[ih] PDP-11 high level language [Re: how big was the host file]

[Brian E Carpenter]

John,

We can take this off-list if you think it's too off-topic, but:

> Our compiler for the PDP-11 high level language ran on 6700

What was that? Which language and which compiler?

I ask because:

B.E. Carpenter, A PL-11 Package on the Burroughs B6700, Massey University Computer Unit, Report No. 15, December 1974.

PL-11 was Bob Russell's language for the PDP-11, developed at CERN in 1971, which I ported to to the 6700. As you may know, all 5 NZ universities bought 6700s and it was one of the reasons I went to Massey. After CERN, Bob Russell went to UNH.

> The 5500/6700 was probably the finest system design I have ever encountered.

Absolutely. A lovely machine.

Regards
   Brian Carpenter

On 07-Feb-20 04:57, John Day via Internet-history wrote:
> Politics.
> 
> It probably had to do with IlliacIV not coming to Illinois. (That is a very long story.) Ken Bowles at UCSD develop some interesting software on it. We sent one of our best system guys with it. Our group knew both machines inside out. He had added IPC to the 5500 and we had what must have been pre-beta versions of the MCP.  Our compiler for the PDP-11 high level language ran on 6700 and we developed two OSs on it.  Compiling at UCSD and downloading to the 11 at Illinois.  NASA got their own 6700 but got rid of it for a Tenex.
> 
> It was a very low serial # machine (like first 5). That machine had been heat stressed.  The machine was in the basement of the (original) Coordinated Science Lab at Illinois.* The idiot in charