/share) is being used by top executives to significantly increase their bonuses.

The Stockman scenario isn't about IBM owning stock or directly the number of outstanding shares ... it is top executive bonuses tied to price/share ..... reducing the number of shares increases aggregate corporate value divided by number of outstanding shares ... which tends to drive up price/share; also reducing number of shares increases earnings per share ... which tends to drive up price/share.

Stockman spends lots of time on top executives totally absorbed with the basis for their bonuses.

Why the "Maximizing Shareholder Value" Theory of Corporate Governance is Bogus; One mantra you see regularly in the business and popular press goes something along the lines of "the CEO and board have a fiduciary duty to maximize shareholder value."
http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2013/10/why-the-maximizing-shareholder-value-theory-of-corporate-governance-is-bogus.html

from above:
If you review any of the numerous guides prepared for directors of corporations prepared by law firms and other experts, you won't find a stipulation for them to maximize shareholder value on the list of things they are supposed to do. It's not a legal requirement. And there is a good reason for that.

Directors and officers, broadly speaking, have a duty of care and duty of loyalty to the corporation. From that flow more specific obligations under Federal and state law. But notice: those responsibilities are to the corporation, not to shareholders in particular.


... snip ...

initial stock offering is revenue for the company ... then it is just money sloshing back and forth between wallstreet players. this is really highlighted in HFT which now accounts for 70-80% of activity (with buys/sells in millisecond intervals) and reports are warning that it is threatening to drive real investors from wallstreet (just leaving the HFT players to slog it out against each other). Part of the issue is reports of HFT players gaming the system to give them guaranteed profits ... recent item
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-10-08/dear-sec-show-us-data
other
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-08-02/presenting-todays-blatant-bond-market-manipulation-or-bls-leak .
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-06-03/watch-todays-15-millisecond-leak-ism-print .
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/hft-stock-manipulation-caught-tape

another area is manipulation with pension plans ... some of the ibm specific excerpts
https://web.archive.org/web/20181019074906/http://www.ibmemployee.com/RetirementHeist.shtml
from this book
https://www.amazon.com/Retirement-Heist-Companies-American-ebook/dp/B003QMLC6K/

part is shift from corporate pension plans to individual 401k
http://www.businessinsider.com/researchers-have-found-a-new-sleazy-side-to-401ks-2013-9

with regard to comments about Stockman's transgressions

To quote president Roosevelt about appointing Kennedy as first head of SEC ... it was because Kennedy knew all the tricks. Last year's USNI history conference on cybercrime and cyber warfare had Mitnick as featured speaker ... for somewhat similar reason.

In the IBM specific numbers ... rather than attacking the credibility of the messenger ... the better approach would be to provide evidence that the quoted numbers aren't correct.

so are the numbers right or wrong? would it be better if the numbers were presented eliminating any quoted source.

as an aside IBM marketing got a reputation for FUD using it to obfuscate and misdirect. IBM marketing FUD really started to reach peak during the IBM Future System period when IBM was killing off all its 370 products. The lack of 370 products during the FS period is also credited with giving clone processors a market foothold. Then when FS failed, there was mad rush to get products back into the 370 pipeline ... but it was then decades of playing catchup.

The use of FUD, obfuscation and misdirection isn't limited to IBM marketing ... recent item about gov. agencies: When All Else Fails, Mention 9/11
http://www.businessinsider.com/911-nsa-talking-points-2013-10

note that they have separate issue ... there is the Success of Failure period from last decade ... where they identified a whistleblower and charged him with all sorts of serious (fabricated) offenses ... which they eventually dropped years later. Congressional investigation into the circumstances put the agency on probation and not allowed to manage its own projects (lot of current situation could be attributed to the continued heavy involvement of for-profit companies)
http://www.govexec.com/excellence/management-matters/2007/04/the-success-of-failure/24107/

One would think that if there were factual issues with the book, they would show up in reviews or articles (items from 1st page in websearch)
https://www.amazon.com/Great-Deformation-Corruption-Capitalism-ebook/dp/B00B3M3UK6/
http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2013-03-29/opinions/38117208_1_david-stockman-manipulation-john-mack
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424127887324695104578415263903796402
http://www.cato.org/events/great-deformation-corruption-capitalism-america
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13237705-the-great-deformation
http://www.financialsense.com/contributors/john-butler/david-stockman-great-deformation-review
http://detlevschlichter.com/2013/04/book-review-david-a-stockman-the-great-deformation-the-corruption-of-capitalism-in-america/

I've tried also searching by adding credibility ... but haven't found anything about the credibility of the book. tended to be more along these lines
http://www.financialsense.com/contributors/john-butler/david-stockman-great-deformation-review

long discussion here: Share repurchase
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Share_repurchase

from above:
Another reason why executives, in particular, may prefer share buybacks is that executive compensation is often tied to executives' ability to meet earnings per share targets. In companies where there are few opportunities for organic growth, share repurchases may represent one of the few ways of improving earnings per share to meet targets. Thus, safeguards should be in place to ensure that increasing earnings per share in this way will not affect executive or managerial rewards

... snip ...

recent posts mentioning "Retirement Heist" and/or "The Great Deformation"
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013.html#42 Professor Coffee Hits a Nerve at SEC
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013f.html#3 What Makes a thread about the European debt crisis Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013f.html#5 What Makes an Architecture Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013f.html#13 What Makes an Architecture Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013f.html#23 What Makes weapons control Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013f.html#30 What Makes an Architecture Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013f.html#34 What Makes an Architecture Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013f.html#49 As an IBM'er just like the Marines only a few good men and women make the cut,
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013f.html#63 The cloud is killing traditional hardware and software
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013g.html#5 SAS Deserting the MF?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013g.html#69 What Makes collecting sales taxes Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013j.html#6 Barclays, Traders Fined $487.9 Million by U.S. Regulator
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013k.html#2 IBM Relevancy in the IT World
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013k.html#50 IBM Furloughs U.S. Hardware Employees to Reduce Costs
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013k.html#51 What Makes a Tax System Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013k.html#57 The agency problem and how to create a criminogenic environment
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013l.html#49 The Original IBM Basic Beliefs for those that have never seen them
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013l.html#60 Retirement Heist
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013l.html#63 OT: NYT article--the rich get richer
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013l.html#67 OT: NYT article--the rich get richer
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013m.html#4 OT: NYT article--the rich get richer
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013m.html#6 Voyager 1 just left the solar system using less computing powerthan your iP
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013m.html#12 OT: NYT article--the rich get richer
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013m.html#15 OT: NYT article--the rich get richer
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013m.html#24 Voyager 1 just left the solar system using less computing powerthan your iP
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013m.html#53 Retirement Savings
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013m.html#61 IBM now employs more workers in India than US
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013m.html#79 Nobody Should Shed a Tear for JP Morgan Chase
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013m.html#84 3Q earnings are becoming the norm at IBM. What is IBM management overlooking?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013m.html#85 How do you feel about IBM passing off it's retirees to ObamaCare?

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamation made 30yearsagotoday

From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Subject: Re: 'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamation made 30yearsagotoday
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Date: Thu, 31 Oct 2013 10:14:34 -0400
hancock4 writes:
In some smaller mainframe batch and on-line applications, a VSAM file (or set of files) is easier to code, more efficient in execution, and easier to maintain than a database structure.

On the mainframe, one advantage of VSAM over database is that everyone knows VSAM, but there are several database systems available for the mainframe and each has some differences; not all mainframe programmers know all the differences.

Some DBA's go nuts with normalization, creating far too many tables out of their zeal not to have any wasted fields.


re:
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#0 'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamation made 30yearsagotoday

this was somewhat the argument during the early days of system/r (sql/rdbms) with criticism by the IMS group (IMS still handles large proportion of ATM cash machine and other financial transactions).

IMS group would say that the implicit RDBMS indexes doubled the disk space (for same application in IMS) and increased the number of disk reads by 4-5 times (plowing thru the indexes on disk).

System/R counter was that IMS explicitly exposed record numbers to applications ... which significantly increased human administrative and management effort.

This started to shift in the 80s with significant increase in disk capacity and reduction in cost/bit (mitigating the double in disk space size for implicit indexes) and increase in system memories ... allowing caching for indexes ... reducing the associated overhead to read for every access. At the same time, explosion in computing systems (because drop in prices) drastically increased demand for skilled expertise (far beyond what could be supplied for an IMS everywhere world).
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/submain.html#systemr

The RDBMS "normalization" was an upfront resource intensive effort for RDBMS ... especially complex ones. In one large corporation there was report that they found 6000 different RDBMS that had 90% of the information in common. The nature of RDBMS and normalization requirements made it very mission-specific oriented. For any specific mission (business process) it frequently became easier to adapt an existing RDBMS, eliminating stuff not needed and adding just what was required. Radically reduced the effort for that specific business process ... but significantly increased overall enterprise costs.

I've periodically mention that same time I was involved in System/R, I also got sucked into helping with the implementation of another kind of relational implementation ... that didn't have the upfront mission optimization of RDBMS. It had explicit bidirectional links between every field and indexed every field. It was different from "network" DBMS in that the links weren't direct record pointers but used a content addressable paradigm for indexing links (analogous to the index in RDBMS for primary field). The equivalent of normalization was effectively done as side-effect of loading the data.

The difficulty of normalization frequently involves discarding information that isn't aboslutely necessary for specific operation (this makes it difficult for new operations where there are still a lot of unknowns).

Recent comparison of a large, complex, real-world data source ... they spent a year on normalization before loading and was then not discovering all the information they had hoped for. I was able to demonstrate from raw start to having loaded all data within a week elapsed time and was discovering information (that they hadn't been able to find after 18months of the RDBMS based effort).

I also used it as the repository for my IETF RFC index
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/rfcietff.htm
and various merged taxonomies and glossories
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/index.html#glossary

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

50th anniversary S/360 coming up

From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Subject: Re: 50th anniversary S/360 coming up
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Date: Thu, 31 Oct 2013 12:47:43 -0400
hancock4 writes:
Well, several huge mistakes in the recent project were (1) rolling it out when it was clearly known it wasn't ready, and (2) rolling it nationwide all at once instead of having a modest trial state and scaling up based on that experience. (I don't know if the original system development schedule was realistic).

I can't help but wonder if the principals involved in the recent system had no clue about the S/360 OS troubles or ever heard of the mythical man month. Heck, I wonder if they ever heard of S/360.


recently on the ibm-main mainframe mailing list (originated in the 1980s on the old bitnet) ... there was lots of discussion of the recent IBM website outages and the ACA website problems ... one of my posts which includes some number of recent IBM failed efforts:
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013m.html#103

.... somebody then threw in this ... to give relative idea
It's not that bad! Check out the PageSpeed results
http://developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/insights/?url=healthcare.gov
And then compare it to www.ibm.com
http://developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/insights/?url=ibm.com


mythical man-month was also mentioned in number of places starting 10-14 days ago ...including
http://www.businessinsider.com/obamacare-tech-surge-issues-2013-10

I've brought up the subject periodically comparing tss/360 growing to 1200 people at a time there were 12 people on cp67/cms
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2000f.html#56 TSS ancient history, was X86 ultimate CISC? designs)
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2001i.html#39 IBM OS Timeline?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2001m.html#47 TSS/360
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2001m.html#49 TSS/360
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2002d.html#23 Mainframers: Take back the light (spotlight, that is)
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2002d.html#36 Mainframers: Take back the light (spotlight, that is)
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2002n.html#32 why does wait state exist?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2002n.html#62 PLX
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2003g.html#24 UltraSPARC-IIIi
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2003l.html#30 Secure OS Thoughts
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2003m.html#16 OSI not quite dead yet
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2004c.html#61 IBM 360 memory
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2004f.html#55 Infiniband - practicalities for small clusters
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2005b.html#13 Relocating application architecture and compiler support
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2005f.html#45 Moving assembler programs above the line
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2005j.html#16 Performance and Capacity Planning
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2005k.html#8 virtual 360/67 support in cp67
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2006q.html#32 Very slow booting and running and brain-dead OS's?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2007f.html#9 IBM S/360 series operating systems history
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2007h.html#29 sizeof() was: The Perfect Computer - 36 bits?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2007m.html#60 Scholars needed to build a computer history bibliography
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2007t.html#58 Remembering the CDC 6600
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2007t.html#62 Remembering the CDC 6600
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2008h.html#78 Microsoft versus Digital Equipment Corporation
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2008j.html#83 How powerful C64 may have been if it used an 8 Mhz 8088 or 68008 ?microprocessor (with otherwise the same hardware)?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2008s.html#48 New machine code
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009.html#6 mvs preemption dispatcher
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009k.html#1 A Complete History Of Mainframe Computing
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009r.html#42 While watching Biography about Bill Gates on CNBC last Night
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2010e.html#17 Senior Java Developer vs. MVS Systems Programmer (warning: Conley rant)
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011.html#20 IBM Future System
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011d.html#17 The first personal computer (PC)
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011h.html#69 IBM Mainframe (1980's) on You tube
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011l.html#25 computer bootlaces
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011m.html#6 What is IBM culture?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011o.html#14 John R. Opel, RIP
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011p.html#48 Hello?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012f.html#24 Time to competency for new software language?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012g.html#25 VM370 40yr anniv, CP67 44yr anniv
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012o.html#34 Regarding Time Sharing
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013.html#8 Is Microsoft becoming folklore?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013h.html#16 How about the old mainframe error messages that actually give you a clue about what's broken
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013l.html#24 Teletypewriter Model 33
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013m.html#37 Why is the mainframe so expensive?

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

50th anniversary S/360 coming up

From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Subject: Re: 50th anniversary S/360 coming up
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Date: Thu, 31 Oct 2013 16:35:44 -0400
hancock4 writes:
Way back then alcohol was a routine part of most business functions. In the 1970s, I attended a train demonstration, and as soon as we got underway they broke out the booze. People routinely ordered drinks during business lunches that the vendors were paying for. Office parties could get way out of hand (see the holiday party scene in "The Apartment"). Indeed, alocohol was routinely shown in scenes in many old movies and TV shows.

back in the 70s, I remember attending corporate functions where dinner with lots of people in the ballroom and there would be no alcohol. I remember one at hotel in atlanta where I slipped the waiter to bring vodka in water glasses to the table.

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

copyright, was Re: 'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamation made 30 yearsagotoday

From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Subject: Re: copyright, was Re: 'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamation made 30 yearsagotoday
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Date: Thu, 31 Oct 2013 17:38:13 -0400
John Levine <johnl@iecc.com> writes:
Um, the Congress has been changing the law to protect Disney since 1998, arguably since 1976. How about if they just stop now?

When Disney made movies in the 1920s through 1970s, they presumably thought 56 years was long enough, since if they didn't, they wouldn't have made the movies. What has changed about the movie business so that you can't make money in 56 years, but can in 95?


I think it is that you can make more money in 95yrs than you can in 56ys (not that you couldn't make money in 56 but could in 95).

the movie industry is also somewhat notorious for cooking the books to hide profit, example:

'Hollywood Accounting' Losing In The Courts
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100708/02510310122.shtml

from above:
If you follow the entertainment business at all, you're probably well aware of "Hollywood accounting," whereby very, very, very few entertainment products are technically "profitable," even as they earn studios millions of dollars. A couple months ago, the Planet Money folks did a great episode explaining how this works in very simple terms.

... snip ...

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

ACA (Obamacare) website problems--article

Refed: **, - **, - **, - **, - **
From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Subject: Re: ACA (Obamacare) website problems--article
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Date: Thu, 31 Oct 2013 18:17:26 -0400
Andrew Swallow <am.swallow@btinternet.com> writes:
The EU does have limited health care for travellers.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Health_Insurance_Card


a little over decade ago we were in london ("the city") giving presentation about fraud (and how to compromise point-of-sale electronic payments at retail stores) to Lloyd principles involved in providing retail store fraud insurance (and then to have lunch with chairman of Lloyds).

during presentations my wife had episode where she had trouble thinking and was afraid that it might be stroke. we went to hospital and had cat scan and other diagnosistics and by the end of the day it was declared to be a "visual migraine" ... which was big relief. also there was never any bill.

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

50th anniversary S/360 coming up

From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Subject: Re: 50th anniversary S/360 coming up
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Date: Fri, 01 Nov 2013 13:50:20 -0400
hancock4 writes:
I'm surprised they had no alcohol. But then plenty of companies could be very conservative about that sort of thing.

re:
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#4 50th anniversary S/360 coming up

IBM mainframe user group
http://www.share.org/

the price of share registration included evening SCIDS (i believe up through the 80s) ... ballroom where there was evening open bar. the claim was since IBM didn't allow for alcohol ... it also couldn't show up on expense reports for reimbursements ... aka SCIDS open bar (and included in SHARE registration) was primarily for the benefit of IBMers

... in the 70s, I had been told SCIDS stood for "Society for Continous Inebriation During Share"

another version:
SCIDS - skids n. A 6-hour social occasion, held every night of SHARE and GUIDE meetings, during which customers (sometimes successfully) ply IBMers with alcoholic beverages in plastic cups to try to find out what's coming next. Originally informally known as Share Committee for Inebriates, Drunkards, and Sots, but now officially stands for Social Contact and Informal Discussion Sessions or SHARE Committee for Informal Discussion Sessions. More familiarly known as the Society for Cultivation of Indiscretions via Drinking Sessions.

... snip ...

... past posts mentioning SCIDS:
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2000d.html#5 Definition of SHARE & SCIDS Requested
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2000d.html#6 Definition of SHARE & SCIDS Requested
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2001k.html#20 OT: almost lost LBJ tapes; Dictabelt
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2001l.html#12 mainframe question
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2002k.html#20 Vnet : Unbelievable
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2002q.html#11 computers and alcohol
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2002q.html#23 Free Desktop Cyber emulation on PC before Christmas
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2003k.html#62 The Incredible Shrinking Legacy Workforces
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2004d.html#10 IBM 360 memory
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2005d.html#12 Thou shalt have no other gods before the ANSI C standard
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2005l.html#41 25% Pageds utilization on 3390-09?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2005q.html#15 HASP/ASP JES/JES2/JES3
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009f.html#37 System/360 Announcement (7Apr64)
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2010n.html#74 FW: The meaning of SCIDS
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011c.html#72 A History of VM Performance
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013g.html#64 A Fascinating History of JES2

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

copyright, was Re: 'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamation made 30 yearsagotoday

Refed: **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **
From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Subject: Re: copyright, was Re: 'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamation made 30 yearsagotoday
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Date: Sun, 03 Nov 2013 12:31:32 -0500
Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com> writes:
I think it is that you can make more money in 95yrs than you can in 56ys (not that you couldn't make money in 56 but could in 95).

re:
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#5 copyright, was Re: 'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamation made 30 yearsagotoday

recent bill moyer segment on "free trade" treaty agreement is that it is being conducted in secrecy mostly with industrial representatives with objective increasing/extend patent and copyright provisions, increase drug prices, eliminating lots of regulation, environmental, financial, etc ... with requirement that countries have to align their laws with what is in the treaty (comment that nearly all has nothing to do with "free trade" ... treaty label being industry obfuscation and misdirection).

with Yves Smith and Dean Baker
http://billmoyers.com/segment/yves-smith-and-dean-baker-on-secrets-in-trade/

Yves Smith
http://billmoyers.com/guest/yves-smith/

is responsible for (which I tend to quote or reference at least once a day)
http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/

some recent references:
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013.html#2 Search Google, 1960:s-style
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013.html#4 HSBC's Settlement Leaves Us In A Scary Place
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013.html#36 JPMorgan Chase slammed by regulators for control failings after botched derivatives bet
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013.html#41 More Whistleblower Leaks on Foreclosure Settlement Show Both Suppression of Evidence and Gross Incompetence
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013.html#42 Professor Coffee Hits a Nerve at SEC
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013.html#60 Choice of Mary Jo White to Head SEC Puts Fox In Charge of Hen House
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013.html#66 How to Cut Megabanks Down to Size
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013.html#73 More Whistleblower Leaks on Foreclosure Settlement Show Both Suppression of Evidence and Gross Incompetence
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013b.html#0 How to Cut Megabanks Down to Size
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013b.html#9 How to Cut Megabanks Down to Size
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013b.html#12 How to Cut Megabanks Down to Size
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013b.html#16 More Whistleblower Leaks on Foreclosure Settlement Show Both Suppression of Evidence and Gross Incompetence
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013b.html#27 More Whistleblower Leaks on Foreclosure Settlement Show Both Suppression of Evidence and Gross Incompetence
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013b.html#28 Neil Barofsky: Geithner Doctrine Lives on in Libor Scandal
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013b.html#30 Email Trails Show Bankers Behaving Badly
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013b.html#36 More Whistleblower Leaks on Foreclosure Settlement Show Both Suppression of Evidence and Gross Incompetence
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013b.html#47 More Whistleblower Leaks on Foreclosure Settlement Show Both Suppression of Evidence and Gross Incompetence
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013b.html#48 How to Cut Megabanks Down to Size
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013b.html#53 Should Bethany McLean Be Bothered by the Government Lawsuit Against S&P?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013b.html#64 More Whistleblower Leaks on Foreclosure Settlement Show Both Suppression of Evidence and Gross Incompetence
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013b.html#65 How to Cut Megabanks Down to Size
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013b.html#76 Capitalism is so broken it can't be fixed Commentary: Saving capitalism will not save America
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013c.html#3 How to Cut Megabanks Down to Size
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013c.html#5 How to Cut Megabanks Down to Size
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013c.html#6 More Whistleblower Leaks on Foreclosure Settlement Show Both Suppression of Evidence and Gross Incompetence
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013c.html#12 How to Cut Megabanks Down to Size
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013c.html#19 More Whistleblower Leaks on Foreclosure Settlement Show Both Suppression of Evidence and Gross Incompetence
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013c.html#42 How to Cut Megabanks Down to Size
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013c.html#43 More Whistleblower Leaks on Foreclosure Settlement Show Both Suppression of Evidence and Gross Incompetence
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013c.html#55 How to Cut Megabanks Down to Size
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013c.html#58 More Whistleblower Leaks on Foreclosure Settlement Show Both Suppression of Evidence and Gross Incompetence
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013c.html#61 How to Cut Megabanks Down to Size
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013d.html#4 Live-Blogging Senate Hearing Tomorrow, When J.P. Morgan Chase Will Be Torn a New One
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013d.html#6 Live-Blogging Senate Hearing Tomorrow, When J.P. Morgan Chase Will Be Torn a New One
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013d.html#24 "JP MORGAN SAW ITSELF AS ABOVE THE REGULATORS" Do you agree?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013d.html#28 Senator Sherrod Brown Drops a Bombshell in Mary Jo White's Hearing
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013d.html#29 Bank Holiday In Cyprus
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013d.html#31 Bank Whistleblower Claims Retaliation And Wrongful Termination
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013d.html#40 How to Cut Megabanks Down to Size
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013d.html#60 Arthur C. Clarke Predicts the Internet, 1974
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013d.html#63 What Makes an Architecture Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013d.html#73 What Makes an Architecture Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013d.html#77 More Whistleblower Leaks on Foreclosure Settlement Show Both Suppression of Evidence and Gross Incompetence
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013d.html#81 What Makes an Architecture Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013d.html#85 What Makes an Architecture Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013d.html#86 What Makes an Architecture Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013d.html#88 What Makes an Architecture Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013e.html#2 Too-Big-To-Fail, Too-Big-To-Prosecute, Too-Big-To-Jail, not just a problem in the USA
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013e.html#19 What Makes an Architecture Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013e.html#22 What Makes bank regulation and insurance Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013e.html#25 What Makes bank regulation and insurance Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013e.html#27 Secrecy for Sale: Inside the Global Offshore Money Maze
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013e.html#42 More Whistleblower Leaks on Foreclosure Settlement Show Both Suppression of Evidence and Gross Incompetence
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013e.html#82 What Makes an Architecture Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013f.html#12 More Whistleblower Leaks on Foreclosure Settlement Show Both Suppression of Evidence and Gross Incompetence
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013f.html#13 What Makes an Architecture Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013f.html#24 What Makes a substance Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013f.html#25 Linchpin Pro-Austerity Paper Rife with Errors; Recomputed Results Show No Growth Hit from High Government Debt
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013f.html#52 What Makes a substance Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013g.html#0 JPMorgan Caught in Swirl of Regulatory Woes
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013g.html#86 How Wall Street Defanged Dodd-Frank
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013h.html#49 OT: "Highway Patrol" back on TV
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013h.html#50 OT: "Highway Patrol" back on TV
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013h.html#58 Traders Said to Rig Currency Rates to Profit Off Clients
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013h.html#59 OT: "Highway Patrol" back on TV
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013i.html#54 How do you feel about the fact that India has more employees than US?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013i.html#61 Big Data Is Opening Doors, but Maybe Too Many
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013i.html#65 The Real Snowden Question
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013j.html#0 What Makes a Tax System Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013j.html#2 What Makes a Tax System Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013j.html#22 What Makes a Tax System Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013j.html#73 Why DOJ Deemed Bank Execs Too Big To Jail
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013j.html#80 Why DOJ Deemed Bank Execs Too Big To Jail
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013k.html#9 Why DOJ Deemed Bank Execs Too Big To Jail
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013k.html#10 What Makes Infrastructure investment not bizarre
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013k.html#36 The Incredible Con the Banksters Pulled on the FBI
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013k.html#45 What Makes a Tax System Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013k.html#47 The Incredible Con the Banksters Pulled on the FBI
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013k.html#81 spacewar
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013l.html#13 Jack Lew Shows His True Colors By Forcing Deregulation of Derivatives on the CFTC
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013l.html#14 What Makes a Tax System Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013l.html#52 Lehman Brothers collapse: was capitalism to blame?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013l.html#57 What the Orgy of "Lehman Five Years On" Stories Missed
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013l.html#58 OT: NYT article--the rich get richer
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013m.html#1 OT: NYT article--the rich get richer
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013m.html#13 OT: NYT article--the rich get richer
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013m.html#63 IBM now employs more workers in India than US
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013m.html#66 NSA Revelations Kill IBM Hardware Sales In China
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013m.html#77 OCC Replies to Elizabeth Warren Reveal Extent of Regulatory Capture on Derivatives
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013m.html#84 3Q earnings are becoming the norm at IBM. What is IBM management overlooking?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013m.html#97 Confirmed: the US DoJ will not put the bankers in jail, no matter how deep the fraud
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#1 IBM board OK repurchase of another $15B of stock

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

America's Defense Amnesia

From: lynn@garlic.com
Subject: America's Defense Amnesia
Date: 03 Nov, 2013
Blog: zenpundit
America's Defense Amnesia
http://zenpundit.com/?p=29148

Part of spreading Success of Failure culture is privatizing of the gov by for-profit companies is that they realize they can make more money off series of failures in lieu of immediate success. Congressional investigation resulted in putting the agency on probation and not allowed to manage its own projects (which may have just been ploy for more for-profit companies .... since congress effectively gets kickbacks from the large beltway bandits)
http://www.govexec.com/excellence/management-matters/2007/04/the-success-of-failure/24107/

Spies Like Us
http://www.investingdaily.com/17693/spies-like-us/
Private contractors like Booz Allen now reportedly garner 70 percent of the annual $80 billion intelligence budget and supply more than half of the available manpower.

... snip ...

it would also seem to be irresistible for the for-profit companies to leverage the resources for industrial espionage and their own profit.

NSA Spied on World Bank, IMF, UN, Pope, World Leaders, and American Politicians and Military Officers
http://www.zerohedge.com/contributed/2013-11-01/nsa-spied-world-bank-imf-un-pope-world-leaders-and-american-politicians-and-m

from above:
The NSA conducts widespread industrial espionage on our allies. That has nothing to do with terrorism, either. And the NSA's industrial espionage has been going on for many decades.

.. snip ...

posts mentioning Success Of Failure
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/submisc.html#success.of.failuree

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

Why the Death of the Tank Is Greatly Exaggerated

Refed: **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **
From: lynn@garlic.com
Subject: Why the Death of the Tank Is Greatly Exaggerated
Date: 03 Nov, 2013
Blog: Facebook
Why the Death of the Tank Is Greatly Exaggerated; Armored vehicles could still rule the battlefield
https://medium.com/p/751f5ccd091

various coin tactics involve isolating insurgents from support, locking down the borders to prevent outside supplies, making it difficult for insurgents to get support from rest of population and controlling news and public opinion.

one of the scenarios from "Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq" and the law of unintended consequences was the fabricated claims about WMDs resulted in the Iraqi invaders told to bypass ammo dumps (loc2902 & loc2910). Later when they got around to going back, a million metric tons had evaporated (providing an enormous cache of supplies)

son-in-law did two tours in iraq, 2004-2005 in fallujah and 2007-2008 in baqubah ... described as much worse than fallujah ...
https://www.amazon.com/Battle-Baqubah-Killing-Our-ebook/dp/B007VBBS9I/

IEDs made from large artilliry shells were taking out Abrams (loc1687, loc5243), more here:
http://elpdefensenews.blogspot.com/2013/07/the-great-m-1-tank-myth.html

aka is it tanks in general ... or Abrams specifically ... the video review referenced by
http://elpdefensenews.blogspot.com/2013/07/the-great-m-1-tank-myth.html

interprets several issues in Desert Storm as Abrams problems ... for instance the Abrams were so slow that they were unable to stop the Republican Guard from getting away.

Abrams vs Leopard 2a4
http://elpdefensenews.blogspot.com/2013/09/dare-to-compare-m1a2-abrams-sep-versus_17.html
Abrams vs Merkava Mk.II
http://elpdefensenews.blogspot.com/2013/09/dare-to-compare-m1a2-abrams-sep-versus.html
Abrams vs T72B
http://elpdefensenews.blogspot.com/2013/09/dare-to-compare-m1a2-abrams-sep-versus_7.html

There have been some amount about timidity of commander in executing (Boyd's) left hook in desert storm because of concerns about overrunning supply lines. ELP reference gives lots of reasons why Abrams are tightly tied to their cumbersome and slow moving logistics infrastructure with little degrees of freedom (which Boyd may/would not have been able to appreciate)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Boyd_%28military_strategist%29

from above:
By 1990 Boyd had moved to Florida because of declining health, but Cheney (then the Secretary of Defense in the George H. W. Bush administration) called him back to work on the plans for Operation Desert Storm.[10] [11] Boyd had substantial influence on the ultimate "left hook" design of the plan.

... snip ...

several references are that republican guard escaped because the left hook wasn't there to stop them (various references are that the commander responsible for the left hook thought he would exceed his supply lines). ELP reference says they got away because Abrams were so much slower ... but then goes on that it wasn't the top speed of the Abrams ... going into detail how tightly tied they were to their logistics infrastructure; enormous consumption of jet fuel, shorter range on each fillup, much higher maintenance, lower reliability (lots of hrs spent in the shop), etc.

1) Boyd would have been less likely to know that the Abrams wouldn't be able to get in place to execute the left hook, 2) tankers would more likely to have known that the Abrams couldn't get in place to execute the left hook 3) there are problems all around

Boyd refs
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/subboyd.html

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

50th anniversary S/360 coming up

Refed: **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **
From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Subject: Re: 50th anniversary S/360 coming up
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Date: Mon, 04 Nov 2013 17:21:03 -0500
Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com> writes:
mythical man-month was also mentioned in number of places starting 10-14 days ago ...including
http://www.businessinsider.com/obamacare-tech-surge-issues-2013-10


re:
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#3 50th anniversary S/360 coming up

I was blamed for online computer conferencing on the internal network during the late 70s and earlys 80s. Following was during "Tandem Memo" online discussion period (folklore is that when the executive committee was told about online computer conferencing and the internal network, 5of6 wanted to fire me) ... aka large mass creates blackhole effect:

Date: 06/23/81 10:03:15
From: wheeler

You have the wrong emphasis in "few good people" the correct emphasis is on few. It is pretty obvious that controlling many has not been very successful. It is easy to think of POK has IBM's contribution to HEW's full employment of the mentally handicapped. Examining the individuals fails to support that theory. What is closer to the truth is the black hole theory. Creating IBM within IBM is an attempt to isolate a body from the gravitational effects of the larger mass. A "few good people" is a good rallying cry. It would be wonderful if we could have the whole company a collection of a "few good people" groups; we have to start someplace tho. Our problems can be tackled from two approches. The simple and well understood solution is to operate small effective groups to get productive results. The difficult, not well understood problem is how to organize large masses of people while still remaining productive. The corporation is currently lagging in productive results and we are going to need some soon. Immediate problem is to motivate a "few good people" to get results in the short term. Longer term problem is the whole organization. Only working on solving the second problem may actually reduce the problem to the first solution (the masses have all dissolved).


... snip ... top of post, old email index

Date: 06/23/81 10:25:52
From: wheeler

re: black holes; there was a reference someplace on "evaporation" in black holes with the evaporation rate being proportional to the size of the body.


... snip ... top of post, old email index

and:
Tandem Memos - n. Something constructive but hard to control; a fresh of breath air (sic). That's another Tandem Memos. A phrase to worry middle management. It refers to the computer-based conference (widely distributed in 1981) in which many technical personnel expressed dissatisfaction with the tools available to them at that time, and also constructively criticized the way products were [are] developed. The memos are required reading for anyone with a serious interest in quality products. If you have not seen the memos, try reading the November 1981 Datamation summary.

... snip ...

internal network posts
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/subnetwork.html#internalnet
online computer conferencing
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/subnetwork.html#cmc

there have been a number of recent online discussions in various IBM (and other) fora about top company executives focused on boosting their bonuses
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013f.html#49 As an IBM'er just like the Marines only a few good men and women make the cut,
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013g.html#5 SAS Deserting the MF?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013k.html#2 IBM Relevancy in the IT World
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013k.html#50 IBM Furloughs U.S. Hardware Employees to Reduce Costs
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013k.html#51 What Makes a Tax System Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013k.html#57 The agency problem and how to create a criminogenic environment
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013l.html#49 The Original IBM Basic Beliefs for those that have never seen them
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013l.html#60 Retirement Heist
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013m.html#24 Voyager 1 just left the solar system using less computing powerthan your iP
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013m.html#37 Why is the mainframe so expensive?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013m.html#61 IBM now employs more workers in India than US
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013m.html#84 3Q earnings are becoming the norm at IBM. What is IBM management overlooking?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013m.html#85 How do you feel about IBM passing off it's retirees to ObamaCare?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#1 IBM board OK repurchase of another $15B of stock

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

How the IETF plans to protect the web from NSA snooping

Refed: **, - **, - **, - **
From: lynn@garlic.com
Subject: How the IETF plans to protect the web from NSA snooping
Date: 04 Nov, 2013
Blog: LinkedIn IETF
re:
http://lnkd.in/bwZeUhw

How the IETF plans to protect the web from NSA snooping; An IETF plan looks to HTTP 2.0 to help protect internet users from the NSA.
http://www.networkworld.com/news/2013/103113-nsa-ietf-275483.html

We were brought into a small client/server that wanted to do payment transactions on their server; they had also invented this technology called SSL they wanted to use, the result is now frequently called "electronic commerce". we had to map SSL technology to the payment business process.

later we were tangentially involved in the Cal. state data breach notification legislation. we had been brought in to help wordsmith the cal. electronic signature legislation ... some past posts
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/subpubkey.html#signature

several of the pariticipants were heavily involved in privacy issues and had done extensive detailed public surveys and found the number one issue was identity theft, specifically the kind resulted in fraudulent financial transactions frequently as a result of data breach. an issue was that typically institutions take security measures as measures against threats & risks to the institution. in these cases, the risk wasn't to the institutions but the individual account owners and as such there seemed to be little or nothing being done. there was some anticipation that the publicity from the data breach notifications would prompt countermeasures.

one of the issues in many of these cases is the value of the information to the crooks is 100 times more than the value to many institutions (i.e. prior financial transaction that crooks can use to perform fraudulent transactions). For instance the value of information to the merchant is the profit from the transactions (possibly only a couple of dollars), while the value of the information to the crooks is the credit limit or account balance (possibly several hundred to several thousand) ... as a result, crooks may be able to afford to spend a hundred times more attack a system than can be spent defending.

another issue in the current electronic payment information paradigm is its dual use characteristic ... to prevent fraud, it needs to be kept completely confidential and *NEVER* divulged ... while at the same time it is need in dozen of business processes at millions of locations around the world (we've periodically claimed that even if the planet was buried in miles of information hiding encryption, it wouldn't prevent information leakage).

we were brought into the x9a10 financial standard working group (which had been given the requirement to preserve the integrity of the financial infrastructure for *ALL* retail payments) and were co-authors of x9.59 financial transaction standard which slightly tweaked the paradigm and eliminated the value of previous transaction information (& account numbers) to crooks ... and therefor eliminated the major motivation for most of current breaches. it also eliminated the current major use of SSL in the world today ... this earlier stuff we worked on for electronic commerce. x9.59 reference
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/x959.html#x959

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

Bounded pointers

Refed: **, - **, - **
From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Subject: Re: Bounded pointers
Newsgroups: comp.arch
Date: Mon, 04 Nov 2013 18:38:07 -0500
tymshare did gnosis in the late 70s & early 80s for mainframe 370 ... which was spun-off as keykos when M/D bought tymshare (disclaimer: i was brought in to evaluate gnosis as part of the spinoff).
http://cap-lore.com/CapTheory/upenn/

one of the objectives of gnosis was to provide ability to offer 3rd party applications on commercial online service bureau platform ... with use charges accounting traced back to each application use (allowing prorated remittance to the 3rd parties). I estimated that 1/3rd of system pathlength was involved in that accounting. in transition to keykos ... all that accounting overhead was removed significantly improving keykos throughput/performance.

and
http://cap-lore.com/CapTheory/upenn/KeyTXF/KeyTXF.html

from above:
2.1 Persistent Memory

Satish M. Thatte describes a design for a persistent virtual memory system [9] with transactions for object-oriented garbage collected programming systems and object-oriented databases. In contrast with the approach to persistent memory used in KeyKOS, his design requires unforgeable pointers, bounds checking, and automatic garbage collection. His transaction manager keeps an external redo log outside virtual memory, while KeyTXF keeps the log in virtual memory.


... snip ...

more recent systems based on gnosis/keykos
http://www.eros-os.org/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EROS_%28microkernel%29
http://www.coyotos.org/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coyotos
http://www.capros.org/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CapROS

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

IBM board OK repurchase of another $15B of stock

Refed: **, - **, - **
From: lynn@garlic.com
Subject: IBM board OK repurchase of another $15B of stock
Date: 05 Nov, 2013
Blog: IBMers
re:
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#1 IBM board OK repurchase of another $15B of stock

my biggest quibble with "Great Deformation" is that it glosses over the rating agencies selling triple-A ratings on toxic CDOs (when they knew they weren't worth triple-A, from congressional Oct2008 hearings). Those triple-A ratings enabled the over $27T done during the bubble ... and that $27T significantly dwarfs many of the other issues cited (radically changing the mortgage market, securitized mortgages being used to obfuscate the underlying values and transactions being routed thru wallstreet where enormous commissions and fees were skimmed). reference to over $27T
Evil Wall Street Exports Boomed With 'Fools' Born to Buy Debt
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2008-10-27/evil-wall-street-exports-boomed-with-fools-born-to-buy-debt

recent posts mentioning the $27T in toxic CDOs:
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013.html#0 IBM Is Changing The Terms Of Its Retirement Plan, Which Is Frustrating Some Employees
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013.html#49 Insider Fraud: What to Monitor
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013.html#54 How to Cut Megabanks Down to Size
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013.html#62 Taleb On "Skin In The Game" And His Disdain For Public Intellectuals
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013.html#66 How to Cut Megabanks Down to Size
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013b.html#35 Adair Turner: A New Debt-Free Money Advocate
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013b.html#46 Bankers Who Made Millions In Housing Boom Misled Investors: Study
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013c.html#66 How to Cut Megabanks Down to Size
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013d.html#25 Senator Sherrod Brown Drops a Bombshell in Mary Jo White's Hearing
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013d.html#67 What Makes an Architecture Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013d.html#97 What Makes an Architecture Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013e.html#2 Too-Big-To-Fail, Too-Big-To-Prosecute, Too-Big-To-Jail, not just a problem in the USA
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013e.html#25 What Makes bank regulation and insurance Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013f.html#48 How to Cut Megabanks Down to Size
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013f.html#49 As an IBM'er just like the Marines only a few good men and women make the cut,
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013f.html#61 The cloud is killing traditional hardware and software
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013g.html#5 SAS Deserting the MF?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013k.html#29 The agency problem and how to create a criminogenic environment
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013k.html#45 What Makes a Tax System Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013k.html#52 The agency problem and how to create a criminogenic environment
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013k.html#86 What Makes a Tax System Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013l.html#7 What Makes a Tax System Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013l.html#10 What Makes a Tax System Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013l.html#52 Lehman Brothers collapse: was capitalism to blame?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013l.html#58 OT: NYT article--the rich get richer
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013m.html#53 Retirement Savings

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

Boyd Blasphemy: Justifying the F-35

Refed: **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **
From: lynn@garlic.com
Subject: Boyd Blasphemy: Justifying the F-35
Date: 05 Nov, 2013
Blog: Boyd Strategy
re:
http://lnkd.in/bqjTRnv
and
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013m.html#101

just saw

Drones are now the world's weapon of choice, U.N. expert says
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57609709/drones-are-now-the-worlds-weapon-of-choice-u.n-expert-says/

other recent news is claiming that google's autonomous driven cars are now outperforming human drivers

Clueless F-35 rent-seeker update: union hack
http://elpdefensenews.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2013-10-26T20:22:00%2B11:00&max-results=15

a little drift on observe, orient, decide and act:
http://hardware.slashdot.org/story/13/11/05/0240255/japanese-researchers-build-rock-paper-scissors-robot-that-wins-100-of-the-time

from above:
Although the robot technically cheats because it watches your hand and can recognize what shape you are intending to make and beat it before you even know what is happening. Apparently it takes about 60ms for you to shape your hand, but the robot can recognize the shape before it is completed, and only takes 20ms to counter your shape so the results appear to the human opponent to be virtually simultaneous.

... snip ...

Is The U.S. Military Ready To Embrace New Technologies That Will Define Future Wars?
http://warnewsupdates.blogspot.com/2013/11/is-us-military-prepared-to-adopt-new.html
Hey Navy, We're Doing This Aviation Thing All Wrong
https://medium.com/war-is-boring/310826e050ad

late 70s, a co-worker wrote a multi-user space war game with a server and client interfaces that ran on (fast) text display screens ... supporting distributing clients over the network. The syntax between the server and client was fairly simple and fairly soon, people started writing robotic clients that would beat all humans (being able to react significantly faster). Since it wasn't possible to differentiate whether it was real human client or 'bot ... eventually the server was modified to debit energy use non-linearly as interval between specific commands dropped below threshold ... which somewhat leveled the playing field.

note something similar shows up in the wallstreet HFT saga (not just faster but also rigged, to some extent the speed being used to obfuscate the rigging) ... reference (which is now the majority of all trades);
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-11-04/exposing-wall-streets-hidden-code

this tale for google autonomous car is that they realized that rather than 3-4 rules there were tens of thousand rules for driving ... so came up with probabilistic learning, machine learning, big data
http://www.foreignaffairs.com/discussions/interviews/googles-original-x-man
and
http://www.technologyreview.com/news/520746/data-shows-googles-robot-cars-are-smoother-safer-drivers-than-you-or-i/

I would claim that fly-by-wire is start along that direction ... and it will become increasingly sophisticated.

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

z/OS is antique WAS: Aging Sysprogs = Aging Farmers

Refed: **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **
From: lynn@GARLIC.COM (Anne & Lynn Wheeler)
Subject: Re: z/OS is antique WAS: Aging Sysprogs = Aging Farmers
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.ibm-main
Date: 5 Nov 2013 14:14:34 -0800
jperryma@PACBELL.NET (Jon Perryman) writes:
• UNIX: TCP/IP was not publicly available until the 70's. Prior to that, simple communications were available.

 * z/OS: SNA existed long before TCP/IP was available. SNA was a robust, reliable and secure communications methodology. Once TCP was became available, we had the same situation as Betamax versus VHS. TCP won.


arpanet was host-to-host with IMPs from late 60s ... and in many ways similar to SNA (but well before SNA). big problem was that it wouldn't support large distributed ... and frequently autonomous, decentralized infrastructure ... and so start was made on internetworking protocol.

the great change over of arpanet to internetworking (tcp/ip) protocol came 1Jan1983. at the time there was approx. 100 IMP network nodes with around 255 connected hosts.

by comparison in 1983, the internal network was rapidly approaching 1000 nodes which it passed Jun1983 ... some internal network references for 1983 in this past post (in some sense it had gateway in every node which greatly simplified semi-autonomous expanding the network and was major factor in it being larger than arpanet/internet from just about the beginning until possibly late '85 or early '86)
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2006k.html#8 other past posts mentioning internal network
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/subnetwork.html#internalnet

note ... virtual machines, gml (morphs into sgml, html, etc), lots of interactive stuff ... all came out of the IBM cambridge science center ... some past posts
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/subtopic.html#545tech

the internal network also came out of the science center, co-worker responsible
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edson_Hendricks

the internal network was not SNA (& not VTAM) ... technology similar to the internal network was also used for the univ. bitnet (where this ibm-main mailing list originated) ... some past posts
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/subnetwork.html#bitnet
wiki reference:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BITNET

starting in the early 80s, I had a HSDT project with T1 and faster speed links ... supporting both internal network protocol and tcp/ip ... some past posts
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/subnetwork.html#hsdt

one of the issues was SNA/VTAM only supported up to 56kbit links ... in the mid-80s, we were having some equipment built on the other side of the pacific. Friday before a trip, the communication group announced a new communication discussion group with the following definitions

low-speed: <9.6kbits
medium-speed: 19.2kbits
high-speed : 56kbits
very high-speed: 1.5mbits


monday morning on the other side of pacific

low-speed: <20mbits
medium-speed: 100mbits
high-speed: 200-300mbits
very high-speed: >600mbits


As part of trying to justifying only having support up to 56kbit links, the communication group prepared a report for the executive committee why customers wouldn't want T1 support until sometime in the 90s. As part of the report, they did a study of 37x5 "fat-pipe" support at customers ... multiple parallel 56kbit links treated as single logical link. They showed that the number dropped to zero around five or six parallel 56kbit links. What they possibly didn't realize was that telco tariffs for 5 or 6 56kbit links were about the same as single T1 link ... and customers would switch to full T1 and non-IBM boxes. At the time, we did a trivial customer survey of installed T1 links and found over 200.

I was also working with various institutions and NSF ... and we were suppose to get $20M to tie together the NSF supercomputer centers. Then congress cut the budget and a few other things happened, and finally NSF released an RFP. Internal politics prevented us from bidding on the RFP ... the director of NSF tried to help, writing the company a letter 3Apr1986, NSF Director to IBM Chief Scientist and IBM Senior VP and director of Research, copying IBM CEO) but that just made the internal politics worse (as references to what we already had running was at least 5yrs ahead of all RFP responses).

Some old NSFNET related email
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/lhwemail.html#nsfnet
NSFNET backbone eventually morphs into the modern internet, reference
https://www.technologyreview.com/s/401444/grid-computing/

along the way the communication group was spreading all sorts of FUD and misinformation (regarding NSF supercomputer backbone) ... some of the misinformation email was collected by somebody in the communication group and forwarded to us ... reference here (heavily redacted to protect the guilty)
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2006w.html#email870109

In later part of the 80s, the communication group attempted a patchwork solution with the 3737 ... a box that supported T1 link ... but only had aggregate throughput of 2mbit/sec (T1 is full-duplex 1.5mbit/sec or 3mbit/sec aggregate, EU T2 is full-duplex 2mbit/sec or 4mbit/sec aggregate). Because VTAM line processing wouldn't keep the faster links busy ... the 3737 spoofed a CTCA to the host vtam and immediately ACKed the local VTAM transmission. The 3737 then had huge amount of buffering and non-VTAM line paradigm with remote 3737 trying to keep line running at full-speed. past posts with more 3737 details
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011g.html#75
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011g.html#77

about the same time that the communication group was spreading FUD and misinformation regarding the NSFNET backbone ... it was also spreading misinformation justifying the conversion of the internal network to SNA/VTAM ... which required an enormous increase in allocated resources.
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2006x.html#email870302
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011.html#email870306

if there was to be any conversion of the internal network, it would have been significantly more cost effective and better performance if the internal network had been converted to tcp/ip ... similar to what bitnet did.

late 80s, a senior disk engineer got a talk scheduled at an annual, internal, world-wide communication group conference supposedly on the subject of 3174 performance ... but opened the talk with the statement that the communication group was going to be responsible for the demise of the disk division. The communication had corporate strategic ownership of everything that crossed the datacenter wall. They were strenuously fighting off distributed computing and client/server trying to preserve their dumb terminal paradigm and install base. The disk division was seeing drop in disk sales as data was fleeing the datacenter for more distributed computing friendly platforms. The disk division had come up with a number of solutions to correct the problem, but was constantly vetoed by the disk division. This was significant factor contributing to company going into the red a few years later.

other recent reference
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013m.html#100 SHARE Blog: News Flash: The Mainframe (Still) Isn't Dead

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

z/OS is antique WAS: Aging Sysprogs = Aging Farmers

Refed: **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **
From: lynn@GARLIC.COM (Anne & Lynn Wheeler)
Subject: Re: z/OS is antique WAS: Aging Sysprogs = Aging Farmers
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.ibm-main
Date: 5 Nov 2013 15:55:15 -0800
elardus.engelbrecht@SITA.CO.ZA (Elardus Engelbrecht) writes:
Around 1990 and so when death of mainframe has been predicted [1], someone said to me: The technology to completely replace big iron has not been in place properly. Now, it is still, to my astonishment, somewhat true! Rather, new things evolved in the meantime.

re:
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#16 z/OS is antique WAS: Aging Sysprogs = Aging Farmers

mid-80s, top executives were predicting revenue would double (to approx. $215B in today's dollars) mostly based on mainframe and instituted massive internal building program to double mainframe manufacturing capacity ... this was just at the start when things were began to go in the opposite direction (and it wasn't exactly career enhancing to point it out, also see previous post to the reference about drop in disk sales and communication group stranglehold on the datacenter).

early 90s, the company went into the red and top executives re-orged the company into the 13 "baby blues" in preparation for breaking up the company ... this was before the board brought in Gerstner to reverse the breakup and resurrect the company (he refocused the company from hardware products to services). The people in POK had been expecting to be totally shutdown and were sending out email referencing "would the last person to leave POK, please turn out the lights".

Mainframe sales have been running around $5B/annum (compared to the prediction for $200B+) ... or the equivalent of approx. 180 max. configured z196.

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

z/OS is antique WAS: Aging Sysprogs = Aging Farmers

Refed: **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **
From: lynn@GARLIC.COM (Anne & Lynn Wheeler)
Subject: Re: z/OS is antique WAS: Aging Sysprogs = Aging Farmers
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.ibm-main
Date: 5 Nov 2013 17:22:46 -0800
jperryma@PACBELL.NET (Jon Perryman) writes:
I meant to say when TCP/IP was publicly available. I think ARPANET was only available to the military.

re:
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#16 z/OS is antique WAS: Aging Sysprogs = Aging Farmers
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#17 z/OS is antique WAS: Aging Sysprogs = Aging Farmers

attachment and IMPs required arpa approval ... which limited uptake.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ARPANET

lots of universities & non-DOD, milnet was the part of the arpanet for unclassified DOD traffic
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MILNET

note that nsfnet backbone in the late 80s also had AUP (acceptable use policy) for non-commercial use
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Science_Foundation_Network

... although there was freely available tcp/ip protocol implementations available on lots of platforms ... and could be used for private networks ... even if they didn't connect to regional and/or backbone

it was until early 90s and CIX that you have transition to commercial backbone.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commercial_Internet_eXchange

i've periodically commented that tcp/ip was the technology basis for the modern internet, nsfnet backbone was the operational basis for the modern internet and (finally) cix was the business basis for the modern internet.

RFC standard specifications for both arpanet and tcp/ip were publicly available and anybody could implement support. my RFC index
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/rfcietff.htm

trivia, until Postel ("rfc editor") passed, he let me do part of STD1.

as undergraduate in the 60s, I did a lot of operating system changes ... both os/360 and (virtual machine) cp67. cp/67 shipped with 1052 and 2741 terminal support ... but univ. also had ascii tty terminals ... so I did the work to add ascii tty terminal support. cp/67 did dynamic terminal type identification for 1052 & 2741s ... so I tried to extend it for tty support (this was picked up by the science center and shipped in standard cp67) ... which didn't quite work the way I wanted. leased lines were fine ... but I wanted a single dialup number ("hunt group") for all terminals. the problem was IBM had taken short cut in terminal controller; it was possible to dynamically change the line-scanner for each port ("SAD" CCW) ... but the line-speed (oscillator) was hard-wired for each port.

somewhat as a result the univ. started a clone controller project ... reverse engineer a channel interface board, program an interdata/3 minicomputer to emulate ibm terminal controller (with own channel interface board) ... supporting both dynamic terminal type and dynamic terminal line-speed. this later was extended with an interdata/4 for the channel interface and cluster of interdata/3s for port interfaces. this was made available to interdata which marketed it commercially (later Perkin/Elmer bought Interdata and continued to sell under PE logo). Four of us got written up for being responsible for some part of the clone controller business ... some past posts
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/submain.html#360pcm

early 70s, IBM had the Future System project (would completely replace 360/370) ... a major motivation was to significantly raise the bar for clone controllers (lack of 370 products during this period is also credited with giving clone processors a market foothold). Later when FS imploded there was mad-rush to get products back into the 370 pipelines. some past posts
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/submain.html#futuresys

there have been claims that the extreme complexity in the PU5/PU4 (VTAM/NCP) interface was attempt to meet the base FS objectives of significantly raising the bar as countermeasure to clone controllers (major design requirement for sna architecture).

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

z/OS is antique WAS: Aging Sysprogs = Aging Farmers

Refed: **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **
From: lynn@GARLIC.COM (Anne & Lynn Wheeler)
Subject: Re: z/OS is antique WAS: Aging Sysprogs = Aging Farmers
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.ibm-main
Date: 5 Nov 2013 19:35:38 -0800
jperryma@PACBELL.NET (Jon Perryman) writes:
On the other side, Unix has seen many of it's improvements because of z/OS. You may not think so but look at the timelines and make comparisons. The last one I personally saw was high availability. IBM implemented SAP/HA on z/OS and SAP received the SAP/HA modifications. A few years later, Linux-HA came out to support SAP/HA.

re:
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#16 z/OS is antique WAS: Aging Sysprogs = Aging Farmers
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#17 z/OS is antique WAS: Aging Sysprogs = Aging Farmers
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#18 z/OS is antique WAS: Aging Sysprogs = Aging Farmers

about the same time that SNA architecture was originally being created (major requirement was complexity of vtam/ncp interface as countermeasure to clone controllers), my wife was co-author of peer-to-peer networking architecture (internal document AWP39).

later she was con'ed into going to POK to be in charge of loosely-coupled architecture and while there she did peer-coupled shared data architecture ... some past posts
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/submain.html#shareddata

which saw little uptake (except for ims hotstandby) until sysplex (& parallel sysplex) little uptake and periodic battles with the communication group trying to force her into using sna/vtam for loosely-coupled operation, resulted in her not staying long in the position.

late 80s/early 90s we did cluster scale-up ha/cmp for rs/6000 ... some past posts
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/subtopic.html#hacmp

while out marketing ha/cmp in the early 90s, i coined the terms disaster survivability and geographic survivability ... some past posts
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/submain.html#available

i was also asked to write a section for the corporate strategic continuous availability document ... however both Rochester (AS/400) and POK (mainframe) complained that they couldn't meet the specification ... and the section was removed.

recent post discussing distributed lock manager for ha/cmp in greater detail
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013m.html#86 'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamation made 30 yearsagotoday

and old post mentioning cluster scale-up ha/cmp meeting in ellison's conference room early jan1992 ... 16-way by mid92 and 128-way by ye92
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/95.html#13

shortly later, cluster scale-up was transferred and we were told we couldn't work on anything with more than four processors (possibly contributing was mainframe DB2 complaining that if we were allowed to proceed, it would be at least five years ahead of them).

it was then quickly announced as ibm supercomputer ... for scientific and technical only ... press item 17Feb1992
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2001n.html#6000clusters1

and as a result we decide to leave. later folklore is that oracle reverse engineers ha/cmp DLM and ports it to other platforms.

DB2
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_DB2

from above ... non-mainframe (rs/6000) DB2
In October 2009, IBM introduced its second major release of the year when it announced DB2 pureScale. DB2 pureScale is a database cluster solution for non-mainframe platforms, suitable for Online Transaction Processing (OLTP) workloads. IBM based the design of DB2 pureScale on the Parallel Sysplex implementation of DB2 data sharing on the mainframe. DB2 pureScale provides a fault-tolerant architecture and shared-disk storage. A DB2 pureScale system can grow to 128 database servers, and provides continuous availability and automatic load balancing.

... snip ...

17yrs after ha/cmp was going to ship 128-way ... from the annals of release no software before its time ... past post
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009.html#43

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

Despite Eight Ongoing Criminal/Civil Investigations of JPMorgan, the Bank's a Law Enforcement Partner With the NYPD

Refed: **, - **, - **
From: lynn@garlic.com
Subject: Despite Eight Ongoing Criminal/Civil Investigations of JPMorgan, the Bank's a Law Enforcement Partner With the NYPD
Date: 06 Nov, 2013
Blog: Google+
re:
https://plus.google.com/102794881687002297268/posts/X5STHHxDfTE

Despite Eight Ongoing Criminal/Civil Investigations of JPMorgan, the Bank's a Law Enforcement Partner With the NYPD
http://wallstreetonparade.com/2013/11/despite-eight-ongoing-criminalcivil-investigations-of-jpmorgan-the-banks-a-law-enforcement-partner-with-the-nypd/

and

Chase Isn't the Only Bank in Trouble
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/taibblog/chase-isnt-the-only-bank-in-trouble-20131105
The U.S. Attorney Who Prosecutes JP Morgan Will Be Its First Witness
http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2013/11/bill-black-the-u-s-attorney-who-prosecutes-jp-morgan-will-be-its-first-witness.html
J.P. Morgan's Legal Headaches: A Tally
http://blogs.wsj.com/moneybeat/2013/09/24/j-p-morgans-legal-headaches-a-tally/
JPMorgan May Settle With Group of Agencies
http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2013/09/24/jpmorgan-may-settle-with-group-of-agencies/
JPMorgan's Legal Hurdles Expected to Multiply
http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2013/09/23/jpmorgans-legal-hurdles-expected-to-multiply/
Fraud Fortress: JPM Settles London Whale, Admits To Violating Securities Laws
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-09-19/fraud-fortress-jpm-settles-london-whale-admits-violating-securities-laws
JPMorgan Settlement To Reach $11 Billion, AP Reports
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-09-25/jpmorgan-settlement-reach-11-billion-ap-reports
JPMorgan's Mortgage Settlement May Reach $20 Billion
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-09-24

recent posts mentioning JPMorgan
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013.html#34 How Bankers Help Drug Traffickers and Terrorists
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013.html#36 JPMorgan Chase slammed by regulators for control failings after botched derivatives bet
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013.html#44 How to Cut Megabanks Down to Size
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013.html#50 How to Cut Megabanks Down to Size
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013b.html#1 Libor Lies Revealed in Rigging of $300 Trillion Benchmark
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013b.html#27 More Whistleblower Leaks on Foreclosure Settlement Show Both Suppression of Evidence and Gross Incompetence
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013b.html#28 Neil Barofsky: Geithner Doctrine Lives on in Libor Scandal
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013b.html#30 Email Trails Show Bankers Behaving Badly
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013b.html#65 How to Cut Megabanks Down to Size
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013c.html#43 More Whistleblower Leaks on Foreclosure Settlement Show Both Suppression of Evidence and Gross Incompetence
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013d.html#4 Live-Blogging Senate Hearing Tomorrow, When J.P. Morgan Chase Will Be Torn a New One
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013d.html#6 Live-Blogging Senate Hearing Tomorrow, When J.P. Morgan Chase Will Be Torn a New One
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013d.html#17 "JP MORGAN SAW ITSELF AS ABOVE THE REGULATORS" Do you agree?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013d.html#24 "JP MORGAN SAW ITSELF AS ABOVE THE REGULATORS" Do you agree?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013d.html#25 Senator Sherrod Brown Drops a Bombshell in Mary Jo White's Hearing
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013d.html#29 Bank Holiday In Cyprus
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013d.html#35 Ex-Bailout Watchdog: JPMorgan's Actions "Entirely Consistent With Fraud"
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013d.html#40 How to Cut Megabanks Down to Size
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013d.html#42 What Makes an Architecture Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013d.html#69 What Makes an Architecture Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013d.html#73 What Makes an Architecture Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013d.html#76 IBM Spent A Million Dollars Renovating And Staffing Its Former CEO's Office
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013d.html#79 "JP MORGAN SAW ITSELF AS ABOVE THE REGULATORS" Do you agree?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013d.html#86 What Makes an Architecture Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013e.html#1 How to Cut Megabanks Down to Size
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013e.html#9 What Makes an Architecture Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013e.html#13 What Makes an Architecture Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013e.html#19 What Makes an Architecture Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013e.html#25 What Makes bank regulation and insurance Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013e.html#41 It's a Banker's World
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013e.html#42 More Whistleblower Leaks on Foreclosure Settlement Show Both Suppression of Evidence and Gross Incompetence
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013e.html#86 What Makes a thread about the European debt crisis Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013f.html#2 What Makes an Architecture Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013f.html#15 What Makes an Architecture Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013f.html#31 Fed proposes annual assessments for large financial companies
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013f.html#34 What Makes an Architecture Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013f.html#48 How to Cut Megabanks Down to Size
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013g.html#0 JPMorgan Caught in Swirl of Regulatory Woes
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013g.html#27 Old data storage or data base
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013g.html#86 How Wall Street Defanged Dodd-Frank
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013h.html#12 Why Didn't the SEC Catch Madoff? It Might Have Been Policy Not To
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013h.html#46 OT: "Highway Patrol" back on TV
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013h.html#56 OT: "Highway Patrol" back on TV
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013i.html#18 Louis V. Gerstner Jr. lays out his post-IBM life - Washington Post
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013j.html#3 What Makes an Architecture Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013j.html#6 Barclays, Traders Fined $487.9 Million by U.S. Regulator
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013j.html#15 What Makes a Tax System Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013j.html#61 What Makes a Tax System Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013j.html#76 Barclays, Traders Fined $487.9 Million by U.S. Regulator
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013k.html#2 IBM Relevancy in the IT World
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013k.html#9 Why DOJ Deemed Bank Execs Too Big To Jail
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013k.html#10 What Makes Infrastructure investment not bizarre
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013k.html#18 copyright protection/Doug Englebart
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013k.html#20 JPMorgan Nears Settlement on 'London Whale' Case
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013k.html#57 The agency problem and how to create a criminogenic environment
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013k.html#78 Libor Rate-Probe Spotlight Shines on Higher-Ups
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013k.html#86 What Makes a Tax System Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013l.html#1 What Makes a Tax System Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013l.html#9 What Makes a Tax System Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013l.html#58 OT: NYT article--the rich get richer
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013l.html#60 Retirement Heist
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013l.html#67 OT: NYT article--the rich get richer
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013m.html#3 Lending is still lagging according to Reuters. Why do you think that is?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013m.html#13 OT: NYT article--the rich get richer
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013m.html#15 OT: NYT article--the rich get richer
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013m.html#79 Nobody Should Shed a Tear for JP Morgan Chase
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013m.html#90 JPMorgan: Wall Street's Not Saying It's Guilty. It Not Even Sorry
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#1 IBM board OK repurchase of another $15B of stock
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#8 copyright, was Re: 'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamation made 30 yearsagotoday

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

50th anniversary S/360 coming up

From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Subject: Re: 50th anniversary S/360 coming up
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Date: Wed, 06 Nov 2013 13:56:37 -0500
hancock4 writes:
AFAIK, the model 30 was a good machine, reasonably price, and quite suitable for the installations it was designed for--basically former 1401 shops. I believe it was the most pouplar S/360 model.

from end of acs-360 effort:
https://people.computing.clemson.edu/~mark/acs_end.html

quote from "Data Processing Technology and Economics":

• Of the 26,000 IBM computer systems in use, 16,000 were S/360 models (that is, over 60%). [Fig. 1.311.2]
• Of the general-purpose systems having the largest fraction of total installed value, the IBM S/360 Model 30 was ranked first with 12% (rising to 17% in 1969). The S/360 Model 40 was ranked second with 11% (rising to almost 15% in 1970). [Figs. 2.10.4 and 2.10.5]
• Of the number of operations per second in use, the IBM S/360 Model 65 ranked first with 23%. The Univac 1108 ranked second with slightly over 14%, and the CDC 6600 ranked third with 10%. [Figs. 2.10.6 and 2.10.7]


... snip ...

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

Aging Sysprogs = Aging Farmers

From: lynn@GARLIC.COM (Anne & Lynn Wheeler)
Subject: Re: Aging Sysprogs = Aging Farmers
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.ibm-main
Date: 6 Nov 2013 11:58:31 -0800
jperryma@PACBELL.NET (Jon Perryman) writes:
2. It is the only tool where we can easilyt segregate interactive versus long running programs. This allows WLM give more resources to interactive users because they are personally waiting. Sysprog's encourage it's use by setting WLM such that a user get's less than batch priority when they use to many resources.

re:
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#16 z/OS is antique WAS: Aging Sysprogs = Aging Farmers
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#17 z/OS is antique WAS: Aging Sysprogs = Aging Farmers
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#18 z/OS is antique WAS: Aging Sysprogs = Aging Farmers
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#19 z/OS is antique WAS: Aging Sysprogs = Aging Farmers

as an undergraduate in the 60s, I did dynamic adaptive resource manager for cp67 ... which was picked up and released as part of the product. A default policy was "fair share" resources ... nobody got more resources than anybody else ... regardless of interactive or background/batch characteristics ... default policy gave interactive more timely resources ... but not more resources. some past posts
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/subtopic.html#fairshare

in the simplification morph from cp67 to vm370, the dynamic adaptive code was dropped ... however customers would continue to advocate in SHARE to bring it back.

I went to the science center ... some past posts
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/subtopic.html#545tech

and continued to work on cp67 and then did port to vm370
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2006v.html#email731212
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2006w.html#email750102
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2006w.html#email750430

one of my hobbies in IBM was producing, distributing & supporting production systems for large number of internal datacenters ... including the internal IBM world-wide sales&marketing HONE systems ... some past posts
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/subtopic.html#hone

this was also during the Future System period ... when 370 efforts were being shutdown ... but I continued with 360/370 and not exactly career enhancing ... critized what they were doing ... some past posts
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/submain.html#futuresys

when Future System finally imploded, the mad rush to get products back into the 370 pipeline contributed to decision to pickup a lot of stuff I had been doing (and was running widely inside the company) and release it to customers.

Back in the 60s, various litigation contributed to the 23Jun1969 "unbundling" decision that started to charge for software, se services, etc ... some past posts
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/submain.html#unbundle

however, they managed to make the case that kernel software should still be free. With the lack of products during the future system period and clone processors getting market foothold ... a decision was made to start charging for kernel software ... and the decision was made to make my scheduler a separate kernel component and the guinea pig for starting to charge for kernel software (as a result I got to spend a lot of time with the business and legal people about policies for kernel software charging).

later with the big explosion in online & interactive vm/4300 machines ... both with customers and internally ... the company made a decision that vm/cms was the strategic interactive offering. It was then that the TSO product manager asked me if I would port my dynamic adaptive resource manager to MVS ... hoping that I could help fix the really horrible TSO human factor characteristics ... old email reference:
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2006b.html#email800310

as I've mentioned periodically ... I declined the offer ... in part because there was enormous number of other MVS issues (not just scheduling) that affected its poor interactive characteristics.

as an aside, one of the problems I had (re)releasing my dynamic adaptive resource manager ... was somebody from Armonk (with past history in POK MVS) non-concurred with approval for the release because it didn't have a lot of manual tuning knobs (because that was state-of-the-art at the time with MVS having enormous number of manual tuning knobs). I tried to explain that dynamic adaptive eliminated the necessity for all those manual tuning knobs ... since it was repeatedly calculating them dynamically adjusting for configuration and workload. I finally created a "joke" ... I put in manual tuning knobs ... and described the algorithms, code in detail as well as shipping source code. The "joke" was that the dynamic adaptive code had more degrees of freedom than the manual tuning knobs ... so any knob choice could be compensated for by the dynamic code. All the code was also packaged in a source module I named "STP" (after the television commercials about the "racer's edge").

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

Serialization without Enque

From: lynn@GARLIC.COM (Anne & Lynn Wheeler)
Subject: Re: Serialization without Enque
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.ibm-main
Date: 7 Nov 2013 21:42:51 -0800
tony@HARMINC.NET (Tony Harminc) writes:
It serializes happily against all the CS variations, TS, and the newer interlocked-update instructions like ASI, LAA, and so on. And there are cases where a simple ST or the like can interoperate usefully with CS. For instance, if you update a counter with CS, it is safe to zero it with ST.

compare-and-swap is atomic instruction ... it does the compare and does the store if the compare matches ... it solves the problem of interrupts and other processes doing something while interrupted. normal process is if the compare doesn't match ... and the store isn't done ... loop back and restart the operation.

charlie had invented compare-and-swap while doing fine-grain multiprocessing locking for cp67 at the cambridge science center past posts mentioning science center
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/subtopic.html#545tech

... compare-and-swap was chosen for the name of the instruction because CAS are charlie's initials. past posts mentioning smp and/or compare-and-swap
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/subtopic.html#smp

the initial attempt to include compare-and-swap in 370 was rejected because the pok favorite son operating system people said it wasn't needed, that TS was more than sufficient for multiprocessor locking (single kernel spin-lock). the 370 architecture owners said that to get compare-and-swap justified for 370 (over pok objections), had to come up with purposes other than multiprocessor locking. Thus was born the examples (still in principles of operation) for interrupt-enabled, multi-threaded applications (like large dbms) ... whether or not running in multiprocessor configuration or not.

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

Aging Sysprogs = Aging Farmers

Refed: **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **
From: lynn@GARLIC.COM (Anne & Lynn Wheeler)
Subject: Re: Aging Sysprogs = Aging Farmers
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.ibm-main
Date: 8 Nov 2013 07:55:57 -0800
shmuel+ibm-main@PATRIOT.NET (Shmuel Metz , Seymour J.) writes:
Due to the NIH syndrome, VPAM and VIPAM cannot be imported from TSS. However, I can provide you with a subroutine for the functionality of BLDL, FIND and STOW for QSAM, with a single OPEN for multiple members. You'd have to refit it for current releases.

note that this is account of one of the primary people responsible for HASP ... then did a group that did something similar for MFT that he called RASP ... the results was used as part of the justification for mobing to 16mbyte virtual memoy for all 370s.
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011d.html#73

however, in part because company wouldn't go ahead with it (possibly also nih) ... he left and redid it at Amdahl (from scratch in clean room) ... and even tho IBM wasn't to going to do anything with it ... there was still litigation and court ordered code examination ... which only was able to find a few lines of code that could be considered similar.

Note that later AT&T had contracted with ibm to do a stripped down TSS/370 kernel called SSUP which unix infrastructure was layered on top.

There was somebody still at univ. that had done a native port of unix to 370 ... and there was attempt to hire him in ibm ... but wasn't successful and he went to Amdahl where "UTS" was done instead. I knew some of the people involved in both projects and there was some about of internal politics and I got asked about it ... so i suggested that they try and meld the projects ... somewhat along the lines of TSS SSUP for AT&T ... which never happened. "UTS" during development was referred to as GOLD for the element Au (or amadahl unix).

As an aside, when i was undergraduate, the univ. was talked into upgrading 709/1401 combo to 360/67 supposedly for tss/360 ... however at the time, tss/360 never really came to anywhere near production and the 360/67 ran mostly as 360/65 with os/360 ... i got undergraduate job responsible for care&feeding of the system. Jan1968 people from science center to install cp67. I got to play with cp67 on weekends ... when i wasn't doing os/360 maint. post with fall 1968 share presentation about some of the os/360 work (careful reorder of stage2 sysgen cards to optimally place datasets and pds members that improved univ. student fortran job throughput by nearly three times) and cp67 (work) rewrote lots of cp67 that drastically cut pathlenth/overhead.
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/94.html#18

however, sometimes on weekends, i had to work around ibm se playing with tss/360. We did setup common benchmark for fortran edit, compile and execute with simulate scripts and simulated users. turns out that cp67 with 35 simulated users running the script outperformed and had better interactive response than tss/360 with only 4 users running the same script. In any case, i learned quite a bit about how tss/360 did things wrong.

later at science center ... i did a paged mapped filesystem for cp67/cms avoiding a lot of tss/360 performance issues (it was also somewhat in competition with the multics group on the 5th flr that was also doing paged mapped filesystem).

I've mentioned before about ridiculing the FS effort ... in part because they were somewhat doing the tss/360 filesystem organization ... w/o addressing many of the performance issues.
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/submain.html#futuresys

later when future system implodes and the mad rush to get products back into 370 product pipeline ... that contributed to release some of the 360/370 stuff all during the FS period ... recent reference in this thread
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#22

... but not the page mapped stuff ... presumably because page-mapped filesystem was tainted with both tss/360 and FS efforts ... even tho i could show three times greater throughput with cms paged-mapped filesystem compared to standard cms filesystem (on the same hardware) past posts mentioning page mapped filesystem
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/submain.html#mmap

misc. past posts mentioning tss/370 ssup effort for at&t unix:
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2004q.html#37 A Glimpse into PC Development Philosophy
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2005b.html#13 Relocating application architecture and compiler support
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2005d.html#61 Virtual Machine Hardware
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2005s.html#34 Power5 and Cell, new issue of IBM Journal of R&D
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2006f.html#26 Old PCs--environmental hazard
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2006m.html#30 Old Hashing Routine
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2006p.html#22 Admired designs / designs to study
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2006t.html#17 old Gold/UTS reference
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2007.html#38 How many 36-bit Unix ports in the old days?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2007b.html#3 How many 36-bit Unix ports in the old days?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2007k.html#43 John W. Backus, 82, Fortran developer, dies
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2007m.html#69 Operating systems are old and busted
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2008e.html#1 Migration from Mainframe to othre platforms - the othe bell?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2008l.html#82 Yet another squirrel question - Results (very very long post)
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2008r.html#21 What if the computers went back to the '70s too?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2010c.html#43 PC history, was search engine history, was Happy DEC-10 Day
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2010e.html#17 Senior Java Developer vs. MVS Systems Programmer (warning: Conley rant)
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2010e.html#72 Entry point for a Mainframe?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2010h.html#61 (slightly OT - Linux) Did IBM bet on the wrong OS?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2010i.html#28 someone smarter than Dave Cutler
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2010i.html#44 someone smarter than Dave Cutler
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2010l.html#2 TSS (Transaction Security System)
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2010o.html#0 Hashing for DISTINCT or GROUP BY in SQL
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011.html#73 Speed of Old Hard Disks - adcons
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011.html#96 History of copy on write
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011f.html#85 SV: USS vs USS
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011o.html#14 John R. Opel, RIP
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012.html#67 Has anyone successfully migrated off mainframes?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012f.html#28 which one came first
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012o.html#34 Regarding Time Sharing

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virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

magnetic disk heritage

From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Subject: magnetic disk heritage
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Date: Fri, 08 Nov 2013 22:24:33 -0500
i was in san jose today overlooking 99 notre dame
http://www.magneticdiskheritagecenter.org/

somebody referenced the above website as well as
http://historysanjose.org/wp/research-collection/collections/the-perham-collection/

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virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

SNA vs TCP/IP

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From: lynn@GARLIC.COM (Anne & Lynn Wheeler)
Subject: Re: SNA vs TCP/IP
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.ibm-main
Date: 9 Nov 2013 15:49:58 -0800
PaulGBoulder@AIM.COM (Paul Gilmartin) writes:
There's always a reason. Rarely is it an analogue of Gresham's Law, to which one partisan attributed the triumph of UNIX over VMS ("Bad software drives out good!") Betamax succumbed to the greater capacity of VHS cartridges; a decisive advantage in the eyes of consumers at a tipping point in time despite the higher quality of Beta in professionals' view. For many years thereafter I saw Beta only in the kits of TV news reporters on location. I think VHS had caught up in quality and Beta in capacity, but both camps has too much capital investment to switch.

re:
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#16

remember, sna didn't have internetworking and networking ... there was central vtam that had mapping to device.

for a time i reported to the same executive as the person responsible for APPN (internal architecture document awp164, i mentioned previously my wife much earlier was co-author of peer-to-peer networking, awp39) ... which provides networking layer ... i would periodically chide the person to not waste their time trying to help sna (because they wouldn't appreciate it) and come work on *real* networking.

as it turns out the communication group did non-concur on the draft announcement letter for APPN ... and it took six weeks of escalation to resolve the issue ... where the APPN announcement letter was carefully rewritten to not imply any relationship existed between APPN and SNA.

trivia ... person responsible for DNS had worked at the cambridge science center when he was student at MIT.

also in the mid-80s, i had gotten sucked into and effort to taking some support done by one the babybells and turning it out as product ... we tried very hard to isolate the effort from internal political influence of the communication group to block it ... which they managed to do anyway (which can only be described as truth is stranger than fiction). I probably didn't help things by doing a presentation on the effort at one of the regular SNA architecture review board meetings ... which had top technical and executives in the audience. part of that presentation
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/99.html#67

basically what the babybell had done was implement an NCP/SSCP emulation on Series/1 ... which was significantly more powerful computer that what was used for the NCP/37x5 controllers ... and then actually run everything in real networking infrastructure ... except at the boundary spoofing to host vtams. all resources were simulated as "cross-domain" ... but was really fully distributed resource management with no-single-point-of-failure.

the use of real networking within the operation of the infrastructure made possible a lot of things that weren't possible in a pure sna/vtam environment ... as well as having a much more powerful processor than what were used in 37x5. part of the effort also included moving the implementation from series/1 to rios (rs/6000) after the initial release.

post with part of presentation made at series/1 common user group meeting
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/99.html#70

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

SNA vs TCP/IP

Refed: **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **
From: lynn@GARLIC.COM (Anne & Lynn Wheeler)
Subject: Re: SNA vs TCP/IP
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.ibm-main
Date: 10 Nov 2013 17:05:41 -0800
shmuel+ibm-main@PATRIOT.NET (Shmuel Metz , Seymour J.) writes:
For that matter, what would an Internet using the ISO OSI model and the related C.C.I.T.T. recommendations[1] look like?

re:
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#16 z/OS is antique WAS: Aging Sysprogs = Aging Farmers
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#18 z/OS is antique WAS: Aging Sysprogs = Aging Farmers
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#19 z/OS is antique WAS: Aging Sysprogs = Aging Farmers
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#26 SNA vs TCP/IP

fed. gov. had mandated elimination of the internet and forced move to OSI (GOSIP) ... evident at interop '88 with lots of OSI products ... some post posts
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/subnetwork.html#interop88

the issue was that OSI didn't have any internetworking layer (either) ... basically would be reverything to the pre-tcp/ip era of the 70s

iso also had policy that none of the ISO network-related standards bodies could standardize any protocol that didn't conform to the OSI model.

to top it off, there were various references that ISO didn't actually have requirement that ISO standards be implementable ... in contrast IETF (aka internet) has requirement that there has to be at least two interoperable (different) implementations to progress in the standards process.

disclaimer: i was involved in taking HSP to X3S3.3 (iso chartered us standards group responsible for standards related to level3&4, aka networking and transport ... in the OSI model). some past posts
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/subnetwork.html#xtphsp

it was rejected for violating the osi model ... at least

1) supported an internetworking layer that doesn't exist in OSI ... non-existent layer that sits between bottom of layer4 and top of layer3

2) went directly from transport to LAN/MAC interface ... bypassing layer3/layer4 interface

3) went directly to LAN/MAC interface ... which doesn't exist in the OSI model ... sits approximately somewhere in the middle of layer3 (more than link layer ... but not all of the network layer).

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

SNA vs TCP/IP

Refed: **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **
From: lynn@GARLIC.COM (Anne & Lynn Wheeler)
Subject: Re: SNA vs TCP/IP
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.ibm-main
Date: 10 Nov 2013 21:45:18 -0800
edgould1948@COMCAST.NET (Ed Gould) writes:
A LONG LONG time ago we had bumped in to the maxsuba of 255. IBM almost simultaneously came out with a outrageously expensive add on (memory was $5000 a month) to get rid of it. My management said NFW to the cost and told me to live with it. We had to start turning away customers and then the heat started and they hired a SNA "pro" and he came up with a few suggestions - but mind you it was a 2 or 3 month buffer before we had no other option. (His $$ should have gone for bonuses to the networking staff, IMO). Our people costs were high because it was trying to keep track of SNA paths (of other users and ours) we finally bought the RTG software which helped us but was another $100 (?) a month, Overall trying to keep disparate networks in sync was an utter night mare. I was/am a fan of SNA until it comes to (large) networks.

re:
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#26 SNA vs TCP/IP
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#27 SNA vs TCP/IP

note that jes2 had similar problem. the code was brought over from hasp (use to have the characters TUCC in cols 68-71) ... it used left-over entries in the 255 entry hasp psuedo device table ... frequently somewhere around 160, maybe 180 entries. furthermore any traffic coming into jes2 node where either the origin node or the destination node wasn't in the local table ... the traffic was trashed. jes2 network had also jumbled the job control fields and the networking fields in the header ... and jes2 had nasty habit of crashing mvs receiving traffic from a jes2 at a different release level.

since the internal network (not sna until well into the late 80s where a very expensive conversion took place requiring a lot more resources)
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/subnetwork.html#internalnet

quickly passed 255, any jes2 nodes had to be kept purely on the periphery of the network. The standard network was much more robust and in may ways had internetworking capability ... the internal network was larger than the arpanet/internet from just about the beginning until sometime late 85 or early 86.

also because of the issue with jes2 release node incompatibilities tending to bring down mvs ... a large library of release specific jes2 drivers grew up for vnet. basically the vnet jes2 driver would convert the jes2 headers into a canonical form ... and a specific vnet jes2 driver was started that corresponded to the directly connected jes2 system ... which converted from canonical form into form expected by that jes2 system.

there was a infamous case at one point where mvs systems in hursely were crashing because of new fields added to the jes2 systems in san jose. the local hursely vnet systems were blamed ... because the necessary changes hadn't been made to keep the hursely jes2 systems from crashing mvs.

the original announce for jes2 networking also had big problem ... it had been somewhat developed using methodology that predated the charging for software ... even with a lot of the code being picked up from customer site. the company was under mandate that the price charged had to cover the distribution and maintenance costs ... but also the price times the number of customers had to also cover the upfront development costs ... but because of the expensive process ... there was no price for jes2 networking ... times the expected number of customers (at the price) would meet the criteria to cover all costs.

POK had also convinced the corporation to not announce any new vm370 features ... including the vnet networking support used to run the company. The jes2 group got that reversed ... because they could announce a combined jes2+vm370 product ... where the combined sales were able to cover the jes2 costs (since the vm370 product costs were almost negligible) ... aka some creative bookkeeping.

The same year that arpanet converted to internetworking (starting off with about 255 hosts ... but the internetworking change-over removed an enormous barrier to growth) ... the internal network passed 1000 nodes. some reference to the internal network activity that year.
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2006k.html#8

sometime after that year ... jes2 networking got around to changing from spare slots in the 255 psuedo device table to 999 entry table ... but it was way too late to help with internal network (that had already passed 1000 nodes). furthermore they still hadn't fixed the release level incompatibility problems that could bring down the receiving mvs system (making sure that jes2/mvs systems still had to be restricted to the network periphery, with special vnet filter/reformatter).

misc. past posts mentioning hasp, jes2, and/or jes2 networking
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/submain.html#hasp

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

SNA vs TCP/IP

Refed: **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **
From: lynn@GARLIC.COM (Anne & Lynn Wheeler)
Subject: Re: SNA vs TCP/IP
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.ibm-main
Date: 11 Nov 2013 14:23:13 -0800
shmuel+ibm-main@PATRIOT.NET (Shmuel Metz , Seymour J.) writes:
You brought up error recovery. I was hinting that SDLC has error recovery and IP doesn't. The error recovery in TCP is at a higher level, and I don't see why you expect it to have lower overhead.

re:
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#26 SNA vs TCP/IP
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#27 SNA vs TCP/IP
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#28 SNA vs TCP/IP

part of 80s protocol designs was that modern hardware transmission technology moving to employ sophisticated forward error correct (FEC) ... higher level protocols saw a lot fewer transmission errors ... higher level protocols could handle packets lost because of the fewer packet transmission error ... but also things like packet drops because of congestion at intermediate nodes.

however, there was also other sort of issues. i've mentioned being brought in to consult at small client/server startup that wanted to do payment transactions on their server, they had also invented this technology called SSL (the result is now frequently called "electronic commerce") ... and we had to map SSL technology to payment transaction process.

one of the very early adopters was national sport retailer that was expected increased web traffic during half-time of sunday professional football. they had multiple lines into different places into the internet backbone for availability. one of the complicating factors was that some number of ISPs still took routers down on sunday for maintenance (creating outages).

I had originally worked on using routed protocol to advertise ip-addresses at different routes (for availability)... but the internet backbone started the process of moving to hierarchical routings ... so fault masking for availability had to fall back to (DNS) multiple A-records (instead of host name mapping to single ip-address, it would have a table of 2 or more ip-addresses).

I explained to the browser group that they had to support multiple A-records and why (if unable to make connection with 1st ip-address, continue to try and use any additional ip-addresses) ... they responded with it was too complex ... i provided them with example code from 4.3 tahoe/reno clients ... and they still said it was too complex (it took something like another 12 months before i got them to support multiple a-records; aka while i had absolute authority of all implementation deployment for the webserver to payment gateway ... i could only advise/recommend on the browser to webserver implementation).

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

SNA vs TCP/IP

Refed: **, - **, - **, - **, - **
From: lynn@GARLIC.COM (Anne & Lynn Wheeler)
Subject: Re: SNA vs TCP/IP
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.ibm-main
Date: 12 Nov 2013 10:22:56 -0800
Robert Wessel <robertwessel2@yahoo.com> writes:
That's not a very valid comparison. SDLC is mostly a link level protocol; IP, UDP and TCP are not. In many cases there is considerable error recovery on links that IP is run over - if for no other reason than the end-to-end error recovery in TCP works poorly if there are too many errors. In any event, the lack of end-to-end error checking and recovery in SNA is a major failing, as it requires near perfect error management on every link and node between the two endpoints.

re:
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#26 SNA vs TCP/IP
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#27 SNA vs TCP/IP
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#28 SNA vs TCP/IP
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#29 SNA vs TCP/IP

a big issue with tcp throughput is slow-start as mechanism for congestion control/avoidance ... aka in enormously large heterogeneous network with dozens of hops end-to-end and bursty traffic ... there is relatively high probability of periodic congestion. dropping a packet and then restarting slow-start ... can enormously cut throughput.

note that on my internal backbone in hsdt ... we were already doing rate-based pacing ... well before slow-start was deployed.
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/subnetwork.html#hsdt

approx. same time that slow-start was presented in IETF meeting ... there was also acm sigcomm meeting with a couple papers of interest ... one showed how slow-start was non-stable in large, heterogeneous, real-world bursty network. I've periodically pointed at that rate-based requires at least some rudimentary system timing facilities ... and in this time period, tcp/ip stacks were being deployed on low-level platforms with insufficient timer support ... somewhat accounting for being forced to fallback to slow-start.

there have been some recent papers claiming that a rate-based tcp running over 56kbit/sec dial-up link can have higher end-to-end throughput than standard slow-start tcp running over 1.5mbit/sec (given various congestion scenarios) ... in any case, the legacy justification for slow-start is long gone.

another interesting paper from the same acm sigcomm meeting was about ethernet throughput. it showed a typical 30 station ethernet lan with all stations having a low-level device driver app constantly transmitting minimum sized ethernet packets ... and the effective throughput dropping off to 8mbits/sec. (which is higher effective throughput than 16mbit/sec token-ring)

this was in the period that the 16mbit token-ring people were publishing lots of FUD, comparing to some ridiculously low ethernet throughput. One of my conjectures for the way they came up with the numbers was that they used the very early ethernet prototype that ran at 3mbits/sec (not 10mbits/sec) and didn't support listen-before-transmit (10mbit ethernet with csma/cd standard had significant better throughput than earliest ethernet prototype).

the new almaden ibm research bldg had been extensively wired with CAT4 anticipating 16mbit/sec token-ring ... but they found running 10mbit/sec ethernet on CAT4 had both higher effective aggregate LAN throughput as well as lower message latency.

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

SNA vs TCP/IP

Refed: **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **
From: lynn@GARLIC.COM (Anne & Lynn Wheeler)
Subject: Re: SNA vs TCP/IP
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.ibm-main
Date: 12 Nov 2013 11:02:59 -0800
lynn@GARLIC.COM (Anne & Lynn Wheeler) writes:
a big issue with tcp throughput is slow-start as mechanism for congestion control/avoidance ... aka in enormously large heterogeneous network with dozens of hops end-to-end and bursty traffic ... there is relatively high probability of periodic congestion. dropping a packet and then restarting slow-start ... can enormously cut throughput.

re:
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#26 SNA vs TCP/IP
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#27 SNA vs TCP/IP
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#28 SNA vs TCP/IP
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#29 SNA vs TCP/IP
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#30 SNA vs TCP/IP

aka ... doesn't distinguish between missing packet because of transmission error and dropped packet because of congestion.

it is possible to show that dynamic adaptive rate-based pacing can be stable and maintain higher throughput rates than slow-start in the face of packet drops.

for some topic drift ... in hsdt there were some fiber-links with 10**-9 bit-error-rate with 15/16s reed-solomon FEC ... which resulted in effective 10**-15 bit error rate ... approx. the same as ibm mainframe channels of the period.
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/subnetwork.html#hsdt

there was also a gimmick for selective resend (on packet drop) ... where instead of retransmission of the same packet .... would transmit the 1/2 rate Viterbi FEC ... the receiving end could have both the original packet in error and the Viterbi FEC packet in error (despite 15/16 reed-solomon FEC) ... and still be able to reconstitute the original data. if error rate continued at high enough level ... transition to sending the 1/2 rate Viterbi as part of original transmission ... cuts effective rate in half ... but during periods of extremely hostile transmission ... packets still get through.

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

rebuild 1403 printer chain

From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Subject: rebuild 1403 printer chain
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Date: Tue, 12 Nov 2013 18:44:54 -0500
recently i saw a request from the computer history museum for somebody that could rebuild a 1403 printer chain (for the 1401 exhibit)

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virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

SNA vs TCP/IP

Refed: **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **
From: lynn@GARLIC.COM (Anne & Lynn Wheeler)
Subject: Re: SNA vs TCP/IP
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.ibm-main
Date: 13 Nov 2013 07:52:04 -0800
lynn@GARLIC.COM (Anne & Lynn Wheeler) writes:
for some topic drift ... in hsdt there were some fiber-links with 10**-9 bit-error-rate with 15/16s reed-solomon FEC ... which resulted in effective 10**-15 bit error rate ... approx. the same as ibm mainframe channels of the period.

re:
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#26 SNA vs TCP/IP
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#27 SNA vs TCP/IP
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#28 SNA vs TCP/IP
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#29 SNA vs TCP/IP
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#30 SNA vs TCP/IP
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#31 SNA vs TCP/IP

aka this was just under 30yrs ago ... hsdt was fortunate to have an engineer that had been one of reed's graduate students and had done lot of the work on reed-solomon ... hsdt was also working with cyclotomics up in berkeley that had done a lot of reed-solomon error correcting work, including for the cdrom standard (i would joke that i could get much better technology in $300 cdrom player than i could get in a $10,000 computer high-speed modem)

... a little drift, old reference
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2005n.html#email860414

past cyclotomics talk at stanford "The Impact of Error-control on Systems Design"

even now, for gigabit link & 10**-15 bit error rate ... a packet being dropped for uncorrected bit error would be every couple weeks ... much more likely to have dropped packets because of congestion at intermediate nodes.

and as mentioned ... hsdt was already doing dynamic adaptive rate-based flow control for congestion control/avoidance.
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/subnetwork.html#hsdt

other recent threads mentioning rate-based
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013i.html#46 OT: "Highway Patrol" back on TV
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013i.html#48 Google takes on Internet Standards with TCP Proposals, SPDY standardization
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013i.html#78 Has the US Lost Its Grand Strategic Mind?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013l.html#26 Anyone here run UUCP?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013m.html#100 SHARE Blog: News Flash: The Mainframe (Still) Isn't Dead

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

SNA vs TCP/IP

Refed: **, - **, - **, - **, - **
From: lynn@GARLIC.COM (Anne & Lynn Wheeler)
Subject: Re: SNA vs TCP/IP
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.ibm-main
Date: 13 Nov 2013 15:46:46 -0800
lynn@GARLIC.COM (Anne & Lynn Wheeler) writes:
for some topic drift ... in hsdt there were some fiber-links with 10**-9 bit-error-rate with 15/16s reed-solomon FEC ... which resulted in effective 10**-15 bit error rate ... approx. the same as ibm mainframe channels of the period.

re:
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#26 SNA vs TCP/IP
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#27 SNA vs TCP/IP
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#28 SNA vs TCP/IP
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#29 SNA vs TCP/IP
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#30 SNA vs TCP/IP
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#31 SNA vs TCP/IP
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#33 SNA vs TCP/IP

.... aka sdlc was so 70s
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synchronous_Data_Link_Control

recent article

Error Correction with Reed-Solomon
http://www.drdobbs.com/testing/error-correction-with-reed-solomon/240157266

from above:
Reed-Solomon might well be the most ubiquitously implemented algorithm: Barcodes use it; every CD, DVD, RAID6, and digital tape device uses it; so do digital TV and DSL. Even in deep space, Reed-Solomon toils away. Here's how it works its magic

... snip ...

Reed-Solomon error correction
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reed-Solomon_error_correction

past posts mentioning hsdt
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/subnetwork.html#hsdt

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virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamation made30yearsagotoday

Refed: **, - **, - **, - **
From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Subject: Re: 'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamation made30yearsagotoday
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Date: Thu, 14 Nov 2013 11:49:25 -0500
hancock4 writes:
The issues of inheritance of property and time length of IP protection are totally separate.

they are now trying end-run after a number of changes (and some number of other things) were defeated in congress

http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/6996/125/
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/nov/13/trans-pacific-paternership-intellectual-property

from above
As Senator Elizabeth Warren pointed out, in a letter to the White House:

I have heard the argument that transparency would undermine the administration's policy to complete the trade agreement because public opposition would be significant. If transparency would lead to widespread public opposition to a trade agreement, then that trade agreement should not be the policy of the United States. I believe in transparency and democracy and I think the US Trade Representative should too.


... snip ...

http://wikileaks.org/tpp/

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virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamationmade30yearsagotoday

Refed: **, - **, - **, - **, - **
From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Subject: Re: 'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamationmade30yearsagotoday
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Date: Fri, 15 Nov 2013 18:26:32 -0500
hancock4 writes:
If someone was originally granted IP for say 50 years and then suddenly that patent is ordered cutback to ten years and thus expired, that does seem to be confiscation of private property without compensation, and yes, communism.

the claim was that the patent system was originally created to encourage individual innovation and protect the individual from large institutions focused on preserving status quo (with individual innovation being major factor in increasing the standard of living).

however for some time now, large institutions have inverted the original purpose of the patent system as way of preserving the status quo. patents that exist for more than a decade or two would stray into the area of preserving status quo and would run counter to the original purpose of the patent system (encouraging constant individual innovation).

recent posts mentioning patent system and/or innovation:
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013b.html#75 Fortran
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013e.html#10 The Knowledge Economy Two Classes of Workers
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013f.html#9 What Makes an Architecture Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013f.html#19 Where Does the Cloud Cover the Mainframe?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013f.html#22 I Need A Good Password
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013f.html#29 Delay between idea and implementation
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013f.html#63 The cloud is killing traditional hardware and software
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013f.html#70 How internet can evolve
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013f.html#80 The cloud is killing traditional hardware and software
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013g.html#43 The cloud is killing traditional hardware and software
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013g.html#84 Metcalfe's Law: How Ethernet Beat IBM and Changed the World
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013g.html#93 The cloud is killing traditional hardware and software
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013j.html#35 The Web's longest nightmare ends: Eolas' patents are dead on appeal
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013k.html#39 copyright protection/Doug Englebart
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013k.html#40 copyright protection/Doug Englebart
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013k.html#68 Steve B sees what investors think
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013m.html#35 Why is the mainframe so expensive?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013m.html#64 'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamation made 30 years agotoday
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013m.html#88 The US Is Quietly Losing Its Innovation Edge to China
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#8 copyright, was Re: 'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamation made 30 yearsagotoday

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virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamationmade30yearsagotoday

Refed: **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **
From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Subject: Re: 'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamationmade30yearsagotoday
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Date: Sat, 16 Nov 2013 08:48:53 -0500
Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com> writes:
the claim was that the patent system was originally created to encourage individual innovation and protect the individual from large institutions focused on preserving status quo (with individual innovation being major factor in increasing the standard of living).

however for some time now, large institutions have inverted the original purpose of the patent system as way of preserving the status quo. patents that exist for more than a decade or two would stray into the area of preserving status quo and would run counter to the original purpose of the patent system (encouraging constant individual innovation).


re:
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#36 'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamationmade30yearsagotoday

from yesterday

The Intellectual Property System Is an Impenetrable Maze
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=the-intellectual-property-system-imprenetrable-maze

from above:
Patents are teachings, true recipes for enterprise. By law they are fully open documents that exist for the purpose of enabling innovation

...
One is that lawyers have learned to hide the ball inside intentionally opaque patents. The standards of patent-granting agencies tend to range from mediocre to execrable, and from incomprehensible to inconsistent. The whole process is painfully contentious, litigious, expensive and fraught.

... snip ...

enormous piles of money are spread around capital hill by special interests for the purpose of preserving the status quo. the recent case of the "open trade treaty" (TPP) ... is similar ... and has been far from "open"
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#35 'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamationmade30yearsagotoday

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virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

Making mainframe technology hip again

Refed: **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **
From: lynn@garlic.com
Subject: Making mainframe technology hip again
Date: 16 Nov, 2013
Blog: Enterprise Systems
re:
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013i.html#47 Making mainframe technology hip again
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013i.html#59 Making mainframe technology hip again
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013i.html#60 Making mainframe technology hip again
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013i.html#62 Making mainframe technology hip again
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013i.html#63 Making mainframe technology hip again

As per above ... mainframe channel and device is just industry standard technology that have simulation layers for mainframe legacy channel and disk operation (which will be slower than systems using the native hardware directly w/o the legacy emulation layer).

IBM FICON is a protocol layer on industry standard fibre-channel standard. In 1988, I had been asked to help LLNL standardiize some serial stuff they had ... which quickly morphed into FCS (fibre-channel standard). Later some POK channel people got involved and defined a really heavy weight protocol layer on top of FCS (FICON) that drastically cuts the native FCS throughput.

Recent *peak* z196 throughput benchmark got 2M IOPS using 104 FICON and 14 SAPs. SAPs documentation is that 14 SAPs are capable of 2.2M SSCH/secs all running 100% busy ... but recommendations are to keep busy at 70% or less (1.5M SSCH/secs).

By comparison a recent FCS announced for e5-2600 blade claims over 1M IOPS i.e. two such FCS would have higher native throughput than the peak z196 benchmark got using 104 FICON (which is a protocol layer on top of 104 FCS that drastically cuts the native FCS throughput).

posts mentioning FICON
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/submisc.html#ficon

Outboard of FCS, all the disk subsystems are effectively identical ... there hasn't been any real CKD DASD manufactured for decades ... just using industry standard disks with a protocol layer that simulates CKD operation.

Max configured z196 is rated at 50BIPS and goes for $28M. IBM financials claim that IBM mainframe group earns total $6.25 for every processor dollar ... or a customer with $28M max configured z196 is paying IBM on the avg. $175M.

By comparison, e5-2600 blades have processor rating of between 400BIPS-600BIPS (ten times that of max. configured z196) and IBM has base list price of $1815.

the common cloud instances tend to have near twice the integer processing power (BIPS) of their floating processing power (GFLOPS). z196 at 50BIPS and $175M works out to $3.5M/BIPS while e5-2600 at 500BIPS and $1815 works out to around $3.5/BIPS (factor of million times difference). Also cloud operators claim they build their own servers for 1/3rd the price of brand name vendors (close to $1/BIPS) ... and server chip manufacturers claim now shipping more server chips directly to cloud operators than to brand name server vendors. Large number of the cloud mega-datacenters around the world are claiming well over million cores per mega-datacenter.

recent news item ... 18hrs, $33k, 156,314 cores, petaflop (a million billion flop)
http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2013/11/18-hours-33k-and-156314-cores-amazon-cloud-hpc-hits-a-petaflop/

$33k/pflop or $33/tflop or $.033/gflop (i.e. billion flop)

and latest news for next linux kernel .... including optimized driver for native disk SSD (actually match the driver operation to the way the device actually operates, not possible in the CKD emulation paradigm) with reported improvements of 3.5 to 10times greater IOPS and 10 to 38x reduction in latency
http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=MTUxNTk

other recent cloud news:

IT'S ALIVE! IT'S ALIVE! Google's secretive Omega tech just like LIVING thing; 'Biological' signals ripple through massive cluster management monster
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/11/04/google_living_omega_cloud/

If this doesn't terrify you... Google's computers OUTWIT their humans; 'Deep learning' clusters crack coding problems their top engineers can't
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/11/15/google_thinking_machines

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamation made30yearsagotoday

Refed: **, - **, - **, - **
From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Subject: Re: 'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamation made30yearsagotoday
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Date: Sat, 16 Nov 2013 18:12:58 -0500
Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com> writes:
they are now trying end-run after a number of changes (and some number of other things) were defeated in congress

http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/6996/125/
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/nov/13/trans-pacific-paternership-intellectual-property


re:
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#35 'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamation made30yearsagotoday
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#36 'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamationmade30yearsagotoday
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#37 'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamationmade30yearsagotoday

The Most Nefarious Part Of The TPP Proposal: Making Copyright Reform Impossible
https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20131113/18484525235/most-nefarious-part-tpp-proposal-making-copyright-reform-impossible.shtml

TPP Exposed: WikiLeaks Publishes Secret Trade Text to Rewrite Copyright Laws, Limit Internet Freedom
http://www.democracynow.org/2013/11/14/tpp_exposed_wikileaks_publishes_secret_trade

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virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

The Wall Street Code: HFT Whisteblower Haim Bodek on Algorithmic Trading

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From: lynn@garlic.com
Subject: The Wall Street Code: HFT Whisteblower Haim Bodek on Algorithmic Trading
Date: 16 Nov, 2013
Blog: Financial Crime Risk, Fraud and Security
For Superfast Stock Traders, a Way to Jump Ahead in Line
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10000872396390443989204577599243693561670

The Wall Street Code: HFT Whisteblower Haim Bodek on Algorithmic Trading
http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2013/11/the-wall-street-code-hft-whisteblower-haim-bodek-on-algorithmic-trading.html

from above:
He became convinced exchanges were providing such an edge after he says he was offered one himself when he ran a high-speed trading firm -- a way to place orders that can be filled ahead of others placed earlier. The key: a kind of order called "Hide Not Slide".

... snip ...

posts mentioning whistleblower activity
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/submisc.html#whistleblower

recent posts mentioning high-frequency trading
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013.html#2 Search Google, 1960:s-style
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013b.html#29 Destructive Destruction? An Ecological Study of High Frequency Trading
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013d.html#41 Computer Simulations Reveal Benefits of Random Investment Strategies Over Traditional Ones
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013d.html#54 What Makes an Architecture Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013d.html#75 What Makes an Architecture Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013f.html#67 The End Of 'Orderly And Fair Markets'
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013h.html#58 Traders Said to Rig Currency Rates to Profit Off Clients
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013h.html#59 OT: "Highway Patrol" back on TV
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013j.html#89 FBI Finds Holes in System Protecting Economic Data
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013k.html#10 What Makes Infrastructure investment not bizarre
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013k.html#12 What Makes Infrastructure investment not bizarre
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013k.html#50 IBM Furloughs U.S. Hardware Employees to Reduce Costs
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013l.html#16 What Makes a Tax System Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013m.html#53 Retirement Savings
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013m.html#93 High Frequency Terrorism
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#1 IBM board OK repurchase of another $15B of stock
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#15 Boyd Blasphemy: Justifying the F-35

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virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

more tpp

Refed: **, - **, - **, - **
From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Subject: more tpp
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Date: Mon, 18 Nov 2013 14:17:51 -0500
re:
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#35 'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamation made30yearsagotoday
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#36 'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamationmade30yearsagotoday
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#37 'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamationmade30yearsagotoday
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#39 'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamationmade30yearsagotoday

more TTP

Congress May Have Just Killed the Trans-Pacific Partnership
http://thediplomat.com/pacific-money/2013/11/18/congress-may-have-killed-the-trans-pacific-partnership/
Critics say U.S. is going too far to protect drug companies in trade talks
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2013/11/13/208397/critics-say-us-is-going-too-far.html
More on intellectual property and the TPP
http://www.lowyinterpreter.org/post/2013/11/18/More-on-secrecy-and-the-TPP.aspx
Five key questions -- and answers -- about the leaked TPP text
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/monkey-cage/wp/2013/11/15/five-key-questions-and-answers-about-the-leaked-tpp-text/

from above:
After Thursday's leak of the intellectual property chapter it is obvious why the USTR and the Obama administration have insisted on secrecy. From this text it appears that the U.S. administration is negotiating for intellectual property provisions that it knows it could not achieve through an open democratic process. For example, it includes provisions similar to those of the failed Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), and Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA), and the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) that the European Parliament ultimately rejected. The United States appears to be using the non-transparent Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations as a deliberate end run around Congress on intellectual property, to achieve a presumably unpopular set of policy goals

... snip ...

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Serialization without Enque

From: lynn@GARLIC.COM (Anne & Lynn Wheeler)
Subject: Re: Serialization without Enque
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.ibm-main
Date: 19 Nov 2013 06:49:19 -0800
jwglists@GMAIL.COM (John Gilmore) writes:
Long-winded and ugly but functionally adequate serialization machinery can be developed using TS alone

re:
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#23 Serialization without Enque

that was the argument that the POK favorite son operating system people used when attempt was made to add comapre-and-swap to 370.

charlie had invented compare-and-swap while doing fine grain multiprocessing locking for cp67 at the cambridge science center. attempts to add it to 370 was met by opposition from the POK favorite son operating system (having used single TS spin-lock for entering os/360 360/65mp kernel). The owners of the 370 architecture then said in order to justify compare-and-swap for 370, non-multiprocessor use cases would be needed.

thus was born the non-multiprocessor specific use cases that still appear in the principles of operation. TS use case was multiprocessor set a lock serizliation followed by some operation (critical section) followed by clearing the lock. compare-and-swap is single serialized non-interruptable, atomic operation. The compare-and-swap use cases include non-kernel, interruptable, multi-threaded (not necessarily multiprocessor) operation performing atomic serialized operations w/o the overhead of making kernel call to perform serialized operation. misc. past posts mentioning multiprocessing and/or compare-and-swap
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/subtopic.html#smp

compare-and-swap was fairly quickly adopted by large multi-threaded applications like high throughput DBMS systems. compare-and-swap was so useful, numerous other hardware platforms adopted it also (or instructions with similar atomic semantics).

ibm's 801/risc architecture was originally developed in the period around Future System (failed new machine architecture that was going to completely replace 360/370) ... and i've frequently claimed that there was a lot of 801 objectives to the extreme opposite of the FS complexity. One of the issues not to have cache consistency ... to avoid the enormous performance penalty paid by FS mutliprocessor (and even the extreme throughput penalty paid for 370 strong memory model multiprocessor cache consistency). misc. past posts mentioning future system
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/submain.html#futuresys

No cache-consistency pretty much ruled out multiprocessor operation ... as well as philosophy of all instructions needed to complete in single cycle ... ruled out compare-and-swap instruction.

however, the lack of compare-and-swap instruction ... put the RS/6000 at severe throughput disadvantage with open system RDBMS benchmarks compared to other platforms (open system RDBMS had fall-back to kernel call locking for few hardware platforms that didn't have compare-and-swap semantics).

fairly early, compare-and-swap instruction emulation was added to the rs/6000 AIX system call FLIH ... within a couple instructions of entry to system call FLIH ... there was special case for compare-and-swap emulation that then immediately returned to application. While it wasn't useful for real multiprocessor operation, it did achieve the objective not being interruptable while emulation processing was in progress.

misc. past posts mentioning 801/risc
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/subtopic.html#801

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virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

more tpp

Refed: **, - **, - **
From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Subject: Re: more tpp
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Date: Tue, 19 Nov 2013 10:37:06 -0500
re:
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#41

The United States is isolated in the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/monkey-cage/wp/2013/11/18/the-united-states-is-isolated-in-the-trans-pacific-partnership-negotiations/

from above:
In summary, what can we conclude from these data? Canada, with by far the most sole-country proposals, seems like it is up to something. Perhaps more important, the United States and Japan are relatively isolated in their negotiating positions. This could bode poorly for the United States as it seeks to shape the TPP to its liking.

... snip ...

above also references providing excellent analysis

KEI analysis of Wikileaks leak of TPP IPR text, from August 30, 2013
http://www.keionline.org/node/1825
The TPP and Copyright
http://www.concurringopinions.com/archives/2013/11/the-tpp-and-copyright.html
The Trans Pacific Partnership IP Chapter Leaks: Canada Pushing Back Against Draconian U.S. Demands
http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/6994/125/

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamationmade30yearsagotoday

Refed: **, - **, - **, - **, - **
From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Subject: Re: 'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamationmade30yearsagotoday
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Date: Wed, 20 Nov 2013 19:04:34 -0500
hancock4 writes:
If a corporation violated the law, then those humans responsible for the violation ought to be sent to jail or fined. The corporation could be fined.

But thse punishments should be decided by crminal court in a legal environment properly able to assess the situation. Civil court under the present system doesn't work that way.

For instance, many tort claims are handled out of court. If a corporation was criminally negligent, it beats the rap. Other times the corporation is fined for IMHO emotional issues rather than true legal issues. For instance, smoking was publicly known to be dangerous by the mid 1960s. Long after that people have sued and won big awards against the tobacco companies; I think that is wrong because the smokers chose to retain bad behavior long after it was known to be a bad idea. I've seen old tobacco ads and I don't buy the argument they were illegal in their day.


account of public relations companies and spin doctors that got their start in the 50s with the tobacco industry ... including sponsoring scientific research that published results favorable to the tobbaco industry.
https://www.amazon.com/Merchants-Doubt-Erik-M-Conway-ebook/dp/B003RRXXO8/

they went on to cloud other issues ... including involvement with "Team B" and military-industrial(-congressional) complex issues ... posts mentioning MICC:
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/submisc.html#military.industrial.complex
posts mentioning Team B
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/submisc.html#team.b

then there is the too big to fail ... that have been caught money laundering for drug cartels and terrorists ... for other institutions, the prescribed treatment ist shutdown and the executives go to jail ... however for the too big to fail ... they get their hand slapped and asked please to not do it anymore ... largely contributing to references to too big to prosecute and too big to jail (overlap with moral hazard where they feel empowered to do anything they want since there is little likelyhood of any serious consequences).
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/submisc.html#too-big-to-fail
posts mentioning money laundering
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/submisc.html#money.laundering

and the spin-doctors are hard at work. the JPM WaMu fine of $13B is all over the business news about how unfair it is. however, Daily Show had clip from 2008 where Jamie Dimon was saying that even with the $29B they were putting aside for WaMu penalties and fines ... the WaMu deal was still a gold mine ... so it was viewed as extremely favorable deal ... up to and including $29B fine. Anything less is additional cash in their pocket ... so employing spin-doctors trying to help keep it well under $29B is significant ROI (except for all the suffering of the victims).

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamationmade30yearsagotoday

From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Subject: Re: 'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamationmade30yearsagotoday
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Date: Wed, 20 Nov 2013 20:46:25 -0500
re:
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#44 'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamationmade30yearsagotoday

a little more too big to jail from today

Too BiG To JaiL...
http://www.zerohedge.com/contributed/2013-11-20/too-big-jail

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamation made30yearsagotoday

Refed: **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **
From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Subject: Re: 'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamation made30yearsagotoday
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Date: Thu, 21 Nov 2013 11:09:24 -0500
Shmuel (Seymour J.) Metz <spamtrap@library.lspace.org.invalid> writes:
First on a modified 360/40 with CP-40 in the 1960's. PR/SM came out much later, and used a modified CP to implement logical partitions for those who didn't need the full functionality of VM.

pr/sm was originally done for 3090 in reaction to Amdahl's hypervisor ... built by programming in "macrocode mode" ... pr/sm was significantly more difficult since it had to be done in native 3090 horizontal microcode.

slac hosted the monthly BAYBUNCH user group meetings ... and I gave a presentation on what went into ECPS (originally for 138/148) ... past ref
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/94.html#21 370 ECPS VM microcode assist

offline the Amdahl people asked for more information ... and related what they were in the process of doing ... and some of the results along the way.

the 138/148 was vertical microcode ... making it much more similar to native 370 (than 3090 horizontal microcode, and by comparison making ECPS implementation simpler).

cp40 ref
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/cp40seas1982.txt

in some sense SIE ... originally done for the internal "VMTOOL" for 3081 ... was somewhat more akin to ECPS than PR/SM ... or PR/SM became a superset of SIE.

Future system was killing off 370 efforts ...
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/submain.html#futuresys

with the failure of future system, there was mad rush to get stuff back into the 370 product pipelines. Part of that, POK managed to convince corporate to kill off the (virtual machine) vm370 product, shutdown the burlington mall development group and transfer all the people to POK (or otherwise MVS/XA wouldn't meet its ship schedule 7-8 yrs later). Endicott managed to save the vm370 product mission ... but had to reconstitute a development group from scratch.

part of the POK activity (for the vm370 developers) was the vmtool ... an virtual machine internal-only development platform ... never intended for product release. 3081 SIE was done in support of the VMTOOL ... again never intended for release to customers. 3081 SIE design point was dispatching long-running (MVS) guests ... and so was infrequently executed ... one of the issues was 3081 microcode space was limited ... and invokation of SIE also required "paging" in pieces of the microcode for execution.

VMTOOL was eventually released to customers as VM/SF (supposedly targeted for customer migration aid from MVS to MVS/XA) ... but as expected it had significant performance issues ... when executed frequently in a interactive CMS oriented environment. Internally there was also a version of vm370 that was done supporting XA-mode ... that was far superior to the VMTOOL made avaiable to customers. This resulted in internal politics between POK (vmtool) and Endicott (vm370) ... that POK won ... suppressing the internal vm370 XA support.
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2007u.html#9 Open z architecture and Linux questions
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012g.html#19 Co-existance of z/OS and z/VM on same DASD farm
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012o.html#35 Regarding Time Sharing

old vm370 xa emails (and lots of other stuff) in this post
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011c.html#87 A History of VM Performance

more SIE discussion in this post
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011.html#62 SIE - CompArch

references email describing work done on SIE for 3090 as real production facility (compared to the 3081 implementation)
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2006j.html#email810630
and other old SIE email discussion
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2003j.html#email831118

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamation made30yearsagotoday

From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Subject: Re: 'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamation made30yearsagotoday
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Date: Thu, 21 Nov 2013 11:23:20 -0500
re:
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#46 'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamation made30yearsagotoday

other past posts mentioning migration aid
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2005n.html#47 Anyone know whether VM/370 EDGAR is still available anywhere?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2007.html#45 Just another example of mainframe costs
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2007b.html#1 How many 36-bit Unix ports in the old days?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2010n.html#15 Mainframe Slang terms
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011b.html#18 Melinda Varian's history page move
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011p.html#114 Start Interpretive Execution
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012g.html#34 Co-existance of z/OS and z/VM on same DASD farm
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012o.html#35 Regarding Time Sharing

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamationmade30yearsagotoday

Refed: **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **
From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Subject: Re: 'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamationmade30yearsagotoday
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Date: Thu, 21 Nov 2013 15:39:46 -0500
Seebs <usenet-nospam@seebs.net> writes:
Well, yeah. Health coverage hasn't been even a little like "insurance" in the sense of fire or flood insurance in decades.

there are periodic references to over half of national flood insurance going to the same people year after year ... even after congress passed law in eighties that flood insurance wouldn't be available to people who rebuild on the same flood plain. the counter by some congressmen (from that state) was the state deserved the funds as form of federal economic assistance. this is similar to congressional comments about mass. deserve the enormous excess funding for the "big dig" and possibly corrupt 90% skimmed off (effectively another form of subsidies to the 1%)

a few past posts mentioning federal/national flood insurance:
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2001.html#41 Where do the filesystem and RAID system belong?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2001.html#42 Where do the filesystem and RAID system belong?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2007o.html#62 Horrid thought about Politics, President Bush, and Democrats
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2008n.html#67 VMware Chief Says the OS Is History
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009m.html#41 August 7, 1944: today is the 65th Anniversary of the Birth of the Computer
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012o.html#18 other days around me

and "big dig"
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2003i.html#25 TGV in the USA?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2008k.html#73 Cormpany sponsored insurance
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2008r.html#41 fraying infrastructure
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2008r.html#56 IBM drops Power7 drain in 'Blue Waters'
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009j.html#0 Urban transportation
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009o.html#55 TV Big Bang 10/12/09
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012b.html#11 The PC industry is heading for collapse
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012b.html#14 The PC industry is heading for collapse
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012o.html#15 OT: Tax breaks to Oracle debated
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012o.html#18 other days around me
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013e.html#68 What Makes an Architecture Bizarre?

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

Google works on Internet standards with TCP proposals, SPDY standardization

From: lynn@garlic.com
Subject: Google works on Internet standards with TCP proposals, SPDY standardization
Date: 21 Nov, 2013
Blog: IETF

http://lnkd.in/FCwpMR
and
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012.html#98 Google works on Internet standards with TCP proposals, SPDY standardization
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012.html#99 Google works on Internet standards with TCP proposals, SPDY standardization
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012.html#103 Google works on Internet standards with TCP proposals, SPDY standardization
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012.html#105 Google works on Internet standards with TCP proposals, SPDY standardization
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013i.html#48 Google works on Internet standards with TCP proposals, SPDY standardization

Not as SPDY as You Thought
http://www.guypo.com/technical/not-as-spdy-as-you-thought/

a recent SPDY update:

Nginx Server Speeds Up the Tubes With "SPDY" Support
http://www.webmonkey.com/2013/04/nginx-speeds-up-the-tubes-with-spdy-support/

Google making the Web faster with protocol that reduces round trips; Chrome testers to get faster speed with QUIC, an experimental network protocol.
http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2013/06/google-making-the-web-faster-with-protocol-that-reduces-round-trip

as mentioned upthread, I was on XTP technical advisery board which would do reliable transport in minimum of 3packets (compared to minimum of 7packets for TCP). I also wrote the specification for XTP dynamic rate-based transmission for congestion management ... and several times more recently I've written about doing HTTPS/TLS piggy-backed on XTP reliable 3packet exchange.

Google's New Secure UDP-Based Protocol
http://tech.slashdot.org/story/13/06/28/1857202/quic-googles-new-secure-udp-based-protocol

latest from today: Google trumpets Chrome's SPDY gains Although Google online services have adopted the protocol, 8 of the top 10 U.S. Web properties have not
http://www.networkworld.com/news/2013/121613-judge-pulls-no-punches-in-276982.html

Google trumpets Chrome's SPDY gains; Although Google online services have adopted the protocol, 8 of the top 10 U.S. Web properties have not
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9244242/Google_trumpets_Chrome_s_SPDY_gains

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamation made30yearsagotoday

Refed: **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **
From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Subject: Re: 'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamation made30yearsagotoday
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Date: Fri, 22 Nov 2013 11:08:50 -0500
scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) writes:
Burroughs & IBM. Burroughs could build 4x4 systems (four loosely-coupled, four-tightly-coupled (shared memory) processor systems) in the medium systems range, and IIRC some of the early A series (A15?) could do four or eight processors.

In the 90's unisys built the OPUS (128 Pentium Pros) massively parallel system (shipped in 95) using the Intel Paragon supercomputer backplane. Meanwhile, Sequent was inventing ccNUMA.


LLNL had some serial technology and in 1988 I was asked if I could help them standardize ... which eventually morphs into fibre channel standard (FCS) IBM later does a heavy weight layer that they called FICON (simulating old mainframe channel) that is significant lower throughput than native FCS throughput
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fibre_Channel

about the same time, SLAC was doing some other serial stuff that eventually morphs into scalable coherent interface standard (SCI) which we also get sucked into.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scalable_Coherent_Interface

sci include a cache coherence protocol that is used by several vendors for smp scale-up (in some cases using the same sci chips from the same sci chip vendor). convex does 128-way HP snake chips (two chip board shared cache with sci 64-way cache coherence), sequent and data general does 256-way intel chip (four chip board shared cache with sci 64-way cache coherence). other vendors also do SCI smp scale-up. I know some number of vendors (including unisys) resold rebranded sequents under the own logos.

sequent starts 8-way smp in the early 80s
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sequent_Computer_Systems

moves up to 32-way before doing (sci) numa.

other triva ... steve chen does cray x-mp and y-mp
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Chen_%28computer_engineer%29

and then leaves and does his own supercomputer system (that included heavy funding from ibm). after that implodes ... and he then is CTO at sequent. We do some consulting for Steve (before sequent is bought by IBM). Other trivia, sequent people claimed to have done most of the windows/NT smp scale-up ... for up to 32-way (as alternative to their unix dynix system).

other trivia HP eventually acquires convex (we were invited in to have several meetings with convex during exemplar period)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convex_Computer

we then get asked into having several meetings with the guy running superdome (he had been at cray, then did stint at IBM before going to hp). he claims that 32-way has become much more technology "sweet spot" (than sci)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HP_Superdome

posts mentioning IBM FICON (on FCS)
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/submisc.html#ficon

posts mentioning smp
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/subtopic.html#smp

past posts mentioning numa
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2000e.html#8 Is a VAX a mainframe?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2001.html#12 Small IBM shops
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2001.html#46 Small IBM shops
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2001b.html#39 John Mashey's greatest hits
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2001b.html#85 what makes a cpu fast
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2001d.html#54 VM & VSE news
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2001d.html#55 VM & VSE news
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2002g.html#10 "Soul of a New Machine" Computer?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2002l.html#52 Itanium2 performance data from SGI
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2003.html#39 Flex Question
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2003j.html#65 Cost of Message Passing ?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2003p.html#3 Hyperthreading vs. SMP
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2004.html#0 comp.arch classic: the 10-bit byte
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2004c.html#37 Memory Affinity
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2004d.html#6 Memory Affinity
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2005d.html#20 shared memory programming on distributed memory model?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2005j.html#13 Performance and Capacity Planning
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2005j.html#16 Performance and Capacity Planning
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2005j.html#17 Performance and Capacity Planning
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2005j.html#26 IBM Plugs Big Iron to the College Crowd
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2005n.html#37 What was new&important in computer architecture 10 years ago ?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2005n.html#38 What was new&important in computer architecture 10 years ago ?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2005r.html#43 Numa-Q Information
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2005r.html#46 Numa-Q Information
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2005v.html#0 DMV systems?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2006.html#16 Would multi-core replace SMPs?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2006.html#32 UMA vs SMP? Clarification of terminology
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2006b.html#14 Expanded Storage
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2006c.html#1 Multiple address spaces
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2006c.html#7 IBM 610 workstation computer
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2006c.html#40 IBM 610 workstation computer
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2006c.html#41 IBM 610 workstation computer
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2006c.html#42 IBM 610 workstation computer
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2006c.html#43 IBM 610 workstation computer
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2006c.html#44 IBM 610 workstation computer
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2006c.html#45 IBM 610 workstation computer
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2006l.html#43 One or two CPUs - the pros & cons
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2006p.html#55 PowerPC or PARISC?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2006q.html#8 Is no one reading the article?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2006q.html#9 Is no one reading the article?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2006y.html#38 Wanted: info on old Unisys boxen
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2007.html#30 V2X2 vs. Shark (SnapShot v. FlashCopy)
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2007.html#32 V2X2 vs. Shark (SnapShot v. FlashCopy)
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2007e.html#25 A way to speed up level 1 caches
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2007g.html#3 University rank of Computer Architecture
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2007m.html#13 Is Parallel Programming Just Too Hard?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2007m.html#49 Is Parallel Programming Just Too Hard?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2007m.html#72 The Development of the Vital IBM PC in Spite of the Corporate Culture of IBM
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2007n.html#1 Is Parallel Programming Just Too Hard?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2008c.html#81 Random thoughts
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2008e.html#40 Fantasy-Land_Hierarchal_NUMA_Memory-Model_on_Vertical
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2008f.html#3 Fantasy-Land_Hierarchal_NUMA_Memory-Model_on_Vertical
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2008f.html#6 Fantasy-Land_Hierarchal_NUMA_Memory-Model_on_Vertical
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2008f.html#8 Fantasy-Land_Hierarchal_NUMA_Memory-Model_on_Vertical
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2008f.html#12 Fantasy-Land_Hierarchal_NUMA_Memory-Model_on_Vertical
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2008f.html#19 Fantasy-Land_Hierarchal_NUMA_Memory-Model_on_Vertical
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2008f.html#21 Fantasy-Land_Hierarchal_NUMA_Memory-Model_on_Vertical
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2008i.html#2 Microsoft versus Digital Equipment Corporation
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2008i.html#5 Microsoft versus Digital Equipment Corporation
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2008i.html#10 Different Implementations of VLIW
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2008i.html#11 Different Implementations of VLIW
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2008i.html#18 Microsoft versus Digital Equipment Corporation
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2008p.html#33 Making tea
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2008p.html#36 Making tea
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2008p.html#68 "The Register" article on HP replacing z
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2008r.html#1 What is better faster CPU speed or wider bus?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2008r.html#20 TOPS-10
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2008r.html#44 another one biting the dust?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2008r.html#72 Curiousity: largest parallel sysplex around?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009.html#5 Is SUN going to become x86'ed ??
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009h.html#80 64 Cores -- IBM is showing a prototype already
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009o.html#29 Justice Department probing allegations of abuse by IBM in mainframe computer market
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009s.html#5 While watching Biography about Bill Gates on CNBC last Night
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009s.html#20 Larrabee delayed: anyone know what's happening?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009s.html#59 Problem with XP scheduler?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2010.html#27 Oldest Instruction Set still in daily use?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2010.html#92 Larrabee delayed: anyone know what's happening?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2010e.html#42 search engine history, was Happy DEC-10 Day
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2010e.html#68 Entry point for a Mainframe?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2010e.html#70 Entry point for a Mainframe?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2010f.html#13 What was the historical price of a P/390?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2010f.html#48 Nonlinear systems and nonlocal supercomputing
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2010f.html#50 Handling multicore CPUs; what the competition is thinking
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2010h.html#19 How many mainframes are there?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2010i.html#61 IBM to announce new MF's this year
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2010m.html#54 IBM Unleashes 256-core Unix Server, Its Biggest Yet
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011f.html#85 SV: USS vs USS
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011o.html#79 Why are organizations sticking with mainframes?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011p.html#122 Deja Cloud?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012f.html#94 Time to competency for new software language?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012i.html#15 Can anybody give me a clear idea about Cloud Computing in MAINFRAME ?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012p.html#13 AMC proposes 1980s computer TV series Halt & Catch Fire
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013.html#48 New HD
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013d.html#12 relative mainframe speeds, was What Makes an Architecture Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013h.html#6 The cloud is killing traditional hardware and software
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013h.html#8 The cloud is killing traditional hardware and software

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

more tpp

From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Subject: Re: more tpp
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Date: Fri, 22 Nov 2013 12:31:05 -0500
Shmuel (Seymour J.) Metz <spamtrap@library.lspace.org.invalid> writes:
Yes, but we have the best congress money can buy. Graft and corruption are bipartisan, as is nest feathering.

re:
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#37 'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamationmade30yearsagotoday
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#39 'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamation made30yearsagotoday
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#41 more tpp
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#43 more tpp

news organizations (especially in the dc area) will periodically refer to congress as kabuki theater (what you see is pure facade) ... check 1603-1629 period and synonym for kabuki
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kabuki

posts mentioning congress & kabuki theater
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/submisc.html#kabuki.theater

Lifting the Veil on the TPP
http://www.counterpunch.org/2013/11/20/lifting-the-veil-on-the-tpp/
Obama Admin Claims To Support Cellphone Unlocking But TPP Leak Shows Opposite
http://news.firedoglake.com/2013/11/22/obama-admin-claims-to-support-cellphone-unlocking-but-tpp-leak-shows-opposite/

from above:
To recap, the Obama Administration is negotiating behind the scenes -- in a "trade" deal -- that if you buy a cellphone you should neither be able to use it with other carriers nor use software on it not approved by the carrier. And if you do either of those things, you could face fines and jail time.

... snip ...

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

Bridgestone Sues IBM For $600 Million Over Allegedly 'Defective' System That Plunged The Company Into 'Chaos'

Refed: **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **
From: lynn@garlic.com
Subject: Bridgestone Sues IBM For $600 Million Over Allegedly 'Defective' System That Plunged The Company Into 'Chaos'
Date: 22 Nov, 2013
Blog: IBMers
Bridgestone Sues IBM For $600 Million Over Allegedly 'Defective' System That Plunged The Company Into 'Chaos'
http://www.businessinsider.com/bridgestone-sues-ibm-for-600m-2013-11

IBM Rips Into Bridgestone Over $600 Million Lawsuit
http://www.businessinsider.com/ibm-rips-into-bridgestone-over-600-million-lawsuit-2013-11

note that this account has IBM recently having retention problems and high turnover on projects:

Pennsylvania Kills An IBM Contract That's 3 Years Late And $60 Million Over Budget
http://www.businessinsider.com/pennsylvania-kills-ibm-project-2013-8

from above:
It said the computer system built so far was unreliable and full of bugs (had "a higher number of software defects than industry norms.")

Plus, it blamed IBM's revolving-door workforce. The initial project manager and the top executive left in 2009 and IBM preceded to have 638 people work on the system, rotating most of them off in less than a year.


... snip ...

other refs about penn contract:
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013m.html#69 PDCA vs. OODA
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013m.html#98 Oracle Sent Out A Press Release Dissing IBM's Software Business
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013m.html#103 ObamaCare Web Site Problems

I guess I was constantly bucking the system ... I was constantly being told I had no career in the company and could expect no promotions. For example, during the FS period ... which was going to completely replace 360/370, I continued to work on 370 and would periodically ridicule the FS activities ... which wasn't exactly career enhancing ... then FS imploded (potential to have taken down the company with it). Something similar was repeated several times. My exit executive interview included the comment that they could have forgiven me for being wrong ... but they were never going to forgive me for being right.

As an aside ... after this time article ... behind paywall ... but lives free at the wayback machine
https://web.archive.org/web/20070320170523/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,953733,00.html
also
https://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,953733,00.html

I met John Boyd and would sponsor his briefings at IBM (he was primary person behind the military reform movement)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Boyd_%28military_strategist%29

Hugh Laurie (TV's House) has a novel "Gun Seller" that references Boyd (and Boyd's OODA-loop)
https://www.amazon.com/Gun-Seller-Hugh-Laurie-ebook/dp/B000SEGK0M/

and also references that there are lots of rewards if you go along ... but the system can be ruthless if you attempt to buck it.

note TIME periodically brings the article back out of behind the paywall ... also linkedin swizzles the actual URL that you click on (i.e. what you see in the post is not the actual URL linkedin sends to the web) ... linkedin modified URL can confuse the wayback machine ... so it may be necessary to copy/paste rather than actually click

... another line they would periodically use was the best i could hope for is to not be fired and allowed to do "it" again (whatever new thing at the moment).

and from the annals of truth is stranger than fiction ... 1992 was paid lump sum to leave ... transition was technically extended unpaid leave of absence ... but not allowed to come back. after my last day, i arrive home to find a letter that says that I've been promoted effective the first day of my leave of absence

Ferguson & Morris in "Computer Wars: The Post-IBM World" discuss the effects of FS failure
... and perhaps most damaging, the old culture under Watson Snr and Jr of free and vigorous debate was replaced with sycophancy and make no waves under Opel and Akers. It's claimed that thereafter, IBM lived in the shadow of defeat

... and:
But because of the heavy investment of face by the top management, F/S took years to kill, although its wrongheadedness was obvious from the very outset. "For the first time, during F/S, outspoken criticism became politically dangerous," recalls a former top executive.

... snip ...

I was blamed for online computer conferencing on the internal network in the late 70s and early 80s on the internal network (larger than the arpanet/internet from just about the beginning until sometime late '85 or early '86) ... as well as tandem memos ... from IBM Jargon:

Tandem Memos - n. Something constructive but hard to control; a fresh of breath air (sic). That's another Tandem Memos. A phrase to worry middle management. It refers to the computer-based conference (widely distributed in 1981) in which many technical personnel expressed dissatisfaction with the tools available to them at that time, and also constructively criticized the way products were [are] developed. The memos are required reading for anyone with a serious interest in quality products. If you have not seen the memos, try reading the November 1981 Datamation summary.

...

folklore is that when the executive committee was informed of online computer conferencing (and the internal network), 5of6 wanted to immediately fire me. Cooler heads prevailed ... possibly because there was claim that something like 27,000 employees following tandem memos.

A lot of what I was able to do was in spite of a lot of top management ... I was allowed to wander around a lot of the company working on problems ... but awareness of it rarely went above the first or 2nd line management. When upper management became aware that I had been providing customized/enhanced operating system for (world-wide sales&marketing support) HONE system for 15yrs ... they wanted to put a stop to it (since I was only a single person and there was no official executive agreements authorizing/permitting it).

Boyd posts and references
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/subboyd.html

past posts mentioning would never be forgiven for being right
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2002k.html#61 arrogance metrics (Benoits) was: general networking
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2002q.html#16 cost of crossing kernel/user boundary
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2003i.html#71 Offshore IT
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2004k.html#14 I am an ageing techy, expert on everything. Let me explain the
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2007.html#26 MS to world: Stop sending money, we have enough - was Re: Most ... can't run Vista
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2007e.html#48 time spent/day on a computer
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2007k.html#3 IBM Unionization
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2007r.html#6 The history of Structure capabilities
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2008c.html#34 was: 1975 movie "Three Days of the Condor" tech stuff
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2008m.html#30 Taxes
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2008m.html#41 IBM--disposition of clock business
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009e.html#27 Microminiaturized Modules
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009g.html#56 Old-school programming techniques you probably don't miss
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009h.html#74 My Vintage Dream PC
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009k.html#73 And, 40 years of IBM midrange
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009p.html#34 big iron mainframe vs. x86 servers
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009r.html#6 Have you ever though about taking a sabbatical?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009r.html#50 "Portable" data centers
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2010b.html#38 Happy DEC-10 Day
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2010f.html#20 Would you fight?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2010f.html#58 Handling multicore CPUs; what the competition is thinking
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2010o.html#47 origin of 'fields'?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2010o.html#62 They always think we don't understand
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011c.html#20 If IBM Hadn't Bet the Company
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011d.html#3 If IBM Hadn't Bet the Company
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011j.html#60 Who was the Greatest IBM President and CEO of the last century?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012d.html#40 Strategy subsumes culture
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012i.html#26 Top Ten Reasons Why Large Companies Fail To Keep Their Best Talent
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012k.html#28 How to Stuff a Wild Duck
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012k.html#56 1132 printer history
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012m.html#70 Long Strange Journey: An Intelligence Memoir
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013f.html#57 The cloud is killing traditional hardware and software
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013f.html#78 The cloud is killing traditional hardware and software
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013h.html#87 IBM going ahead with more U.S. job cuts today

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamationmade30yearsagotoday

From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Subject: Re: 'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamationmade30yearsagotoday
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Date: Fri, 22 Nov 2013 14:04:27 -0500
Shmuel (Seymour J.) Metz <spamtrap@library.lspace.org.invalid> writes:
The Devil is in the details. You need to do things in a fashion that punishes the corporation without injuring their creditors, employees[1] or suppliers. I'd allow collecting pay and benefits from their accounts, paying off loans and paying suppliers, but not ordering new supplies or allowing new work, although I would continue paying the employees for the work that they would otherwise have been doing.

a lot of the executives of the too-big-to-fail were leveraging their corporations to do things for their personal gain ... and their personal gain was so enormous that it over shadowed any concern they might have had about what it might do to their institutions, the economy and/or the country (i.e. collateral damage). a lot of the attention on institution is misdirection and obfuscation away from the individuals.

recently comment that freedom from accountability has also led to feeling invulnerable ... even able to money launder for drug cartels and terrorists ...
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/submisc.html#money.laundering

which nominally would shutdown the institutions and the executives doing jail time ... but in this case the hand slaps have contributed to the articles about too-big-to-prosecute and too-big-to-jail
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/submisc.html#too-big-to-fail

stories were that when JPM took on WaMu they set aside $29B for legal liabilities ... but still felt that it was a gold mine. Tne current whinning about $13B is facade ... since they still get to pocket the rest of the $29B. Also if spinning public news might cut it by another billion or two ... that would be enormous ROI for the news spinning effort.

there has been some amount about computer game theory playing a big part in wallstreet players actions over the past couple decades ... looking at fraud as just another kind of investment ... what is the worst case downside ... and how to mitigate that risk ... versus the personal upside.

article from today about some restraint on the amount of fraud:

Lack Of Crime Doesn't Pay: JPM Banker Pay To Remain Flat In 2013
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-11-22/lack-crime-doesnt-pay-jpm-banker-pay-remain-flat-2013

and although some of the libor stuff has been shutdown
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/submisc.html#libor

there is still this

Spot The Manipulated FX Market Moment
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-11-22/spot-manipulated-fx-market-moment

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

rebuild 1403 printer chain

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From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Subject: Re: rebuild 1403 printer chain
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Date: Fri, 22 Nov 2013 16:34:06 -0500
Jon Elson <jmelson@wustl.edu> writes:
Back in the 360 days, the controllers needed to be pretty simple, and the design of the devices was made such that the controllers didn't get too complex.

one of the 360 channel trade-offs was that memory was very expensive and scarce ... so everything relied on processor memory ... with the i/o infrastructure constantly referencing processor memory.

this really shows up in dasd ckd operations ... rather than having filesystem structure cached in memory ... it was outboard on disk ... and system made use of search operations to try and find things ... furthermore the argument for the search operation was in processor memory and had to be refetched for every compare operation ... for instance if searching on key-equal ... every time the disk encountered a key on disk, the search key argument was refetched from processor memory for every compare. this was technology trade-off that conserved electronic storage at the expense of enormous amounts of i/o and bandwidth resources.

at least by the mid-70s, this trade-off was inverting ... with electronic memory become significantly more plentiful and i/o and bandwidth resources becoming bottlenecked resource.

in late 70s, ibm introduced fixed-block-architecture (FBA) for entry and mid-range ... but continued to support CKD dasd because of MVS operating system inability to move off the paradigm. by the late 80s, nobody was making ckd dasd anymore ... and it was necessary to have hardware simulation for the CKD dasd operations on industry standard fixed-block disks (something that continues now to this day).
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/submain.html#dasd

I had offered to provide MVS FBA support ... but was told that I needed a $26M business case to cover training and new documentation ... and I couldn't use total life time cost savings ... only incremental new disk sales ... basically couple hundred million in new disks sold that otherwise wouldn't be sold w/o FBA support. Then I was told that customers were buying disks as fast as they could be made ... so it would be possible to show any incremental disk sales.

in 1980, the ibm santa teresa lab was bursting at the seams and they decided to move 300 people from IMS group to offsite bldg. They had been offered "remote 3270" terminal support back into the STL datacenter ... but found the human factors of remote 3270 totally unacceptable. I was con'ed into doing channel extender support for the group ... basically a channel emulation box was placed at the remote site ... to which "local" channel attached 3270 controllers were connected. Channel extender support involved high efficient full-duplex network operations that downloaded channel programs to the remote box ... and the emulated channel protocol chatter only ran between the channel emulation box and the controller ... significantly offloading a lot of activity off the real local channel. This had the effect of people at the remote site not seeing any difference between real local 3270 operation in STL and simulated local 3270 operation at the remote bldg. It also had the side effoect of improving the throughput of the affected systems in the STL datacenter ... since it improved their real channel operation and reduced total real channel busy for the 3270 operations. some HSDT posts including discussion of getting channel speed throughput over what would be considered network links
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/subnetwork.html#hsdt

for instance the original mainframe tcp/ip product was done in vs/pascal but had some performance issues getting 44kbytes/sec using nearly whole 3090 processor. I did the changes for rfc1044 and in some tuning tests at cray research got channel speed throughput between cray and 4341 using only modest amount of 4341 cpu (possibly 500 times improvement in bytes moved per instruction executed)
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/subnetwork.html#1044

I've mentioned in 1988 being asked to help LLNL standardize some serial stuff they had ... which morphs in fibre-channel standard
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fibre_Channel

part of fibre channel standard is download of i/o programs to the remote end ... significantly cutting chatter and end-to-end protocol latency over the link.

some POK channel engineers then become involved in FCS and define a heavy-duty protocol layer on top of FCS that retains a lot of end-to-end protocol chatter and latency that drastically cuts the throughput compared to native FCS throughput .... which eventually morphs into something called FICON
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/submisc.html#ficon

recent z196 peak i/o benchmark used 104 FICON (running on 104 FCS) to achieve 2M IOPS. by comparison, there was recent FCS announced for e5-2600 claiming over million IOPS (for sincle native FCS, aka two such native with higher throughput than the z196 peak i/o benchmark getting 2M IOPS)

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

Behind the Pentagon's doctored ledgers, a running tally of epic waste

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From: lynn@garlic.com
Subject: Behind the Pentagon's doctored ledgers, a running tally of epic waste
Date: 22 Nov, 2013
Blog: Old Geek
re:
http://lnkd.in/biiQQWy

Behind the Pentagon's doctored ledgers, a running tally of epic waste
http://www.cnbc.com/id/101206230

from above:
The main reason is rooted in the Pentagon's continuing reliance on a tangle of thousands of disparate, obsolete, largely incompatible accounting and business-management systems. Many of these systems were built in the 1970s and use outmoded computer languages such as COBOL on old mainframes. They use antiquated file systems that make it difficult or impossible to search for data. Much of their data is corrupted and erroneous.

... snip ...

more recent URLs

How Badly Things Are Broken With Our Defense
http://warnewsupdates.blogspot.com/2013/11/is-us-defense-department-broken.html
Pentagon Guilty Of Billion-Dollar Accounting Fraud, Reveals Reuters Investigation
http://www.theverge.com/2013/11/18/5117816/pentagon-guilty-of-billion-dollar-accounting-fraud-reveals-reuters
five Myths Of The Modern Military
http://warnewsupdates.blogspot.com/2013/11/5-current-myths-for-us-military-planners.html
five myths of the modern military
http://www.thenewstribune.com/2013/11/16/2893233/5-myths-of-the-modern-military.html
How the Pentagon's payroll quagmire traps America's soldiers
http://www.reuters.com/investigates/pentagon/#article/part1
Behind the Pentagon's doctored ledgers, a running tally of epic waste
http://www.reuters.com/investigates/pentagon/#article/part2
It's Not Just Navy Admirals Being Naughty -- The Pentagon's Got a Major Behavior Problem The "Fat Leonard" scandal is symptomatic
https://medium.com/war-is-boring/cb99cf3556da
The U.S. Is Still A Superpower (For Now)
http://warnewsupdates.blogspot.com/2013/11/the-us-is-still-superpower-for-now.html

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

rebuild 1403 printer chain

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From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Subject: Re: rebuild 1403 printer chain
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Date: Sat, 23 Nov 2013 12:31:13 -0500
"Joe Morris" <j.c.morris@verizon.net> writes:
Without folding, if you attempted to print a mixed-case data stream your print speed went down the toilet. Any print line containing one or more characters not mapped to at least one of the 240 glyphs on a print train would not be considered complete until the print train had passed its home position twice (thus guaranteeing that every print position on the printer had been exposed to every glyph on the train). Additionally, unless suppressed this situation resulted in a unit check with "data check" sense, causing the operating system to go through error recovery.

re:
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#32 rebuild 1403 printer chain
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#54 rebuild 1403 printer chain

for more trivia & topic drift ... because unit check status was in the channel ... the channel went into contingent connection (no other operations could be performed) until sense information had been retrieved.

unit check also had to be associated with specific operation ... I got sucked into resolving a problem that the 3880 disk control unit people were causing. 3880 used much slower processor for control opertaions than previous 3830 ... but there was requirement that 3880 had to be within 5-10% performance of the 3830. One of the problems was that the 3880 processor was really, really slow cleaning everything up at the end of i/o program ... and so to make it look faster ... they tried presenting ending status interrupt early ... before it finished everything (hoping that it could finish before operating system latency got around to trying next operation).

when I was first wandered around the disk engineering & developing bldgs ... they had lots of 370s in their machine rooms running single device, stand-alone testing ... machines pre-scheduled 7x24 around the clock. at one point they had tried running MVS for concurrent testing ... but found it had 15min MTBF in that environment (requiring manual reboot). I offered to rewrite I/O supervisor making it bullet proof and never fail ... so they can do on-demand, anytime, concurrent testing ... which significantly improved productivity.

since even concurrent testing of all available testcells used only a few percent of the machine ... they also setup a 3033 to also provide online interactive service ... using 16 surplus 3330 disks and 3830 controller. one monday morning I got a call that their online interactive performance had gone into the can and wanted to know what I had done over the weekend. Analysis eventually showed up that they had replaced the 3830 with engineering 3880 ... and the controller overhead (throughput latency problem) was much worse than anybody modeled.

There was also problem with my rewrite of I/O supervisor ... part of the rewrite was to make the device redrive pathlength as short as possible. 370/xa SSCH was being justified because operating systems left a lot of device idle time between the end of an operation and the redrive of the next pending queued operation. I wanted to show nearly all of the SSCH justification was based on really terrible operating system software and that efficient implementation could come very close to architectured SSCH (which would allow a separate dedicated processor for redrive).

it turns out the redrive code was hitting the 3880 while it was still busy cleaning up the previous operation ... and controller busy condition required presenting SM+BUSY (operation not started). Then later, since it had presented SM+BUSY ... it had to present a separate CUE interrupt. Besides significantly increasing channel busy and operations now taking much longer (than with 3830) ... the operating system processing had to try starting each operation twice and getting twice the number of interrupts. Fortunately this was six months before 3880 ship to customers and there was some additional problem masking they could do (but couldn't totally eliminate the problem).

misc. past posts getting to play disk engineer in bldgs 14&15
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/subtopic.html#disk

it also turns out 3880 presenting ending status early precipitated a sperate problem. There are certain kinds of error that could be identified with cleanup ... that aren't directly associated with previous data transfer. The 3880 developers then decided that they would present unsolicited unit check interrupt when this happens. Turns out I pointed out that this is violation of channel architecture ... every unit check hass to be associated with an operation. This eventually escalated into conference calls with POK channel engineers with me sitting with the disk engineers mediated. It was eventually resolved ... but afterwards they wanted me to sit in on all conference calls with POK channel engineers.

The resolution to the unsolicited unit check was to save it until the next time an operation was started on that device ... and present cc=1, immediate status, operation not started, channel status stored ... with the unit check set then. There is some flaky stuff that they had to played with ... since things are sort of in contingent connection (not allowing things to start) ... but the unit check hadn't actually been presented ... so you don't know which device address you have to do a sense operation for (and you can't present cc1, unit check for device or controller on the same channel unrelated to the unit check).

as i've mentioned before while they eventually managed to mask much of the 3880 problems to minimize additional operating systeme overhead ... they couldn't mask the significant increase in channel busy.

this shows up in 3090 design ... it was configured with number of channels assuming 3830 busy. when they found out how bad the 3880 channel busy overhead was ... it required them to significantly increase the number of channels (in order to reach IOPS targets/throughput). This required additional TCM and increasing 3090 manufacturing costs. There were semi-humorous references to the POK 3090 group billing the 3880 group with the increase in 3090 manufacturing.

Marketing respun the significant increase in the number of 3090 channels as indication of the enormous i/o capacity of the machine (as opposed to compensating for the enormous increase in 3880 channel busy overhead). this marketing spin continues to this day with FICON ... as mentioned in previous posts
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/submisc.html#ficon

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

rebuild 1403 printer chain

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From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Subject: Re: rebuild 1403 printer chain
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Date: Sat, 23 Nov 2013 18:09:52 -0500
re:
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#32 rebuild 1403 printer chain
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#54 rebuild 1403 printer chain
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#56 rebuild 1403 printer chain

note that endineers didn't want the switch from (fast) horizontal microcode engine in the 3830 to (much slower) vertical microcode (JIB-prime) engine in the 3880 ... they attribute the decision to a new (non-engineer) promoted to head of the division (from outside the organization) wanting to save costs in manufacturing of the 3880.

this was discussed rather bitterly in "tandem memos" as well as the rise of MBAs destroying US corporate culture.

a couple recent posts mentioning tandem memos
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#11 50th anniversary S/360 coming up
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#52 Bridgestone Sues IBM For $600 Million Over Allegedly 'Defective' System That Plunged The Company Into 'Chaos'

and a few other recent posts mentioning MBAs
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013k.html#39 copyright protection/Doug Englebart
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013k.html#45 What Makes a Tax System Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013k.html#47 The Incredible Con the Banksters Pulled on the FBI
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013k.html#50 IBM Furloughs U.S. Hardware Employees to Reduce Costs
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013k.html#52 The agency problem and how to create a criminogenic environment
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013k.html#61 John Boyd's Art of War
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013m.html#19 Voyager 1 just left the solar system using less computing powerthan your iP

I had written up and distributed some amount of the 3880 troubles ... which apparently corporate hdqtrs objected to. They sent out the corporate hdqtrs executive responsible for employee satisfaction to talk to me. He was somewhat setup ... briefed that I was from research and apparently obviously was just spouting off about stuff I knew nothing about. I was setup being told that they wanted to hear about how to improve the company ... but he had copy of what I had written with all the objectionable parts highlighted and a script to brow beat on each point. Their scenario disolved since I had been deeply involved in the whole thing as well as helping diagnose and mitigate the problems.

misc. past posts being allowed to play disk engineer in bldgs 14&15
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/subtopic.html#disk

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

2 v 2 - How the Typhoon kills the F-35

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From: lynn@garlic.com
Subject: 2 v 2 - How the Typhoon kills the F-35
Date: 23 Nov, 2013
Blog: Boyd & Beyond
2 v 2 - How the Typhoon kills the F-35
http://elpdefensenews.blogspot.com/2013/11/2-v-2-how-typhoon-kills-f-35.html

and

Five Pentagon Projects That Are Costing Mega-Billions
http://warnewsupdates.blogspot.com/2013/11/five-pentagon-projects-that-are-costing.html
5 Insanely Wasteful Projects the Pentagon is Spending Your Money On
http://www.policymic.com/articles/74159/5-insanely-wasteful-projects-the-pentagon-is-spending-your-money-on

Spending The Pentagon's Money; Pentagon's Bosses Thwart Accurate Audit Of DOD's Main Accounting Office
http://warnewsupdates.blogspot.com/2013/11/spending-pentagons-money.html

recent post mentioning the DOD accounting scandal
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#55 Behind the Pentagon's doctored ledgers, a running tally of epic waste

posts mentioning military-industrial-complex
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/submisc.html#military.industrial.complex

boyd posts and/or references
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/subboyd.html

recent posts mentioning f-35
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013b.html#62 America Is Basically Helpless Against The Chinese Hackers
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013b.html#68 NBC's website hacked with malware
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013c.html#45 A Matter of Mindset: Iraq, Sequestration and the U.S. Army
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013c.html#54 NBC's website hacked with malware
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013c.html#64 NBC's website hacked with malware
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013c.html#87 Not the Navy's Favorite Artist Rendering
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013d.html#56 What Makes an Architecture Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013d.html#62 What Makes an Architecture Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013e.html#5 Lessons Learned from the Iraq War
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013e.html#20 What Makes an Architecture Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013e.html#36 What Makes an Architecture Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013e.html#62 What Makes an Architecture Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013e.html#64 What Makes an Architecture Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013f.html#16 What Makes an Architecture Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013f.html#46 As an IBM'er just like the Marines only a few good men and women make the cut,
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013h.html#19 It was 30 Years Ago Today
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013h.html#43 Is newer technology always better? It almost is. Exceptions?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013h.html#78 IBM commitment to academia
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013i.html#78 Has the US Lost Its Grand Strategic Mind?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013j.html#86 IBM unveils new "mainframe for the rest of us"
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013m.html#101 Boyd Blasphemy: Justifying the F-35
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#15 Boyd Blasphemy: Justifying the F-35

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamation made30yearsagotoday

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From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Subject: Re: 'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamation made30yearsagotoday
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Date: Sat, 23 Nov 2013 21:39:19 -0500
Peter Flass <Peter_Flass@Yahoo.com> writes:
Once you get past one you've got all the problems. Naturally there are a lot of things you can do on a two(ish) processor system that won't scale up to 128 processors, but it's all just details - unless you're windows (95 maybe?) and just decide to put locks around huge chunks of the GUI code because you can't be bothered making it reentrant.

re:
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#42 Serialization without Enque
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#50 'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamation made30yearsagotoday

370 strong memory consistency created huge overhead for multiprocessor cache coordination.

i've periodically claimed that John's design for 801/risc
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/subtopic.html#801

was to go to the opposite extreme than the failed FS effort
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/submain.html#futuresys

however, his insistance on lack of 801 cache consistency was also possible reaction to the high overhead cache consistency for 370 multiprocessor (it wasn't until somerset and aim ... where some of the 801 processor stuff was mixed with motorola's 88k multiprocessor and cache consistency ... for power/pc).

370 2-way multiprocessor cut the processor machine cycle by 10% to just support cross-cache invalidation ... aka base 2-way was 1.8 the processing of single processor (aka 2*.9) ... processing further slowed down further with the handling of cross-cache invalidates (i.e. the processor slowdown was just for being able to accept the signals).

3081 (2-way) was originally going to be a multiprocessor only "370" machine ... but because TPF (airline control program) didn't have multiprocessor support ... they eventually came out with 3083 (a 3081 with one processor removed) because there was the risk of all the TPF customers moving to non-IBM 370 clone vendors (that had faster single processor 370s). 3083 single processor was clocked faster than 3081 processor since the cross-cache slowdown was removed.

going to 3084 (two 3081s in a 4-way) was major effort ... since the slow-down had to account for invalidation signals coming to every cache from three other machines (rather than single other machine).

there was also a lot of operating system SMP sensitivity work. there was already a lot of fine-grain locking throughput worked on ... however there was scenario where different storage structures overlapped in the same cache-line. when there were multiple different processors concurrently using the different structures that overlapped in the same cache line ... there could be an enormous about of cross-cache invalidation and cache thrashing going on. in the 3084 time-frame there was a lot of effort to redo kernel data structures so they were always aligned on cache-line boundary and a multiple of cache-line size. The claim was that just this change to kernel data structures resulted in over five percent throughput improvement.

earlier in the late 70s, we had a 16-way 370 effort that relaxed the memory consistency model (to reduce the cache overhead effects) that co-opted spare time of the 3033 processor engineers ... who were charged with q&d effort to remap 168-3 logic to some left over FS technology ... somewhat discussed here, Discussion of old FS evaluation
http://www.jfsowa.com/computer/memo125.htm

things were going great guns ... until somebody happened to mention to the head of POK that it could be decades before the POK favorite son operating system had effective 16-way support. That resulted in the head of POK telling the 3033 processor engineers to get back to only working on 3033 and stop being distracted ... and other people were invited to never show their face in POK again.

misc. past posts mentioning SMP
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/subtopic.html#smp

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

Bridgestone Sues IBM For $600 Million Over Allegedly 'Defective' System That Plunged The Company Into 'Chaos'

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From: lynn@garlic.com
Subject: Bridgestone Sues IBM For $600 Million Over Allegedly 'Defective' System That Plunged The Company Into 'Chaos'
Date: 24 Nov, 2013
Blog: IBMers
re:
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#52 Bridgestone Sues IBM For $600 Million Over Allegedly 'Defective' System That Plunged The Company Into 'Chaos'

HONE was originally created in the wake of the 23Jun1969 unbundling announcement which started to charge for SE services, application software, etc. Prior to unbundling junior and apprentice SEs would get their training as part of large team onsite at customer location. After unbundling, onsite at customer had to be charged for.
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/submain.html#unbundle

HONE was originally going to provide guest operating system "hands-on" at branch offices in (CP67) virtual machines. However, science center had also ported apl\360 to cms for cms\apl ... and there started to be a lot of sales&marketing support applications developed in cms\apl. This eventually comes to dominate all HONE activity and the guest operating system operation withers away.
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/subtopic.html#hone

Trivia ... in the mid-70s US HONE was consolidated in datacenter in silicon valley. Somebody else occupies that bldg now ... but it is right next door to the former facebook hdqtr bldg (before facebook bought the old SUN campus). In the late 70s, it was possibly the largest single-system image (with load-balancing and fall-over) mainframe complex in the world (lots of loosely-coupled large multiprocessor mainframes). After an earthquake in cal. ... it was replicated first in Dallas and then another in Boulder (with coordinated operation across all three datacenters).

While an undergraduate in the 60s, I got sucked into helping Boeing consolidate its computer business into Boeing Computer Services (better monetize its computer investment). At the time, I thought Boeing's renton datacenter was largest in the world ($200M-$300M in large IBM mainframes). John Boyd's biographies reference that about the same time, he was running "spook base" ... including it being a $2.5B windfall for IBM (ten times renton datacenter) ... Boyd would comment that "spook base" had the largest air conditioned bldg. in that part of the world.
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/subboyd.html

and x-over from some other IBMers discussion ... Stockman in "The Great Deformation: The Corruption of Capitalism in America" pg465/10014-17:
Total shareholder distributions, including dividends, amounted to $82 billion, or 122 percent, of net income over this five-year period. Likewise, during the last five years IBM spent less on capital investment than its depreciation and amortization charges, and also shrank its constant dollar spending for research and development by nearly 2 percent annually.

... snip ...

As HONE was being cloned around the world ... I would frequently be asked to go along. First was when EMEA hdqtrs moved from westchester to Paris ... and I was asked to go onsite for the HONE clone supporting EMEA hdqtrs (disclaimer, I never had an official relationship with any of the HONE operations, it was just one of my hobbies ... as long as it didn't come to upper management attention, I was allowed to have lots of hobbies). However, I will tell you ... in the early 70s ... it took quite a bit of effort to figure out how to read my email in the US from Paris.

other trivia ... from long ago and far way ... some old HONE related email
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/lhwemail.html#hone

as an aside ... much of my archives (triple replicated on different tapes in the Almaden tape library) from science center days were lost in mid-80s problem in the Almaden datacenter where random tapes were being mounted as scratch.

this a couple recent posts about getting to play disk engineer (in a.f.c. thread):
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#56
and
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#57

the part about when MVS was tried in that environment having a 15min MTBF ... I happened to include in an internal report on what went into rewriting i/o supervisor to be bullet proof and never fail ... which turned to bring the wrath of the MVS group down on my head (if they could have figured out how, they would have gotten me fired).

bldg 14and15 tended to get one of the first engineering models for disk testing. bldg 15 had gotten one of the first engineering 3033s ... and with real operating system had nearly full 3033 to play with (even with all device testing running concurrently, rarely used more than a percent or two of processor time).

other folklore (in part related to the recent anniversary in Dallas) ... not long after I joined IBM, IBM hired a new CSO that had been head of presidential detail (expert in physical security) ... and being one of the bright young computer security experts ... I got tasked with going around with him ... a little of physical security issues rubbing off. It turns out at the time of Dallas he had been head of 3rd shift detail and had already moved on to the next city.

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

Bet Cloud Computing to Win

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From: lynn@garlic.com
Subject: Bet Cloud Computing to Win
Date: 24 Nov, 2013
Blog: z/VM
large cloud operators for the last decade or so have been claiming they assemble their own blade servers for 1/3rd the cost of brand name vendors. there are rumors that some of the brand name vendors are doing side-line of building for some of the smaller cloud customers at close to the cost of the large cloud operators. This possibly contributed to news reports earlier this year that IBM was trying to sell off its x86 server business.

as a consequence of the significant drop (commoditized) in system costs ... other costs of operating their large megadatacenters (hundreds of thousands of servera and millions of processors) have come to be proportionally larger (power, cooling, administration, maintenance, etc) ... contributing to the large cloud operators on the bleeding edge of green computing. Various reports have the number of people running large megadatacenter between 60-120 (7x24 coverage). Any of the large cloud megadatacenters have more total aggregate processing power than all the mainframes in the world today.

ondemand characteristic of lots of the megadatacenter use has been major motivation behind server chip manufacturers adding features where chips drop to near zero power/cooling when idle ... but instantly able to come up to full operation. news items that the server chip manufacturers are now shipping more chips directly to the large cloud operators than to the brand name vendors (and these chips don't show up in the "vendor" server market numbers)

max. configured z196 with 80 processors is rated at 50BIPS and goes for $28M. IBM financials says that the mainframe business earns total of $6.25 for every dollar of processor sales ... aka $28M z196 results in total of $175M ... or $3.5M/BIPS. The mainframe business accounts for 25% of the earnings and 40% of the profit ... but mainframe processor sales only accounts for 4% of earnings. Regardless of declining/increasing ... mainframe business is still significant cash cow for ibm.

IBM also has a base list price of $1815 for a e5-2600 blade which have processor ratings between 400-600BIPS ... or around $3.5/BIPS (million times less than z196) The large cloud operator claim of 1/3rd cost of brand name vendors drops that to around $1/BIPS.

IBM's z196 *PEAK* I/O benchmark doing 2M IOPS using 104 FICONS with 14 SAPs. IBM SAPs numbers is 2.2M SSCH/sec all SAPs running 100% busy ... but recommends keeping SAPs to 70% busy or 1.5M SSCH/sec.

FICON is heavy-weight protocol layer that runs on top of fibre-channel standard that drastically reduces throughput of native FCS. A recent (single) FCS announcement for e5-2600 blade is claiming over million IOPS (i.e. two such FCS would have higher native throughput than the 104 FICONs).

posts mentioning ficon
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/submisc.html#ficon

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamation made30yearsagotoday

Refed: **, - **, - **
From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Subject: Re: 'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamation made30yearsagotoday
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Date: Sun, 24 Nov 2013 15:23:52 -0500
Shmuel (Seymour J.) Metz <spamtrap@library.lspace.org.invalid> writes:
Wouldn't it be more accurate to say that PR/SM was a user of SIE?

re:
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#46 'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamation made30yearsagotoday

from the standpoint of lots of customers it was superset of SIE in that it provided virtual machine with even less overhead and not even needing a separate (software) operating system (although for the original 138/148 ECPS ... done in the period when POK was busily trying to totally kill off vm370 ... Endicotts efforts to make virtual machines part of every machine shipped was veto'ed by corporate hdqtrs).

however, from the operating system standpoint ... it took quite awhile for SIE virtualization ... i.e. VM running in a PR/SM logical partition initially wasn't able, in turn to, use SIE (since it was being used by PR/SM).

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

torte reform, was 'Free Unix!' proclamationmade30yearsagotoday

From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Subject: Re: torte reform, was 'Free Unix!' proclamationmade30yearsagotoday
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Date: Sun, 24 Nov 2013 15:27:28 -0500
Lon <lon.stowell@comcast.net> writes:
Maybe start like SNA with three layers, expand to five, then during the OSI era, expand to 7 of which a couple are bogus IMNHO. Surprised IBM didn't go for 8 layers just to top OSI in some manner other than that nobody in their right mind used OSI.

note I was doing a lot with TCP/IP and the communication group was giving me a really hard time ... including when the head of the communication group came out with public strategic statement supporting OSI.

some recent posts:
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013j.html#64 OSI: The Internet That Wasn't
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013j.html#65 OSI: The Internet That Wasn't
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013j.html#66 OSI: The Internet That Wasn't
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013j.html#67 OSI: The Internet That Wasn't
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013j.html#68 OSI: The Internet That Wasn't
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013j.html#69 OSI: The Internet That Wasn't
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013j.html#82 copyright protection/Doug Englebart
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013k.html#17 OSI: The Internet That Wasn't
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013k.html#19 spacewar
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013l.html#26 Anyone here run UUCP?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013m.html#58 'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamation made 30yearsagotoday
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013m.html#100 SHARE Blog: News Flash: The Mainframe (Still) Isn't Dead
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#3 50th anniversary S/360 coming up
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#27 SNA vs TCP/IP

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

z/OS is antique WAS: Aging Sysprogs = Aging Farmers

From: lynn@GARLIC.COM (Anne & Lynn Wheeler)
Subject: Re: z/OS is antique WAS: Aging Sysprogs = Aging Farmers
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.ibm-main
Date: 24 Nov 2013 15:32:11 -0800
jwglists@GMAIL.COM (John Gilmore) writes:
The U.S. Customs Service defines an antique artefact as something that is at least 50 years old, and I z/OS is identified with is antetype, OS/360, it is or will shortly be an antique.

Now 'antique' and 'antiquated' are closely related etymologically; but 'antiquated' is pejorative. To antiquate is to make obsolete, and I am not sure that z/OS is obsolete.


antique vehicle registration
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antique_vehicle_registration

ranges 20-35yrs. automobiles could be considered more analogous to computers.

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamation made30yearsagotoday

From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Subject: Re: 'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamation made30yearsagotoday
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Date: Sun, 24 Nov 2013 22:06:04 -0500
jmfbahciv <See.above@aol.com> writes:
JMF's Unix implemnetation happened around 1987. I don't know if it ever ran in production. Rumor has it that those sources have been lost.

this is old post with announcement for initial vax/vms symmetric multiprocessor support:
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2007.html#email880329
and
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2007.html#email880324
in this post
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2007.html#46 How many 36-bit Unix ports in the old days?

with some vms discussion about transition for asymmetric to symmetric

past smp posts in this thread:
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#50 'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamation made30yearsagotoday
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#59 'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamation made30yearsagotoday

other recent smp-related posts (in ibm-main) about charlie inventing compare-and-swap instruction while doing cp67 kernel fine-grain multiprocessor locking work at the science center (and then trying to get it added to 370)
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#23 Serialization without Enque
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#42 Serialization without Enque

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

Half an operating system: The triumph and tragedy of OS/2

From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Subject: Half an operating system: The triumph and tragedy of OS/2
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Date: Sun, 24 Nov 2013 22:30:10 -0500
Half an operating system: The triumph and tragedy of OS/2; IBM doesn't make operating systems anymore for a reason.
http://arstechnica.com/business/2013/11/half-an-operating-system-the-triumph-and-tragedy-of-os2/

from above
OS/2 was plagued by delays and bureaucratic infighting. IBM rules about confidentiality meant that some Microsoft employees were unable to talk to other Microsoft employees without a legal translator between them. IBM also insisted that Microsoft would get paid by the company's standard contractor rates, which were calculated by kLOCs," or a thousand lines of code. As many programmers know, given two routines that can accomplish the same feat, the one with fewer lines of code is generally superior -- it will tend to use less CPU, take up less RAM, and be easier to debug and maintain. But IBM insisted on the kLOC methodology."

... snip ...

old email from os/2 boca wanting to know about dynamic adaptive scheduling
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2007i.html#email871204

i started for cp67 as undergraduate in the 60s ... some past posts
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/subtopic.html#fairshare

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

ACA (Obamacare) website problems--article

From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Subject: Re: ACA (Obamacare) website problems--article
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Date: Wed, 27 Nov 2013 12:05:07 -0500
jmfbahciv <See.above@aol.com> writes:
when DEC was DEC, moving expenses were paid by DEC. Hiring a new guy also included moving him/her, family and stuff. Later, tax laws made these costs taxable as income; I don't remember if it was a percentage of the amount or the entire amount.

change from tax free compensation ... it became ordinary income ... and the person had to then file tax return showing deductable moving expenses. there were cases where some previous tax free moving compensation were not considered moving expenses ... that would be "up-lifted" (to cover the taxes that had to be paid)

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamation made30yearsagotoday

From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Subject: Re: 'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamation made30yearsagotoday
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Date: Wed, 27 Nov 2013 12:33:16 -0500
Peter Flass <Peter_Flass@Yahoo.com> writes:
I don't know how *all* systems handle SMP, but in the IBM world it's possible for one CPU to fail and the others take over. This is different from some early non-SMP systems where the system that did the I/O was determined at boot time (or via a hardware switch maybe?) and was fixed.

360&370 (except for 360/67) was 2-way smp with only sharing memory. channel & i/o wasn't shared ... both processors had dedicated chanels. shared i/o was simulated by using twin-tail (connect to two different channel) controllers ... where the connections were at the same addresses ... however not all ibm controllers had twin-tail connectivity ... so i/o couldn't be fully symmetrical. smp characteristic was that machine could be dividied into two independent single processor operation (but dividing system required shutting down and restarting).

360/67 smp had independent "channel controller" ... so all processors could address all channels.

3081 was called dyadic ... while it was two-processor ... there were some number of common components ... so it couldn't be divided into two independent running systems. however 3081 did support all processors addressing all channels ... 3081 also had 31-bit addressing ... more than 24-bit not seen since 360/67 which supported 32-bit addressing.

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamation made30yearsagotoday

Refed: **, - **, - **, - **, - **
From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Subject: Re: 'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamation made30yearsagotoday
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Date: Fri, 29 Nov 2013 13:06:37 -0500
Peter Flass <Peter_Flass@Yahoo.com> writes:
Done, long ago. We had (I can't claim to be the one to set this up) several 3880 controllers each connected to two channels on the mainframe on the front end, and cross-connected to multiple strings of 3380s on the back end, so that there were at least two independent paths to everything.

head of string (sort of like mini-controller) could connect to two different 3880 controllers ... and each 3880 controller could have four channel interfaces ... giving each drive up to eight channel paths. for availability ... each 3880 controller could have two jib-prime microprocessors (adding to lots of internal overhead and processing latency).

in addition to all 3880 overhead and latency i've recently mentioned
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013m.html#72 'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamation made 30 years agotoday
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013m.html#78 'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamation made 30 years agotoday
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013m.html#99 SHARE Blog: News Flash: The Mainframe (Still) Isn't Dead
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#56 rebuild 1403 printer chain
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#57 rebuild 1403 printer chain

the 3880 also had additional overhead for handling multiple channel paths. as part of trying to compensate for the horrible processing overhead and latency ... the jib-prime tried to keep/cache information about the channel interface for the most recent i/o.

however, if the next i/o came from a different channel interface, the cached information had to be discarded and bunch of new information loaded ... which significanlty increased the i/o latency for multi-channel operation (compared to the already, really bad i/o lantecy for single channel operation).

multiple channel operation could be used for loosely-coupled (cluster) availability (attachment to multiple different systemms), smp configuration simulation (mainframe smp only supported shared memory, not shared i/o ... so it required dedicated channels configurated with controllers that had attached channels at same address ... simulating smp i/o) and/or throughput load balancing ... pool of disks with channels that could have concurrent transfer.

i mentioned rewriting i/o supervisor for bullet proof and never fail, super high-availability ... but also super-short pathlength ... for quick i/o redrive (minimizing idle time for heavily loaded device between the end of the previous i/o and the start of the next i/o).

most of standard multi-path i/o for single system with multiple channel paths to same devices ... had been primary ... and only use alternates if primary was busy. I tried adding super-sophisticated load balancing across all available paths ... but that ran into trouble with 3880 problem (extreme added overhead) constantly switching channel interfaces. It turned out that primary/alternate was much more efficient, since it tended to minimize the switching of channel interfaces.

misc. past posts getting to play disk engineer in blds. 14&15
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/subtopic.html#disk

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

Teaching Smart People How to Learn

Refed: **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **
From: lynn@garlic.com
Subject: Teaching Smart People How to Learn
Date: 30 Nov, 2013
Blog: Facebook
Teaching Smart People How to Learn
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1422126005/

this may come under the description of "openness" in the "changing minds in the army" paper.
https://ssi.armywarcollege.edu/pubs/display.cfm?pubID=1179

from another facet, myers-briggs approximation to "openness" seemed to be less than 10% of the population.

drift ... refs to teachers disklike creative students
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011p.html#105 5 ways to keep your rockstar employees happy
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012e.html#65 Teachers Don't Like Creative Students
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012o.html#71 Is orientation always because what has been observed? What are your 'direct' experiences?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013j.html#50 The Unleashed Mind: Why Creative People Are Eccentric
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013m.html#74 Steve B sees what investors think

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

Wylie discernible patterns

Refed: **, - **, - **, - **
From: lynn@garlic.com
Subject: Wylie discernible patterns
Date: 30 Nov, 2013
Blog: Boyd & Beyond
just finished "strategy a history" and started reading forward to "On strategy, a critical analysis of vietnam war" ... it has scenario the war that US thought it was fighting was different than the war that N. vietnam thought it was fighting

.. OR and gaming in support of war profiteering

about halfway thru
https://www.amazon.com/Strategy-Critical-Analysis-Vietnam-War-ebook/dp/B0024NP588

lots of references to mismatch between vietnam and US strategy and tactics ... however nothing yet about Boyd's comments in briefings that top-level pentagon strategy focus was budget size and budget share ... and vietnam almost incidental other than how it affected their primary focus. this wanders into perpetual war and Success Of failure with MBAs and gaming showing immediate success leaves money on the table (compared to various other scenarios).

Half an operating system: The triumph and tragedy of OS/2
http://arstechnica.com/business/2013/11/half-an-operating-system-the-triumph-and-tragedy-of-os2/5/

from above:
The story of OS/2 is now fading into the past. In today's fast-paced computing environment, it may not seem particularly relevant. But it remains a story of how a giant, global mega-corporation tried to take on a young and feisty upstart and ended up retreating in utter defeat. Such stories are rare, and because of that rarity they become more precious. It's important to remember that IBM was not the underdog. It had the resources, the technology, and the talent to crush the much smaller Microsoft. What it didn't have was the will.

... snip ...

almost sounds like theme from USA/Vietnam conflict

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

In Command, but Out Of Control

Refed: **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **
From: lynn@garlic.com
Subject: In Command, but Out Of Control
Date: 30 Nov, 2013
Blog: Boyd
In Command, but Out Of Control
http://business901.com/blog1/in-command-but-out-of-control/

Decades ago there use to be references to wild duck employees at IBM (and need for same). Recent 100 yr celebration had expunged all references to wild duck employees and replaced with examples of wild duck customers

The transition started in the middle 70s after the failure of the future system effort. In the late 70s there was poster (kind that go on wall) that wild ducks are tolerated as long as they fly in formation

posted earlier that i was half-way through with "On Strategy: A Critical Analysis of the Vietnam War"
https://www.amazon.com/Strategy-Critical-Analysis-Vietnam-War-ebook/dp/B0024NP588/

... and noted that nothing had been mentioned of periodic Boyd/reform movement refrain was that top Pentagon attention was on budget size & share ... and Vietnam was almost incidental except to the extent that it affected budget size & share.

I thought they were almost going to get to it in the chapter 14 on "Simplicity" ... when it mentioned pentagon was treating Vietnam "business as usual" (loc2679) .... but it managed to wander off in another direction (and not the Eisenhower warning about MICC). "Simplicity" also spent a lot of time really on "focus" ... "simple" tightly related to keeping focus on objective ... mostly ignoring other possible benefits.

past posts mentioning wild ducks:
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2007b.html#38 'Innovation' and other crimes
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2007h.html#25 sizeof() was: The Perfect Computer - 36 bits?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2008h.html#18 IT full of 'ducks'? Declare open season
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011h.html#30 IBM Centennial Film: Wild Ducks
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011h.html#33 Happy 100th Birthday, IBM!
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011i.html#79 Innovation and iconoclasm
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011m.html#1 What is IBM culture?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011m.html#45 What is IBM culture?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011n.html#93 John R. Opel, RIP
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011p.html#105 5 ways to keep your rockstar employees happy
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011p.html#121 The Myth of Work-Life Balance
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012b.html#59 Original Thinking Is Hard, Where Good Ideas Come From
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012b.html#72 Original Thinking Is Hard, Where Good Ideas Come From
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012f.html#3 Time to Think ... and to Listen
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012h.html#7 Leadership Trends and Realities: What Does Leadership Look Like Today
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012h.html#17 Hierarchy
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012i.html#26 Top Ten Reasons Why Large Companies Fail To Keep Their Best Talent
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012k.html#19 SnOODAn: Boyd, Snowden, and Resilience
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012k.html#23 How to Stuff a Wild Duck
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012k.html#24 How to Stuff a Wild Duck
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012k.html#26 How to Stuff a Wild Duck
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012k.html#28 How to Stuff a Wild Duck
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012k.html#31 History--punched card transmission over telegraph lines
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012k.html#42 The IBM "Open Door" policy
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012k.html#49 1132 printer history
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012k.html#56 1132 printer history
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012k.html#65 How do you feel about the fact that India has more employees than US?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012m.html#70 Long Strange Journey: An Intelligence Memoir
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012n.html#15 System/360--50 years--the future?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012n.html#16 System/360--50 years--the future?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013.html#12 How do we fight bureaucracy and bureaucrats in IBM?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013g.html#49 A Complete History Of Mainframe Computing
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#52 Bridgestone Sues IBM For $600 Million Over Allegedly 'Defective' System That Plunged The Company Into 'Chaos'

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

Wylie discernible patterns

From: lynn@garlic.com
Subject: Wylie discernible patterns
Date: 01 Dec , 2013
Blog: Boyd & Beyond
re:
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#71 Wylie discernible patterns

I finished "On Strategy" and I thought they were almost going to get to the top of Pentagon preoccupied/focused on budget size (and Vietnam incidental other than how it affected budget) in the chapter 14 on "Simplicity" ... when it mentioned pentagon was treating Vietnam "business as usual" (loc2679) .... but it managed to wander off in another direction (and not the Eisenhower warning about MICC). "Simplicity" also spent a lot of time really on "focus" ... "simple" tightly related to keeping focus on objective ... mostly ignoring other possible benefits (possibly simplicity&focus applied to top of Pentagon and myopic focus on budget size/share).

maybe I was being sarcastic ... in the 60s, I did computer operating system dynamic adaptive resource management (that was picked and shipped in IBM product while I was still undergraduate). It included support for multiple variable optimization/trade-offs

when I joined the science center ... they were doing extensive monitoring of computer activity 7x24 ... and doing workload profiles, system activity profiles, hardware profiles ... snapshots every couple minutes. the monitoring facility then propagated out to lots of other internal systems ... so eventually had years of data for hundreds of (different) systems (& workloads). One of the representations was multi-axis graph depicting workload, system activity, configuration, etc. One variation was to overlay everything on one graph and got the maximum value for every possible characteristic. By the mid-70s, this was also starting to morph into capacity planning.

When I met Boyd ... his graphs characterizing fighter planes was somewhat similar ... as well as explanation for designing planes making trade-offs between different characteristics.

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

z/OS is antique WAS: Aging Sysprogs = Aging Farmers

Refed: **, - **, - **
From: lynn@GARLIC.COM (Anne & Lynn Wheeler)
Subject: Re: z/OS is antique WAS: Aging Sysprogs = Aging Farmers
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.ibm-main
Date: 1 Dec 2013 12:23:06 -0800
PaulGBoulder@AIM.COM (Paul Gilmartin) writes:
With a brief exposure to MVS, I started to learn CMS. I was shocked (briefly) to learn that file names might begin with numeric digits; in fact be entirely numeric. Why not in OS/360 data set names? In an era of severe storage and CPU cycle constraints, the lexical analyzer would have been simpler for not needing to treat the first character specially. Would allowing numeric data set names have introduced a syntactic ambiguity in JCL or elsewhere? Member names couldn't unambiguously be numeric because of GDG levels.

I periodically pontificated that the batch heritage systems were for the convenience of the systems ... while people might prepare the program ... batch characteristic was that the responsible person(s) usually wasn't around ... and it was important that many things be able to run w/o the responsible person present.

this is a different paradigm from the online systems ... for instance linux traces to unix to multics to ctss ... while vm370/cms trace to cp67/cms to the same ctss ... and is much more oriented to the convenience of people ... not to the system ... with a person much more likely to be directly involved with running an application.

the batch system heritage would focus much more on computer resource optimization than people resource optimization ... this was common refrain from the 60s up through much of the 80s by POK favorite son operating system people.

also ms/dos
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MS-DOS
before ms/dos there was seattle computer
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seattle_Computer_Products
and before seattle computer there was cp/m
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CP/M
and before cp/m, kildall worked on cp67/cms at npg school (gone 404 but lives on at wayback machine)
https://web.archive.org/web/20071011100440/http://www.khet.net/gmc/docs/museum/en_cpmName.html
npg reference
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naval_Postgraduate_School
cp/67 reference
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CP/CMS

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamation made30yearsagotoday

Refed: **, - **, - **, - **
From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Subject: Re: 'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamation made30yearsagotoday
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Date: Mon, 02 Dec 2013 10:00:45 -0500
Peter Flass <Peter_Flass@Yahoo.com> writes:

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/Irelands-Forgotten-Sons-Recovered-Two-Centuries-Later.html


I've mentioned before my wife's father had received a set of Fiske history books (lectures given during the 1880s) for some distinction at West Point. One of the points that if it hadn't been for the Scottish influence from the mid-atlantic states ... the US form of government would look much more like England's (much less equality, under the influence of the former British from more northern states).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Fiske_%28philosopher%29

now out of copyright, scanned and available online at a number of places
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/525
https://archive.org/details/historicalwriti04fiskgoog

past references:
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011p.html#31 21st Century Management approach?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012c.html#22 You can't do the math without the words
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012f.html#2 Did they apply Boyd's concepts?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012f.html#84 How do you feel about the fact that India has more employees than US?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012h.html#15 Imbecilic Constitution
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012i.html#85 Naked emperors, holy cows and Libor
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012k.html#7 Is there a connection between your strategic and tactical assertions?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012l.html#13 Cultural attitudes towards failure
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012o.html#71 Is orientation always because what has been observed? What are your 'direct' experiences?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013f.html#21 What Makes weapons control Bizarre?

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

A Little More on the Computer

Refed: **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **
From: lynn@garlic.com
Subject: A Little More on the Computer
Date: 02 Dec, 2013
Blog: Facebook
For a tangent .... there is use of computers to obfuscate bad behavior. There was claims as the economy was crashing that risk models had approved all the risky activity. At the same time there was call for risk managers to be made independent of business people ... because business people had ordered the risk managers to fiddle the risk model inputs until they got the desired outputs (GIGO, garbage input, garbage output). Similar HFT is now frequently being used to obfuscate questionable activity. Recent reference ("The Wall Street Code: HFT Whisteblower Baim Bodek on Algorithmic Trading")
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#40

We know some of the people that had been at IBM during the 60s responsible for the original computer FAA air traffic control system. In the late 80s, there was several efforts to modernize/re-engineer the systems (one of several large federal legacy computer modernization projects that failed in the 80s & 90s). We got pulled into review of problems with the FAA/ATC re-engineering efforts. One of the issues was that the people (all newbies) designing and implementing the application were told that they would not have to consider/design for problems & errors. The issue was that the underlying system would be triple replicated and any hardware failures would be "masked" from the FAA/ATC application (and didn't have to be considered). However, there are a whole class of problems that exist at the ATC procedural level ... not involving underlying hardware issues. One such problem is when there is "hand-off" between FAA/ATC centers and the receiving controller (human) doesn't realize that they have a new flight in their space.

... aka there is frequent disconnect between the people designing/programming the computer application/software and the real domain experts that have in-depth understanding of the existing operation/process. Boyd has story on the subject about people that did the Air Force air-to-air missile used in Vietnam (they claimed 100% hit, Boyd reviewed and suggested 10% hit or less ... role forward to Vietnam and Boyd was right)

note some of the large beltway bandits that were teaching new MBAs business process to redo business operations w/o being domain experts in the business that they were redoing ... used the same paradigm for re-engineering large legacy computer systems

past posts mentioning MBAs & doing rote business process re-engineering
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2008d.html#74 Price of CPU seconds
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2008h.html#56 Long running Batch programs keep IMS databases offline
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009c.html#43 Business process re-engineering
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009f.html#55 Cobol hits 50 and keeps counting
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009l.html#57 IBM halves mainframe Linux engine prices
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011e.html#15 At least two decades back, some gurus predicted that mainframes would disappear in future and it still has not happened
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011e.html#90 PDCA vs. OODA
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011e.html#91 Mainframe Fresher
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011e.html#92 PDCA vs. OODA
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011i.html#27 PDCA vs. OODA
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011i.html#34 PDCA vs. OODA
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011n.html#86 PDCA vs. OODA
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013j.html#7 What Makes an Architecture Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013m.html#55 'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamation made 30 years ago today
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013m.html#69 PDCA vs. OODA
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013m.html#91 PDCA vs. OODA. Pehaps this has been addressed previously

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamation made30yearsagotoday

From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Subject: Re: 'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamation made30yearsagotoday
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Date: Tue, 03 Dec 2013 09:39:10 -0500
Peter Flass <Peter_Flass@Yahoo.com> writes:
Scots-Irish in the US has become synonymous with "hillbilly." "Hatfield" sounds English, but "McCoy" is definitely Scotch-Irish.

re:
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#75 'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamation made30yearsagotoday

co-worker at science center was a (real) Hatfield (some close relatives directly involved in the events) ... there was also an offspring of one of the people that discovered DNA ... science center was just part of 4th flr 545 tech sq ... and was mostly around 35 people.
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/subtopic.html#545tech

my wifes parents' families come from "hillbilly" area ... my wifes father's family trace back to clan that were scottish scribes ... clan was broken/disbanded circa 1630.

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

wtf ? - was Catalog system for Unix et al

Refed: **, - **, - **, - **, - **
From: lynn@GARLIC.COM (Anne & Lynn Wheeler)
Subject: Re: wtf ? - was Catalog system for Unix et al
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.ibm-main
Date: 3 Dec 2013 07:00:32 -0800
PaulGBoulder@AIM.COM (Paul Gilmartin) writes:
Gossip is that POSIX compliance was a marketing requirement. Beyond that, it's questionable how competitively strategic IBM regards Unix System Services.

I've mentioned before in the late 80s, senior disk engineer opening talk at annual, world-wide communication group conference with statement that the communication group was going to be responsible for demise of disk division ... communication group had corporate strategic "ownership" of everything crossing datacenter wall, protecting their dumb terminal paradigm and install base, fiercely fighting off client/server and distributed computing. disk division was seeing fall in mainframe disk sales with data fleeing to more distributed computing friendly platforms. the disk division had come up with number of solutions ... which were being constantly vetoed by the communication group. This was also factor leading up to IBM going into the red a couple years later ... and the subsequent re-organization into the 13 "baby blues" in preparation for breaking up the company (which was reversed when the board brought in Gerstner).

we knew his senior vp and would get asked to help in work-arounds to the communication group ... one of which was the original POSIX support in MVS. There is separate claim about gov. bids requiring POSIXs. other activity was putting investments into other companies as part of those companies turning out distributed computing solutions for mainframe (and we were asked to periodically come in to those companies to assist with their activity).

we did point out that main motivation behind POSIX was so that customers could more easily migrate to the lowest cost platform (disk division was looking to ease port of many of these applications to the mainframe ... which was one of the highest cost platforms).

recent posts mentioning "demise of disk division" talk
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013.html#75 mainframe "selling" points
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013b.html#32 Ethernet at 40: Its daddy reveals its turbulent youth
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013b.html#57 Dualcase vs monocase. Was: Article for the boss
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013c.html#75 Still not convinced about the superiority of mainframe security vs distributed?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013d.html#76 IBM Spent A Million Dollars Renovating And Staffing Its Former CEO's Office
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013e.html#17 The Big, Bad Bit Stuffers of IBM
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013f.html#57 The cloud is killing traditional hardware and software
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013f.html#58 The cloud is killing traditional hardware and software
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013f.html#70 How internet can evolve
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013g.html#17 Tech Time Warp of the Week: The 50-Pound Portable PC, 1977
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013g.html#34 What Makes code storage management so cool?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013h.html#10 The cloud is killing traditional hardware and software
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013i.html#2 IBM commitment to academia
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013i.html#17 Should we, as an industry, STOP using the word Mainframe and find (and start using) something more up-to-date
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013l.html#44 Teletypewriter Model 33
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013l.html#49 The Original IBM Basic Beliefs for those that have never seen them
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013m.html#5 Voyager 1 just left the solar system using less computing powerthan your iP

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

wtf ? - was Catalog system for Unix et al

Refed: **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **
From: lynn@GARLIC.COM (Anne & Lynn Wheeler)
Subject: Re: wtf ? - was Catalog system for Unix et al
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.ibm-main
Date: 3 Dec 2013 07:54:14 -0800
PaulGBoulder@AIM.COM (Paul Gilmartin) writes:
Which is that "lowest cost platform"? What was IBM's business rationale for encouraging that migration?

re:
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#78 wtf ? - was Catalog system for Unix et al

at very high executive level ... POSIX just appears to make porting easy .... including the port of non-mainframe applications to mainframe ... helping with the issue with moving distributed computing applications to the mainframe.

the major market motivation for POSIX was to make it easy to frequently migrate to whatever the current best price/performance platform that happen to be at the moment (masking proprietary hardware and operating system features ... that would lock in customers).

note in this time-frame we had come up with 3-tier architecture and taking lots of arrows in the back from the communication group. we had mainframes at top tier ... but (of course) none of the mainframe hardware attachments were from the communication group.

part of 3-tier and the non-ibm mainframe interfaces ... also included 10mbit ethernet ... and communication group, SAA organization and the token-ring people were generating all sorts of FUD.

my wife had written 3-tier into response to large gov. RFI that also happened to have the very highest security requirements. We were also doing 3-tier customer executive presentations (that the communication group was trying to shutdown and/or at least discredit). lots of past posts
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/subnetwork.html#3tier

old posts with pieces of 1988 3-tier pitch
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/96.html#16 middle layer
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/96.html#17 middle layer
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/99.html#202 Middleware - where did that come from
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2002q.html#40 ibm time machine

a trivial example of the communication orientation ... was the 16mbit t/r microchannel adapter card. it had been shown that aggregate 10mbit ethernet LAN throughput was higher than 16mbit t/r as well as having lower latency.

however, the 16mbit microchannel t/r adapter also had very low per card throughput ... design was 300+ stations doing terminal emulation all sharing common bandwidth.

the workstation group had done their own 4mbit t/r card for the PC/RT (PC/AT 16bit bus). for the rs/6000 with microchannel, the group was told they couldn't do any of their own cards (communication group at it again). the problem was that the per card throughput of the standard 16mbit t/r card was (also) less than the pc/rt 4mbit t/r card ... aka a pc/rt 4mbit t/r server had higher server throughput than rs/6000 server with 16mbit t/r microchannel card.

recent posts mentioning corporate FUD
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013d.html#76 IBM Spent A Million Dollars Renovating And Staffing Its Former CEO's Office
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013i.html#4 IBM commitment to academia
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013i.html#83 Metcalfe's Law: How Ethernet Beat IBM and Changed the World
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013j.html#23 The cloud is killing traditional hardware and software
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013m.html#7 Voyager 1 just left the solar system using less computing powerthan your iP
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013m.html#18 Voyager 1 just left the solar system using less computing powerthan your iP
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013m.html#35 Why is the mainframe so expensive?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#30 SNA vs TCP/IP

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamation made30yearsagotoday

Refed: **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **
From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Subject: Re: 'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamation made30yearsagotoday
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Date: Tue, 03 Dec 2013 14:07:37 -0500
hancock4 writes:
The attraction of the IBM PC was that IBM, in tradition with its previous offerings, sold it as a _solution_ along with application products to do specific tasks. Basic tasks such as spreadsheet, word processing, and database were obviously available from IBM, but other vendors had their own offerings. The IBM also conferred some legitimacy.

my frequent theme was terminal emulation contributed to big uptake early on. large corporations were justifying buying tens of thousands of 3270 termianls ... ibm/pc with 3270 emulation was about the same price as real 3270 ... company could get 3270 terminal in single desktop footprint with some local compute capability. it was no-brainer to switch already justified business case for 3270 purchase to ibm/pc (aka didn't require any additional business justification). It wasn't acutally necessary to get into the capabilities of the local software as part of justifying the purchase.

that got million or so requiring little or no incremental business justification. that is similar but different to the ibm brand name providing legitimacy.

other PCs tended to actually require their own business case justification (not getting free pass from 3270 emulation capability)

later as PCs got more powerful ... the (mainframe) communication group is fighting hard to prevent client/server and distributed computing, trying to preserve its dumb terminal (emulation) paradigm and install base.

misc. past posts
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/subnetwork.html#emulation

from this old post/thread
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2007v.html#76 Why Didn't Digital Catch the Wave?

including references to this article:

Total share: 30 years of personal computer market share figures; It's been a long, strange trip for the personal computer over 30 years.
http://arstechnica.com/features/2005/12/total-share/

this gives pc market growing from zero in 1975 to appox. million total in 1980
http://arstechnica.com/features/2005/12/total-share/3/

and this shows 1980-1984 ... with ibm pc going from zero to 2million between 1982 & 1984.
http://arstechnica.com/features/2005/12/total-share/4/

and with help of clones, 6million by 1987
http://arstechnica.com/features/2005/12/total-share/5/

leveling off below 20m 89/90
http://arstechnica.com/features/2005/12/total-share/6/

and then resuming growth to nearly 40m by 1994
http://arstechnica.com/features/2005/12/total-share/7/

140m by 2000
http://arstechnica.com/features/2005/12/total-share/8/

almost 180m by 2004
http://arstechnica.com/features/2005/12/total-share/9/

several news items today saying PC market will be off 10% in 2013 ... market moving to other things like tablets.

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamation made30yearsagotoday

From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Subject: Re: 'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamation made30yearsagotoday
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Date: Tue, 03 Dec 2013 21:20:00 -0500
hancock4 writes:
A big shift in the way mainframe computing was done was circa 1985 when end users would download extracted files from the mainframe and use a spreadsheet program to analyze the data and generate their own custom made reports. This right there was a drastic change of thinking and chink in the wall of the mainframe world. No longer did end-users need to come, hat in hand, to the mainframe priests and get in line to ask for a report; they could run themselves at their convenience.

re:
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#80 'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamation made30yearsagotoday

the ibm disk division noticed this (with drop in mainframe disk sales) and tried to come up with all sort of ways where the users could keep their data in the datacenter ... with backup and availability ... and still access it as easily as if it was on local disk.

however, as I've frequently commented, the communication group had corporate strategic ownership of everything that crossed the datacenter walls and were fiercely defending their dumb terminal paradigm and install base ... fighting off client/server & distributed computing. They were constantly veto'ing disk division solutions ... which was major factor in senior disk engineer opening talk at annual internal world-wide communication group conference with the statement that the communication group was going to be responsible for the demise of the disk division.

a couple recent posts in ibm-main mailing list with lengthier discussion on the subject:
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#78 wtf ? - was Catalog system for Unix et al
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#79 wtf ? - was Catalog system for Unix et al

above mentions coming up with 3-tier and (over 25yrs ago) including it in a response to RFI for large distributed gov. infrastructure with exceedingly stringent security requirements ... with all the stuff in the news recently ... possibly things that they've let lapse ... misc. past 3-tier posts
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/subnetwork.html#3tier

posts mentioning terminal emulation
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/subnetwork.html#emulation

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamation made30yearsagotoday

From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Subject: Re: 'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamation made30yearsagotoday
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Date: Tue, 03 Dec 2013 21:34:21 -0500
Dan Espen <despen@verizon.net> writes:
I think your talking about the 5100, 5120 line? Didn't know they had S/360 guts.

5100
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_5100
had PALM
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_PALM_processor

... with emulator for enuf of 360 problem mode instructions to run apl interpreter ... the wiki 5100 article talks about 370 emulator in microcode ... but all the low & mid-range (read) 370s had native microprocessor engines that ran 370 emulator.

the original 5100 was done at ibm palo alto scientific center ... which had also done the apl microcode assist for the 370/145 (ran most apl faster than 370/168). they were also involved in some of the ECPS work ... originally for 370 138&148 ... moving parts of the vm370 kernel pathlength into native microcode (getting 10:1 speedup) ... recent post mentioning ECPS:
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013.html#59 Was MVS/SE designed to confound Amdahl?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013.html#67 Was MVS/SE designed to confound Amdahl?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013b.html#37 AT&T Holmdel Computer Center films, 1973 Unix
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013c.html#15 I do not understand S0C6 on CDSG
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013c.html#32 REFRPROT History Question
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013c.html#36 Lisp machines, was What Makes an Architecture Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013f.html#68 Linear search vs. Binary search
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013h.html#18 "Highway Patrol" back on TV
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013i.html#29 By Any Other Name
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013l.html#27 World's worst programming environment?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013l.html#31 model numbers; was re: World's worst programming environment?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013m.html#51 50,000 x86 operating system on single mainframe
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#46 'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamation made30yearsagotoday
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#62 'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamation made30yearsagotoday

... past posts mentioning 5100
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2000.html#69 APL on PalmOS ???
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2000.html#70 APL on PalmOS ???
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2000d.html#15 APL version in IBM 5100 (Was: Resurrecting the IBM 1130)
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2000g.html#24 A question for you old guys -- IBM 1130 information
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2000g.html#46 A new "Remember when?" period happening right now
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2001b.html#45 First OS?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2001b.html#56 Why SMP at all anymore?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2001b.html#71 Z/90, S/390, 370/ESA (slightly off topic)
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2002b.html#39 IBM 5100 [Was: First DESKTOP Unix Box?]
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2002b.html#43 IBM 5100 [Was: First DESKTOP Unix Box?]
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2002b.html#45 IBM 5100 [Was: First DESKTOP Unix Box?]
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2002b.html#47 IBM 5100 [Was: First DESKTOP Unix Box?]
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2003b.html#42 VMFPLC2 tape format
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2003i.html#79 IBM 5100
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2003i.html#82 IBM 5100
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2003i.html#84 IBM 5100
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2003j.html#0 IBM 5100
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2003n.html#6 The IBM 5100 and John Titor
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2003n.html#8 The IBM 5100 and John Titor
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2004c.html#8 IBM operating systems and APL
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2004l.html#32 Shipwrecks
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2005.html#44 John Titor was right? IBM 5100
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2005g.html#12 Moving assembler programs above the line
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2005m.html#2 IBM 5100 luggable computer with APL
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2005m.html#3 IBM 5100 luggable computer with APL
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2005r.html#50 winscape?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2005t.html#4 Privacy issue - how to spoof/hide IP when accessing email / usenet servers ?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2007d.html#53 Is computer history taugh now?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2007d.html#54 Is computer history taugh now?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2007d.html#64 Is computer history taugh now?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2007m.html#42 The Development of the Vital IBM PC in Spite of the Corporate Culture of IBM
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2008.html#10 For the History buff's an IBM 5150 pc
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2008r.html#38 "True" story of the birth of the IBM PC
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2010c.html#28 Processes' memory
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2010c.html#35 Processes' memory
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2010c.html#36 Processes' memory
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2010c.html#54 Processes' memory
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2010c.html#80 Happy DEC-10 Day
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2010f.html#83 Notes on two presentations by Gordon Bell ca. 1998
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2010h.html#77 IBM 5100 First Portable Computer commercial 1977
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2010i.html#11 IBM 5100 First Portable Computer commercial 1977
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2010i.html#13 IBM 5100 First Portable Computer commercial 1977
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2010i.html#33 System/3--IBM compilers (languages) available?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011c.html#5 Early NSFNET backbone
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011d.html#59 The first personal computer (PC)
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011e.html#58 Collection of APL documents
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011h.html#53 Happy 100th Birthday, IBM!
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011i.html#55 Architecture / Instruction Set / Language co-design
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011j.html#48 Opcode X'A0'
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012e.html#100 Indirect Bit
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012l.html#79 zEC12, and previous generations, "why?" type question - GPU computing
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013c.html#44 Lisp machines, was What Makes an Architecture Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013e.html#30 April 1st RFCs
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013g.html#14 Tech Time Warp of the Week: The 50-Pound Portable PC, 1977
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013g.html#21 The cloud is killing traditional hardware and software
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013h.html#26 Getting at the original command name/line

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamationmade30yearsagotoday

Refed: **, - **, - **
From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Subject: Re: 'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamationmade30yearsagotoday
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Date: Wed, 04 Dec 2013 16:07:40 -0500
hancock4 writes:
Speaking of address spaces, would anyone recall what model and size was the largest standard IBM in 1980--the time the PC discussions were going on? Did they break the 16 meg S/360 addressing barrier yet to go to XA? (In 1980 the S/370-158 mainframe running our entire organization had all of 8 meg to it).

As I've periodically noted ... by mid-70s, systems were moving to I/O as bottleneck and increasing use of storage for caching (to compensate for slow I/O).

late 70s, 3033 was hitting 16mbyte real storage barrier ... partially because of i/o compensation caching requirements and partially for increasingly bloated MVS kernel.

datacenter space was becoming premium and large corporations were finding with the advent of mid-range 4300s they could put them out in departmental areas (very low resource footprint). however, in the datacenter it was also possible to have clusters of 4341s with more aggregate processing power than 3033, more aggregate channels and I/O than 3033, more aggregate real storage than 3033, smaller datacenter resource and footprint than 3033, and lower cost than 3033 (aka significantly better price performant). misc. past 43xx related email
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/lhwemail.html#43xx

somewhat to compensate, the 3033 came up with gimmick to configure with 64mbytes ... even with the 16mbyte addressing restriction. the 370 page table entry was 16bits, 12bit page number (for 12bit/4kbyte pages giving 24bit, 16mbyte addressing), 2 defined bits, and two reserved/unused bits. The two reserved/unused bits were co-opted to prepend the 12bit page number ... resulting in a 14bit page number ... 12bit/4kbyte pages results in addressing 26bit/64mbytes of real storage.

no instruction could generation more than 24bit address ... but running virtually ... a 24bit virtual address could be translated into a 26bit real addresss.

i/o had also been 24bit address (CCW 24bit address field) ... but 370 introduced IDALs ... which was solution to non-contiguous, page crossing i/o ... where each IDAL field/address was full word. 3033 hack allowed IDAL to specify 26bit real address ... doing page i/o into the area above 16mbyte line.

there was still all sort of stuff that had to be below the 16mbyte line ... so there was various requirements that would require bringing stuff from above the 16mbyte line to below the 64mbyte line. The "original" solution in POK for "bring down" was to write a page (from above the 16mbyte line) out to disk and read it back in (below the 16mbyte line).

I sent them a hack involving dummy virtual address space with pointers to the original virtual page above the 16mbyte line and its target location below the 16mbyte line ... and doing a MVCL to copy the page below the line. old email ref
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2006t.html#email800121

there was also major issue with page replacement algorithm treating the pages above the 16mbyte line differently than the pages below the 16mbyte line ... resulting in less than optimal page replacement algorihtm
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2007b.html#email860124

various posts mentioning 16mbyte "line" issue
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2000d.html#82 "all-out" vs less aggressive designs (was: Re: 36 to 32 bit transition)
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2002d.html#57 Hardest Mistake in Comp Arch to Fix
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2004e.html#41 Infiniband - practicalities for small clusters
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2004f.html#51 before execution does it require whole program 2 b loaded in
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2004h.html#31 Usage of Hex Dump
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2004o.html#59 Integer types for 128-bit addressing
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2005.html#34 increasing addressable memory via paged memory?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2005p.html#1 Intel engineer discusses their dual-core design
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2005p.html#19 address space
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2005q.html#30 HASP/ASP JES/JES2/JES3
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2005u.html#44 POWER6 on zSeries?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2006b.html#28 Multiple address spaces
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2006l.html#2 virtual memory
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2006m.html#27 Old Hashing Routine
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2006w.html#23 Multiple mappings
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2007g.html#59 IBM to the PCM market(the sky is falling!!!the sky is falling!!)
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2007r.html#56 CSA 'above the bar'
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2008f.html#12 Fantasy-Land_Hierarchal_NUMA_Memory-Model_on_Vertical
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009g.html#71 308x Processors - was "Mainframe articles"
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009l.html#67 ACP, One of the Oldest Open Source Apps
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2010.html#84 locate mode, was Happy DEC-10 Day
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2010g.html#36 16:32 far pointers in OpenWatcom C/C++
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2010l.html#6 Z/OS 31bit or 64bit
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011c.html#90 A History of VM Performance
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011e.html#27 Multiple Virtual Memory
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011k.html#87 'smttter IBMdroids
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011p.html#126 Deja Cloud?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012h.html#57 How will mainframers retiring be different from Y2K?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012o.html#20 Assembler vs. COBOL--processing time, space needed
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013c.html#48 What Makes an Architecture Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013c.html#49 What Makes an Architecture Bizarre?

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamationmade30yearsagotoday

Refed: **, - **, - **, - **
From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Subject: Re: 'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamationmade30yearsagotoday
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Date: Wed, 04 Dec 2013 16:31:26 -0500
hancock4 writes:
Speaking of address spaces, would anyone recall what model and size was the largest standard IBM in 1980--the time the PC discussions were going on? Did they break the 16 meg S/360 addressing barrier yet to go to XA? (In 1980 the S/370-158 mainframe running our entire organization had all of 8 meg to it).

re:
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#83 'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamationmade30yearsagotoday

turns out that MVS had another 24bit addressing problem ... separate from its real storage bloat and only address 24bit real storage.

the initial move from MVT to virtual memory was OS/VS2 SVS ... single virtual storage ... or MVT layed out in a single 16mbyte virtual address space. Not all that different from running MVT in a 16mbyte virtual machine address space ... except there was a little bit of code cribbed into the side of MVT to setup its own virtual memory tables and to handle page faults. The biggest bit of code going from MVT to SVS was having to translate channel program virtual addresses to real addresses ... i.e. CCW channel programs were built by library routines running as part of the application and passed to the supervisor via EXCP/SVC0. The problem was that all the addresses were virtual and the 370 channels ran with real addresses. Initially, the channel program translation routine, CCWTRANS was borrowed from (virtual machine) CP67 and patched into EXCP/SVC0 handling.

The transition from SVS to MVS involved giving every application its own 16mbyte virtual address space. However, the OS/360 heritage was heavily pointer-passing API based ... so part of the transition was to map an 8mbyte image of the MVS kernel into every application 16mbyte virtual address space.

Another part was significant amount of OS/360 services were by "subsystems" that were outside the kernel and in MVS now occupied their own separate 16mbyte virtual address space. In order to allow applications to use pointer passing API to subsystems ... a "common segment" was defined that occupied 1mbyte of every virtual address space (allowing applications and subsystems to pass pointers back and forth that addressed the same area). This morphed into CSA (common system area) with size requirement that was basically proportional to the number of subsystems and the number of concurrent applications using those subsystems. By the 3033 time-frame, it was common to have 4-5mbyte CSAs which were threatening to become 5-6mbyte ... reducing actual application area in their private 16mbyte address spaces to only 2mbytes.

old reference to SVS to MVS transition
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011d.html#73 Multiple Virtual Memory

misc. past posts mentioning CSA
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2002l.html#57 Handling variable page sizes?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2002m.html#0 Handling variable page sizes?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2003g.html#13 Page Table - per OS/Process
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2004n.html#26 PCIe as a chip-to-chip interconnect
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2004n.html#54 CKD Disks?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2004o.html#18 Integer types for 128-bit addressing
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2005b.html#53 The mid-seventies SHARE survey
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2005f.html#57 Moving assembler programs above the line
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2005p.html#18 address space
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2005q.html#48 Intel strikes back with a parallel x86 design
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2006b.html#25 Multiple address spaces
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2006b.html#28 Multiple address spaces
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2006b.html#32 Multiple address spaces
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2006c.html#0 Multiple address spaces
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2006i.html#33 virtual memory
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2006j.html#38 The Pankian Metaphor
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2006k.html#44 virtual memory
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2006p.html#10 What part of z/OS is the OS?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2006r.html#32 MIPS architecture question - Supervisor mode & who is using it?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2006s.html#42 Ranking of non-IBM mainframe builders?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2006t.html#23 threads versus task
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2006v.html#23 Ranking of non-IBM mainframe builders?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2006y.html#16 "The Elements of Programming Style"
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2007g.html#59 IBM to the PCM market(the sky is falling!!!the sky is falling!!)
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2007k.html#27 user level TCP implementation
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2007m.html#58 Is Parallel Programming Just Too Hard?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2007o.html#10 IBM 8000 series
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2007q.html#26 Does software life begin at 40? IBM updates IMS database
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2007q.html#68 Direction of Stack Growth
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2007r.html#56 CSA 'above the bar'
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2007r.html#62 CSA 'above the bar'
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2007r.html#64 CSA 'above the bar'
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2007r.html#65 CSA 'above the bar'
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2007r.html#67 CSA 'above the bar'
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2007r.html#68 High order bit in 31/24 bit address
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2007r.html#69 CSA 'above the bar'
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2007s.html#2 Real storage usage - a quick question
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2007s.html#5 Poster of computer hardware events?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2007s.html#29 Intel Ships Power-Efficient Penryn CPUs
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2007s.html#33 Age of IBM VM
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2007s.html#39 CSA 'above the bar'
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2007s.html#41 Age of IBM VM
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2007s.html#50 Running REXX program in a batch job
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2007t.html#16 segmentation or lack thereof
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2007t.html#55 new 40+ yr old, disruptive technology
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2007t.html#75 T3 Sues IBM To Break its Mainframe Monopoly
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2007u.html#20 folklore indeed
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2007u.html#30 folklore indeed
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2007v.html#21 It keeps getting uglier
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2008c.html#35 New Opcodes
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2008d.html#69 Regarding the virtual machines
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2008e.html#14 Kernels
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2008e.html#33 IBM Preview of z/OS V1.10
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2008f.html#12 Fantasy-Land_Hierarchal_NUMA_Memory-Model_on_Vertical
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2008g.html#60 Different Implementations of VLIW
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2008h.html#29 DB2 & z/OS Dissertation Research
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2008k.html#60 recent mentions of 40+ yr old technology
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2008o.html#53 Old XDS Sigma stuff
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2008p.html#40 Opsystems
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2008r.html#16 What if the computers went back to the '70s too?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2008r.html#32 What if the computers went back to the '70s too?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2008r.html#34 What if the computers went back to the '70s too?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009.html#55 Graphics on a Text-Only Display
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009c.html#59 Why do IBMers think disks are 'Direct Access'?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009d.html#54 mainframe performance
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009e.html#39 Gone but not forgotten: 10 operating systems the world left behind
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009f.html#50 what IBM 360/370/etc. model was their best seller?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009g.html#71 308x Processors - was "Mainframe articles"
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009h.html#33 My Vintage Dream PC
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009h.html#72 Operating Systems for Virtual Machines
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009k.html#52 Hercules; more information requested
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009n.html#61 Evolution of Floating Point
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009n.html#74 Best IEFACTRT (off topic)
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2009s.html#1 PDP-10s and Unix
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2010c.html#41 Happy DEC-10 Day
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2010d.html#81 LPARs: More or Less?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2010e.html#75 LPARs: More or Less?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2010e.html#76 LPARs: More or Less?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2010g.html#36 16:32 far pointers in OpenWatcom C/C++
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2010g.html#83 Far and near pointers on the 80286 and later
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2010m.html#16 Region Size - Step or Jobcard
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2010p.html#21 Dataspaces or 64 bit storage
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011.html#45 CKD DASD
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011.html#79 Speed of Old Hard Disks - adcons
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011b.html#20 A brief history of CMS/XA, part 1
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011c.html#55 If IBM Hadn't Bet the Company
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011d.html#72 Multiple Virtual Memory
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011d.html#82 Multiple Virtual Memory
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011f.html#17 New job for mainframes: Cloud platform
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011f.html#50 Dyadic vs AP: Was "CPU utilization/forecasting"
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011g.html#38 IBM Assembler manuals
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011h.html#11 History of byte addressing
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011i.html#54 Before the PC: IBM invents virtualisation (Cambridge skunkworks)
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011k.html#11 Was there ever a DOS JCL reference like the Brown book?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011k.html#87 'smttter IBMdroids
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011l.html#45 segments and sharing, was 68000 assembly language programming
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012b.html#66 M68k add to memory is not a mistake any more
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012b.html#100 5 Byte Device Addresses?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012c.html#42 Where are all the old tech workers?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012e.html#80 Word Length
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012h.html#57 How will mainframers retiring be different from Y2K?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012i.html#53 Operating System, what is it?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012j.html#26 Can anybody give me a clear idea about Cloud Computing in MAINFRAME ?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012j.html#27 Simulated PDP-11 Blinkenlight front panel for SimH
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012l.html#37 S/360 architecture, was PDP-10 system calls
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012l.html#75 PDP-10 system calls, was 1132 printer history
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012n.html#21 8-bit bytes and byte-addressed machines
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012o.html#30 Regarding Time Sharing
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013.html#22 Is Microsoft becoming folklore?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013c.html#48 What Makes an Architecture Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013c.html#51 What Makes an Architecture Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013g.html#15 What Makes code storage management so cool?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013m.html#71 'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamation made 30 years agotoday
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#83 'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamationmade30yearsagotoday

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

U.S. Sidelined as Iraq Becomes Bloodier

Refed: **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **
From: lynn@garlic.com
Subject: U.S. Sidelined as Iraq Becomes Bloodier
Date: 04 Dec, 2013
Blog: Boyd and Beyond
So not only with all the revelations that the justification for invading Iraq was total fabrication ... now does it turn out that the invasion of Iraq made things worse?

U.S. Sidelined as Iraq Becomes Bloodier
http://swampland.time.com/2013/08/14/u-s-sidelined-as-iraq-becomes-more-bloody/

Team B is posited as biasing analysis significantly favoring MICC,
https://www.amazon.com/National-Insecurity-American-Militarism-ebook/dp/B00ATLNI04/
head of CIA being replaced with somebody that would go along with the analysis
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Team_B
Team B is involved in Iran/Iraq war
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran-Iraq_War
and
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_support_for_Iraq_during_the_Iran-Iraq_war
US eventually becoming weapons merchants to both sides
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran-Contra_affair

Sat. recon photo analyst describes warning that Iraq was marshaling forces to invade Kuwait. White House comes back, discrediting the analyst, saying that Saddam would do no such thing. White House finally takes some action when he warns that forces are being marshaled for invasion of Saudi Arabia (still Team B)
https://www.amazon.com/Long-Strange-Journey-Intelligence-ebook/dp/B004NNV5H2/

Start of the century, presidential records from the 80s are due to be released to the public under the Presidential Records Act. One of the first acts of the new president is an executive order that keeps them from being released. Claims are plans (by members of Team B) for invasion of Iraq start at the same time, well before 9/11 ... if its self-delusion by members of Team B ... it spans nearly 40yrs

Counterinsurgency is Not the Problem
http://smallwarsjournal.com/blog/counterinsurgency-is-not-the-problem

America's nation-building at gunpoint
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-gentile-army-colonel-gives-iraq-and-afghanis-20130813,0,3483822,print.story

given the enormous fabrication used to justify the invasion, a prevention/preemption discussion seems to be simple diversion; alternative would be "continuous conflict" and perpetual war theme ... which has MICC constantly depreciating diplomacy. Team B involved in both Iraq invasions were also heavily involved in the Iran/Iran war ... eventually becoming arms merchants to both sides.
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2013/08/12/last_war_standing_preemptive

Lie by Lie: A Timeline of How We Got Into Iraq
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2011/12/leadup-iraq-war-timeline

So Much for Exporting Democracy: Afghanistan Is as Corrupt as North Korea
http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2013/12/03/is_afghanistan_as_corrupt_as_north_korea

posts mentioning team b
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/submisc.html#team.b

posts mentioning perpetual war
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/submisc.html#perpetual.war

posts mentioning (MICC) military industrial congressional complex
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/submisc.html#military.industrial.complex

recent posts mentioning iraq &/or afghanistan
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013b.html#62 America Is Basically Helpless Against The Chinese Hackers
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013b.html#63 NBC's website hacked with malware
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013c.html#16 A Matter of Mindset: Iraq, Sequestration and the U.S. Army
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013c.html#28 A Matter of Mindset: Iraq, Sequestration and the U.S. Army
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013c.html#45 A Matter of Mindset: Iraq, Sequestration and the U.S. Army
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013c.html#86 A Matter of Mindset: Iraq, Sequestration and the U.S. Army
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013d.html#30 A Matter of Mindset: Iraq
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013d.html#38 What Makes an Architecture Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013d.html#40 How to Cut Megabanks Down to Size
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013d.html#44 What Makes an Architecture Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013d.html#48 What Makes an Architecture Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013d.html#49 What Makes an Architecture Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013d.html#59 The Madness of King George Revisited
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013d.html#80 What Makes an Architecture Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013d.html#89 What Makes an Architecture Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013d.html#93 What Makes an Architecture Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013e.html#5 Lessons Learned from the Iraq War
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013e.html#21 What Makes an Architecture Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013e.html#32 What Makes an Architecture Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013e.html#50 What Makes an Architecture Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013e.html#51 What Makes an Architecture Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013e.html#53 What Makes an Architecture Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013e.html#56 What Makes an Architecture Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013e.html#64 What Makes an Architecture Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013e.html#65 What Makes an Architecture Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013e.html#68 What Makes an Architecture Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013e.html#76 What Makes an Architecture Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013e.html#78 What Makes an Architecture Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013e.html#79 As an IBM'er just like the Marines only a few good men and women make the cut,
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013e.html#83 What Makes an Architecture Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013f.html#5 What Makes an Architecture Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013f.html#53 What Makes an Architecture Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013f.html#69 The cloud is killing traditional hardware and software
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013g.html#51 What Makes collecting sales taxes Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013g.html#52 What Makes collecting sales taxes Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013g.html#53 What Makes collecting sales taxes Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013g.html#58 What Makes collecting sales taxes Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013g.html#59 What Makes collecting sales taxes Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013g.html#60 What Makes collecting sales taxes Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013g.html#62 What Makes collecting sales taxes Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013g.html#66 What Makes collecting sales taxes Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013g.html#73 What Makes collecting sales taxes Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013g.html#74 What Makes collecting sales taxes Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013g.html#78 What Makes collecting sales taxes Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013g.html#82 What Makes collecting sales taxes Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013g.html#92 A Matter of Mindset: Iraq
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013h.html#10 The cloud is killing traditional hardware and software
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013h.html#38 OT: "Highway Patrol" back on TV
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013h.html#41 Is newer technology always better? It almost is. Exceptions?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013h.html#63 NYT: N.S.A. Chief Says Phone Logs Halted Terror Threats
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013h.html#64 OT: "Highway Patrol" back on TV
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013i.html#21 OT: "Highway Patrol" back on TV
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013i.html#23 OT: "Highway Patrol" back on TV
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013i.html#78 Has the US Lost Its Grand Strategic Mind?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013i.html#86 What Makes an Architecture Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013j.html#30 What Makes a Tax System Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013j.html#36 What Makes a Tax System Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013j.html#49 What Makes a Tax System Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013k.html#41 What Makes a Tax System Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013k.html#48 John Boyd's Art of War
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013k.html#57 The agency problem and how to create a criminogenic environment
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013k.html#59 John Boyd's Art of War
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013k.html#75 spacewar
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013k.html#76 spacewar
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013k.html#80 spacewar
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013k.html#81 spacewar
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013k.html#84 spacewar
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013l.html#6 spacewar
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#10 Why the Death of the Tank Is Greatly Exaggerated

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

A Little More on the Computer

Refed: **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **
From: lynn@garlic.com
Subject: A Little More on the Computer
Date: 04 Dec, 2013
Blog: Facebook
re:
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#76 A Little More on the Computer

there were a lot of legacy computer systems done early in the careers of babyboomers ... which were still around in the 90s ... but weren't involved in most of the (failed) re-engineering efforts. Around the first of the century, babyboomers retiring was identified as a major systemic risk. The babyboomers provided care&feeding for many legacy computing systems ... and still knew the how&why things were done. The following generations tended to just use the systems ... but there was fear that there would be enormous loss of institutional knowledge with babyboomers retiring.

there was something analogous recently news story about commercial pilots loosing skills because they weren't getting enough manual flying time, planes spent so much time on auto-pilot.

Good model also implies that there is first understanding ... which is a benefit by itself.

Basel has risk-adnusted capital reserves model. Original Basel-2 draft added qualitative section to the quantitative ... we showed how it could be done .. basically board and senior bank executives demonstrate they understood the business. During the review process (mostly too big to fail) eliminated the new section. We conjectured that the transparency would expose a lot of fraud is involved

posts mentioning too big to fail
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/submisc.html#too-big-to-fail

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

Logics of Transformation

Refed: **, - **, - **
From: lynn@garlic.com
Subject: Logics of Transformation
Date: 04 Dec, 2013
Blog: Facebook
Logics of Transformation

Recent had reference to greed being major factor in most recent military conflicts.
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#85 U.S. Sidelined as Iraq Becomes Bloodier

Bloomberg playing in background ... just had Tim Howard (Who To Blame) ... interviewer appeared to try and misdirect point of his book. Note that there was some use of securitized mortgages during the S&L crisis to obfuscate fraudulent mortgages. In the late 90s, we were asked to look at improving the integrity of securitized mortgage supporting documents (as countermeasure to fraudulent mortgages). However, the loan origination industry found that they could pay the rating agencies for triple-A rating (from Oct2008 hearings, where both sellers and rating agencies knew they weren't worth triple-A). Triple-A trumps supporting documentation, and with no supporting documentation there is no longer any documentation integrity issues (no-documentation, no-down, liar loans). This momentarily shows up when there was some fiction that TARP funds would actually be used to buy toxic assets and complaining how hard it was to accurately value these securitized mortgages (made really hard with no documentation). There was over $27T done during the bubble and there was huge motivation for wallstreet to go-along because of the enormous fees and commissions (possibly $4T-$5T, besides securitized mortgages designed to fail, selling to their customers, and then CDS gambling bets they would fail) ... claims that industry tripled in size (as percent of GDP) during the bubble.

X-over from "model"
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#86 A Litte More on the Computer

... Greenspan allowed too big to fail to carry the toxic stuff "off-book" so they aren't included in risk model. End of 2008, just four largest TBTF were carrying $5.2T off-book which had market price of 22cents on the dollar

past posts mentioning too big to fail
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/submisc.html#too-big-to-fail

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

Microsoft, IBM lobbying seen killing key anti-patent troll proposal

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From: lynn@garlic.com
Subject: Microsoft, IBM lobbying seen killing key anti-patent troll proposal
Date: 04 Dec, 2013
Blog: IBMers
Microsoft, IBM lobbying seen killing key anti-patent troll proposal
http://news.yahoo.com/microsoft-ibm-lobbying-seen-killing-key-anti-patent-033009678.html

...

original purpose of patents in the constitution was to protect individual inventors from institutions trying to preserve the status quo. increasingly patent system is being used to protect large institutions and/or by patent trolls for financial gain ... unrelated to the original purpose

part of the recent issue is recent leak of secret TPP treaty draft. Recent decades has had lots of extensions of patent&copyright far beyond original intentions of the constitutions ... and past couple years there has been rather public defeat of legislation that further extends patent&copyright special interests. The leak of the TPP draft makes it appear like special interests are trying to make an end run around public exposure ... where many of the same provisions defeated in public legislation have shown up in secret TPP treaty drafts

The original intention of patents in the constitution was to promote individual inventors and innovation .. protecting them from institutions trying to preserve status quo. All too often large institutions are now using patents to protect status quo and even slow-down innovation ... you see large institutions trying to maximize profits and their investment ... not trying to maximize innovation. There are studies of drug companies are slowing down introduction of new drugs ... because there is still profit to be made from existing drugs. It is one of the motivations behind extending life of patents and copyrights .... original intention was that they only last a decade or two ... as part of promoting continuous innovation (not maximizing profit)

note frequently part of changing the constitutional narrative from patents being a license for short, limited period of time (as part of promoting innovation for the benefit of society) to "intellectual property rights" ... is trying to get to concept of ownership for unlimited period as part of maximizing profits

changing the constitutional narrative of short-term license to one of property ... contributes to the buying/selling of the property ... which then starts down the slippery slope to trolls. There are also submarine patents ... where patents are filed with extremely obscure wording that can be interpreted in large number of different ways. A detailed semantic analysis of large number of patents found something like 30% of computer "related" patents were being filed under extremely obscure categories (making it very unlikely they would show up in normal patent search). They would wait until somebody was making a profit off something that might possible be interpreted as coming under the description of the submarine patent ... and then claim patent infringement (never any intention of producing product for benefit of society)

Competing forces at work ... reform to try and return to original intention of constitution ... and special interests making significant money off current status quo.

the stories about leaked tpp draft was it included provisions that had been repeatedly defeated in recent legislation AND go way beyond original provisions in the constition

TPP Defenders Take To The Internet To Deliver Official Talking Points; Inadvertently Confirm Opponents' Worst Fears
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20131120/16453825312/tpp-defenders-take-to-internet-to-deliver-official-talking-points-inadvertently-confirm-opponents-worst-fears.shtml

apparently trolls tend to hit small businesses the hardest ... since it is frequently cheaper to settle. large firms (with large number of patents) seem to oppose anti-troll provisions since it may make it easier to challenge their patents

The latest move to kill bad patents divides tech industry
http://www.infoworld.com/t/federal-regulations/the-latest-move-kill-bad-patents-divides-tech-industry-231846

from above:
CBM expansion opponents include IBM, Microsoft, General Electric, Adobe and many other firms. They have argued in a letter to lawmakers that an expansion would discourage investment, and give "infringers a new procedural loophole to delay enforcement." Companies with large patent holdings also appear more likely to oppose the CBM expansion.

... snip ...

The Power of No; This simple change could fix the patent system --- but it'll never happen.
http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/future_tense/2013/12/the_simple_fix_that_could_heal_the_patent_system.html

other recent posts mentioning TPP
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#37 'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamationmade30yearsagotoday
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#39 'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamation made30yearsagotoday
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#41 more tpp
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#43 more tpp
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#51 more tpp

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

Another Batch of Wall Street Villains Freed on Technicality

From: lynn@garlic.com
Subject: Another Batch of Wall Street Villains Freed on Technicality
Date: 04 Dec Nov, 2013
Blog: Google+
re:
https://plus.google.com/102794881687002297268/posts/4csNJSc1aQa

Another Batch of Wall Street Villains Freed on Technicality
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/taibblog/another-batch-of-wall-street-villains-freed-on-technicality-20131204

and there is this: Wall Street's Bad Old Days Could Be Back If the Banks Win this Lawsuit
http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2013/12/04/wall_streets_bad_old_days_could_be_back_if_the_banks_win_this_lawsuit

misc. past posts mentioning too big to jail
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/submisc.html#too-big-to-fail

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

Elizabeth Warren Responds To Third Way Attack By Asking Wall Street To Disclose Ties

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From: lynn@garlic.com
Subject: Elizabeth Warren Responds To Third Way Attack By Asking Wall Street To Disclose Ties
Date: 04 Dec Nov, 2013
Blog: Google+
re:
https://plus.google.com/102794881687002297268/posts/RpTCi8cwo2N

Elizabeth Warren Responds To Third Way Attack By Asking Wall Street To Disclose Ties
http://news.firedoglake.com/2013/12/04/elizabeth-warren-responds-to-third-way-attack-by-asking-wall-street-to-disclose-ties/

refers to

Third Way Returns To Attack Elizabeth Warren And Bill de Blasio
http://news.firedoglake.com/2013/12/04/third-way-returns-to-attack-elizabeth-warren-and-bill-de-blasio/

refers to

Cowan and Kessler: Economic Populism Is a Dead End for Democrats
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304337404579213923151169790

posts refering to too big to fail
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/submisc.html#too-big-to-fail

recent posts mentioning Elizebeth Warren:
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013b.html#54 How to Cut Megabanks Down to Size
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013c.html#12 How to Cut Megabanks Down to Size
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013c.html#19 More Whistleblower Leaks on Foreclosure Settlement Show Both Suppression of Evidence and Gross Incompetence
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013c.html#26 How to Cut Megabanks Down to Size
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013c.html#61 How to Cut Megabanks Down to Size
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013c.html#66 How to Cut Megabanks Down to Size
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013d.html#42 What Makes an Architecture Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013e.html#2 Too-Big-To-Fail, Too-Big-To-Prosecute, Too-Big-To-Jail, not just a problem in the USA
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013e.html#42 More Whistleblower Leaks on Foreclosure Settlement Show Both Suppression of Evidence and Gross Incompetence
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013f.html#12 More Whistleblower Leaks on Foreclosure Settlement Show Both Suppression of Evidence and Gross Incompetence
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013f.html#16 What Makes an Architecture Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013f.html#31 Fed proposes annual assessments for large financial companies
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013m.html#77 OCC Replies to Elizabeth Warren Reveal Extent of Regulatory Capture on Derivatives
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#35 'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamation made30yearsagotoday

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

rebuild 1403 printer chain

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From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Subject: Re: rebuild 1403 printer chain
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Date: Thu, 05 Dec 2013 11:32:37 -0500
Shmuel (Seymour J.) Metz <spamtrap@library.lspace.org.invalid> writes:
BTW, by the 1990's I was extremely reluctant to look at a dump on paper. If I'm shooting a problem, I want to be able to use, e.g., IPCS, instead of a mares nests of marginal notes and paper clips.

my (vm370) ipcs (& rexx) story ... misc. past posts
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/submain.html#dumprx

very early in rex(x) life ... well before it had been released to customers, I wanted to demonstrate that rexx wasn't just another pretty scripting language. I chose to re-implement (vm370) IPCS (large application implemented in 370 assembler) ... the objective was to take less than half-time over 3months, with ten times the function and ten times the performance (neat trick going from assembler to interpreted rexx). well under the 3m period ... it was done ... and I started to do growing library of automated scripts that would examine dump for anomolies and failure signatures.

later I thought it would be released to customers (after rexx became available) in place of the existing IPCS. for whatever reason that never happened even though it was in use by nearly every internal customer support PSR and every internal datacenter. Eventually I did get approval to do presentations on the implementation at BAYBUNCH (monthly silicon valley user group meeting) and SHARE. Within a couple of months after the presentations, similar implementations from other sources were becoming available.

some old email
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2007.html#email820323
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2007.html#email820324
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2007.html#email820324b
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2007.html#email820401
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2007c.html#email821216
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2007c.html#email830709
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011b.html#email840626c
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011b.html#email860217

later IBM canada was looking at including in packaged system
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2007.html#email860616

and then the 3090 service processor group (3092) was looking at including as part of the service processor
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2010e.html#email861031
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2010e.html#email861223

this is later email about possibly doing DUMPRX and HSDTSFS at VM workshop
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011e.html#email870220

HSDT was internal project I as doing that I called high-speed data transport ... T1 and faster links
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/subnetwork.html#hsdt

I had big issue with VNET throughput ... which relied on the vm370 full page (4k) spool diagnose interface. problem was that it was synchronous and could contend with lots of other concurrent requests ... possibly getting only 4-8 4k blocks/sec (16kbyte/sec to 32kbyte/sec). For HSDT I needed upwards of 3mbyte/sec (1.5mbit/sec T1 full-duplex link, 3mbit/sec aggregate or about 300kbyte/sec ... ten such links, 3mbyte/sec).

HSDTSFS was the vm370 spool file function recoded in pascal/vs and moved to virtual address space. It included support for asynchronous operation, contiguous allocation, multi-page transfers, read-ahead and write-behind.

old email about trying to get HSDTSFS deployed on the major internal backbone nodes (in addtion to HSDT locations).
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011.html#email870306

The problem was the communication group had set it sights on both NSFNET backbone
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/lhwemail.html#nsfnet

and the internal network
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/lhwemail.html#vnet

spreading all sorts of mis-information in support of their case.
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2006x.html#email870302

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamation made30yearsagotoday

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From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Subject: Re: 'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamation made30yearsagotoday
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Date: Thu, 05 Dec 2013 12:52:01 -0500
Lon <lon.stowell@comcast.net> writes:
I remember a story at Amdahl that they were not the first choice of platform for a very wide and all-encompassing Unix license from AT&T--IBM was but that was during the era when IBM was a tad too in love with its own ideas and architectures to understand the concepts behind Unix.

So Amdahl ended up with a very large cookie jar that they never truly appreciated In My Non Humble Opinion nor took true advantage of. Don't recall who came up with the first shipping 64 bit SVR4 Unix--Pyramid and SGI were the first I recall since they shared technology.


there was some of us that lobbied for ibm to hire the person that had done 370 unix port at univ. ... Amdahl hired him instead and did "GOLD" (internal name for symbol Au). some past posts
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/99.html#2 IBM S/360
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2000f.html#68 TSS ancient history, was X86 ultimate CISC? designs)
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2005q.html#27 What ever happened to Tandem and NonStop OS ?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2005s.html#34 Power5 and Cell, new issue of IBM Journal of R&D
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2006f.html#27 Old PCs--environmental hazard
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2010i.html#44 someone smarter than Dave Cutler
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2010o.html#0 Hashing for DISTINCT or GROUP BY in SQL
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011f.html#85 SV: USS vs USS
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012.html#66 Has anyone successfully migrated off mainframes?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012f.html#78 What are you experiences with Amdahl Computers and Plug-Compatibles?

AT&T had contract with IBM to do stripped down TSS/370 kernel (SSUP) ... with unix layered on top. AT&T was responsible for the UNIX part ... some past posts mentioning SSUP
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2007m.html#69 Operating systems are old and busted
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2010e.html#17 Senior Java Developer vs. MVS Systems Programmer (warning: Conley rant)
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2010h.html#61 (slightly OT - Linux) Did IBM bet on the wrong OS?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2010i.html#44 someone smarter than Dave Cutler
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2010l.html#2 TSS (Transaction Security System)
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2010o.html#0 Hashing for DISTINCT or GROUP BY in SQL
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011.html#73 Speed of Old Hard Disks - adcons
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011.html#96 History of copy on write
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011f.html#85 SV: USS vs USS
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012.html#67 Has anyone successfully migrated off mainframes?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012f.html#28 which one came first
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012o.html#34 Regarding Time Sharing
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#24 Aging Sysprogs = Aging Farmers

then Amdahl started pushing its own ... by this time announced as UTS.

some old email
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2006t.html#email800327
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2007b.html#email800408
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2006e.html#email840109

other random bits
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2007c.html#email850108
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2007c.html#email850712
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2007c.html#email861209
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2007c.html#email861209b

some of the local Amdahl people would try and suck me into their politics. One of the guys that had done HASP ... then had the RASP effort ... a MFT-based virtual memory system. when that got can'ed ... he left to join Amdahl and recreated it from scratch (there was some IBM litigation ... but court ordered code review only found very few lines of similar code). reference to RASP ... reference
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011d.html#73 Multiple Virtual Memory

That project was in internal political competition with GOLD ... I sugggested why didn't they try the SSUP (stripped down tss/370) approach and meld the two ... but that never happened (I knew people in both groups)

IBM had an internal effort to do BSD port to 370 ... but before it shipped, it was redirected to the PC/RT ... and came out as AOS. The "official" unix for PC/RT was AIX ... which was an AT&T port that had been done by the company that had done PC/IX for the IBM PC.

In the same bldg. with the people that started doing the BSD port (first 370 and then redirected to pc/rt) ... there was a IBM group working with UCLA on its unix work-alike ... LOCUS. That eventually ships on 370 & 386 as aix/370 and aix/368.

A major issue was that field engineering wouldn't support a mainframe machine that didn't have RAS and EREP. To add that level of mainframe RAS & EREP for UNIX was a project several times larger than the straight forward unix port. This is one of the reasons for the TSS/370 SSUP ... since they got all the device error recovery, RAS, & EREP ... with UNIX facilities layered on top. It was also why aix/370 mostly ran in vm370 virtual machine (relying vm370 for the device error recovery, RAS & EREP).

in the early 80s, as "punishment" for various transgressions (like being blamed for online computer conferencing on the internal network in the late 70s and early 80s) I was transferred to YKT research and direct report to an executive (that possibly didn't have any other direct reports at the time). I was allowed to continue living in San Jose but had to commute to the east coast a couple times a month.

He then went on to be head of the workstation division ... and after leaving, started HAL
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HAL_Computer_Systems
to do 64bit sparc
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SPARC64

some additional history
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/64-bit_computing

mips came out with 64bit in 1991
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MIPS_architecture

when we were doing ha/cmp
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/subtopic.html#hacmp

... we reported directly to executive ... who then moved over to head up somerset (joint ibm, motorola, apple morphing 801/risc into power/pc). After SGI buys MIPS, they hire him away to run MIPS. By this time we had also left IBM.

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamation made30yearsagotoday

From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Subject: Re: 'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamation made30yearsagotoday
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Date: Thu, 05 Dec 2013 17:38:06 -0500
hancock4 writes:
True. But I think in the early days of the PC (early 1980s), a PC cost more than a 3270-clone. In those days with hardware still so expensive, people got only the hardware their specific job required. The early PCs were equipped only with the software and hardware a specific person needed--not everyone got a modem, 3270-card, various application software, etc.

re:
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#80 'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamation made30yearsagotoday

a IBM/PC that cost the same as 3270 terminal that had already been cost-justified then was brain dead business case to switch. if the base business case was a less expensive 3270-clone then the incremental business case was still a lot easier than justifying a business case from scratch (as well as significantly easier compared to justifying both a 3270-clone *AND* some sort of PC).

separate issue was convinience of a single desktop footprint ... rather than two-or-more screens, keyboards, etc.

somebody could make a case to "upgrade" their 3270-clone to ibm/pc ... and then use the 3270-clone somewhere else in the company (justifying the difference between the cost of the 3270-clone and ibm/pc cost versus the justifying full cost of the ibm/pc).

misc. posts
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/subnetwork.html#terminal

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

z/OS is antique WAS: Aging Sysprogs = Aging Farmers

From: lynn@GARLIC.COM (Anne & Lynn Wheeler)
Subject: Re: z/OS is antique WAS: Aging Sysprogs = Aging Farmers
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.ibm-main
Date: 5 Dec 2013 15:17:56 -0800
PaulGBoulder@AIM.COM (Paul Gilmartin) writes:
And an alien once asked me, "VM is a version of MVS, isn't it?"

cms had about 64kbytes of code that was the "os" simulator that allowed "os" compilers and many applications to run unmodified.

the burlington mall vm370 development group was working on a much more complete coverage of os simulation ... joke about cms 64kbyte os/360 simulation was much more cost effective than mvs 8mbyte os/360 simulation.

this was about the time the FS effort failed, mad rush to get products back into the 370 pipeline (having been suspended and/or killed off during the FS period)
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/submain.html#futuresys

head of POK also managed to convince corporate to kill the vm370 product, shutdown burlington mall group, and transfer all the burlington mall developers to POK or otherwise MVS/XA wouldn't ship on time. Endicott eventually managed to save the vm370 product mission but had to reconstitute a development group from scratch.

the shutdown of burlington was going on in extreme secret, not planning on telling the people until a few weeks before it was effective ... minimizing the number of people that would be able to escape the move to POK. however, the shutdown managed to leak a few months early ... and numerous people managed to escape ... so many going to work at DEC on VMS (very early in its development, well before first VMS release shipped) ... that somebody observed that the head of POK was one of the biggest contributors to VMS
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VAX

The major expansion of os/360 simulation for cms disappeared in the shutdown of the burlington mall group ... and the major person responsible was one of those that went to DEC.

old post with decade of vax/vms numbers sliced and diced by year, model, US/non-US ... etc:
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2002f.html#0

vax/vms sold into much the same mid-range market against vm/4300 ... and in similar numbers ... for small order sizes (one or few machines). A big difference was large corporations ordering several hundred vm/4300s at a time for deployment out in departmental areas. A past post mentioning explosion in vm/4300 departmental machines
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2001m.html#15 departmental servers

the explosion of vm/4300 machines inside ibm was one of the reasons the internal network passed 1000 nodes in 1983
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/subnetwork.html#internalnet

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamationmade30yearsagotoday

Refed: **, - **, - **, - **
From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Subject: Re: 'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamationmade30yearsagotoday
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Date: Fri, 06 Dec 2013 08:07:59 -0500
Andrew Swallow <am.swallow@btinternet.com> writes:
8080 and Z80 programs had to be reassembled to work on the X86 family. IBM could have written an emulator for the 8080 that ran on the 68000. Writing a word processor and spreadsheet were well within IBM's software ability.

re:
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#59 'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamation made30yearsagotoday
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#92 'Free Unix!': The world-changing proclamation made30yearsagotoday

circa 1980 ... there was effort to replace large number of different internal microprocessors with 801/risc ... including the various microprocessors used in low-end and mid-range 370s, various of the controller microprocessors, etc ("Iliad" chips ... which had additions to help with emulation operations). There was also ROMP (801/risc Rresearch/Office products division MicroProcessor) that was going to be used for the displaywriter follow-on.

for various reasons the Iliad-based efforts were aborted (including one for as/400 that was going to replace s/38 ... and they quickly did a CISC microprocessor in its place). The follow-on to the displaywriter was canceled (presumably in part because of the rise of PCs) and the group looked around for something else to use it for and settled on the unix workstation market. The company that had done AT&T unix port PC/IX for ibm/pc was hired to do one for ROMP (which becomes PC/RT and AIX).

the displaywriter following 801/risc ROMP had no protection domains and was designed to run CP.r written in PL.8. They had a couple hundred PL.8 programmers and possibly to give them something to do ... they defined the project with a hypervisor written in PL.8 and AIX was actually running in a psuedo virtual machine (not the native hardware). The project was done based on claim that the port of AT&T unix to the native hardware would take more effort than the combined hypervisor plus unix port effort. This was subsequently disproved when the group did the BSD port to the native hardware (w/o hypervisor) for AOS on PC/RT ... with much less resources than either the hypervisor or the AIX port.

801/risc Iliad was going to be used for the 4331/4341 followin ... the 4361 & 4381. I contributed to the white paper showing chip technology had progressed to the point where nearly a full 370 could be implemented directly in (CISC) circuits natively w/o need for emulation.

misc. old email mentioning 801/risc
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/lhwemail.html#801

past posts mentioning 801, risc, iliad, romp, rios, power, power/ps, somerset, fort knox, etc
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/subtopic.html#801

with the implosion of the Iliad efforts, several 801/risc engineers leave and show up in risc efforts at other vendors.

note rochester as/400 group was involved in the power/pc effort ... and a decade after they abandoned Iliad for a cisc chip ... they switch as/400 to 64bit power/pc (actually 65bit ... special tag bit).

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

What Makes a Tax System Bizarre?

Refed: **, - **, - **
From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Subject: Re: What Makes a Tax System Bizarre?
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Date: Fri, 06 Dec 2013 08:17:03 -0500
Alan Bowler <atbowler@thinkage.ca> writes:
I.e. for years they had been "borrowing" from the pension funds (by underpaying what was needed), and reporting the money as profit instead of a loan. Then paying excessive executive bonuses for this great financial perfomance.

Retirement Heist: How Companies Plunder and Profit from the Nest Eggs of American Workers
https://www.amazon.com/Retirement-Heist-Companies-American-ebook/dp/B003QMLC6K/

some of the IBM specific items reproduced here:
https://web.archive.org/web/20181019074906/http://www.ibmemployee.com/RetirementHeist.shtml

misc. past posts mentioning above:
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013l.html#60 Retirement Heist
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013l.html#63 OT: NYT article--the rich get richer
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013l.html#67 OT: NYT article--the rich get richer
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013m.html#4 OT: NYT article--the rich get richer
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013m.html#6 Voyager 1 just left the solar system using less computing powerthan your iP
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013m.html#12 OT: NYT article--the rich get richer
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013m.html#15 OT: NYT article--the rich get richer
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013m.html#24 Voyager 1 just left the solar system using less computing powerthan your iP
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013m.html#53 Retirement Savings
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013m.html#61 IBM now employs more workers in India than US
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013m.html#79 Nobody Should Shed a Tear for JP Morgan Chase
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013m.html#85 How do you feel about IBM passing off it's retirees to ObamaCare?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#1 IBM board OK repurchase of another $15B of stock
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#11 50th anniversary S/360 coming up
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#20 Despite Eight Ongoing Criminal/Civil Investigations of JPMorgan, the Bank's a Law Enforcement Partner With the NYPD

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

ACA (Obamacare) website problems--article

Refed: **, - **, - **, - **, - **
From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Subject: Re: ACA (Obamacare) website problems--article
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Date: Fri, 06 Dec 2013 08:29:18 -0500
greymausg <maus@mail.com> writes:
I am told that now, if you are really `key' personnel, working in an US company here, you can arrange to have your salary paid anywhere. However, I heard recently of a man who left Ireland about 15 years ago, lots of expertise, got `headhunted' by facebook, and started to arrange to move back home, but there was `just one more interview', (actually 24!)

re:
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013n.html#67 ACA (Obamacare) website problems--article

there are efforts to shutdown many of these provisions ... including tax-havens ... but there are lots of opposing forces ... these guys have been doing a lot of reporting on the illegal & legal offshore tax scams.

Lobbyists for the havens: ICIJ's guide to the offshore system's defenders
http://www.icij.org/blog/2013/11/lobbyists-havens-icijs-guide-offshore-systems-defenders

recent articles that the current US corporate tax rate is facade .. that the effective tax rate is near zero with all the deducations. Proposals to rationalize US corporate tax with much lower tax rate and elimination of all the loopholes is met with heavy opposition; by congress because they are paid enormous sums of money to put in loopholes and by corporations because a combination of a much lower tax rate with the loophole eliminations would result in a higher effective corporate tax rate.

posts mentioning (legal & illegal) tax evasion
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/submisc.html#tax.evasion

recent posts referencing icij.org articles:
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013e.html#27 Secrecy for Sale: Inside the Global Offshore Money Maze
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013e.html#28 What Makes bank regulation and insurance Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013e.html#46 Secrecy for Sale: Inside the Global Offshore Money Maze
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013e.html#95 Secrecy for Sale: Inside the Global Offshore Money Maze
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013f.html#6 What Makes an Architecture Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013f.html#11 Secrecy for Sale: Inside the Global Offshore Money Maze
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013f.html#13 What Makes an Architecture Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013f.html#69 The cloud is killing traditional hardware and software
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013j.html#3 What Makes an Architecture Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013j.html#19 What Makes an Architecture Bizarre?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013l.html#68 OT: NYT article--the rich get richer
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013m.html#92 HSBC exposed in massive data leak in Belgium

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970

ACA (Obamacare) website problems--article

Refed: **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **, - **
From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com>
Subject: Re: ACA (Obamacare) website problems--article
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Date: Fri, 06 Dec 2013 08:43:11 -0500
Cloud Computing Guru Marc Benioff Offered To Fix Healthcare.gov For Free And The White House Said No
http://www.businessinsider.com/benioff-offered-to-run-obamacare-site-2013-12

we've done some stuff in washington for free. we consulted for free to the census department for the new computer hardware for the 2000 census ... including being asked to spend all day in the front of room answering questions in audit done by another agency.

however, we've been told that offering to work on something for free is one of the most threatening things that you can say in washington ... it is enough to mark you for life by the beltway bandits.

misc. past posts mentioning 2000 census
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2002g.html#16 Why are Mainframe Computers really still in use at all?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2004j.html#21 Methods of payment
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2004j.html#43 Methods of payment
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2008d.html#63 was: 1975 movie "Three Days of the Condor" tech stuff
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2008f.html#92 Billion-dollar IT failure at Census Bureau
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2010f.html#21 The 2010 Census
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2010f.html#56 Handling multicore CPUs; what the competition is thinking
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012b.html#56 What's the most interesting thing you do in your non-work life?
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2012k.html#87 Cultural attitudes towards failure
https://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2013l.html#11 What Makes a Tax System Bizarre?

--
virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970






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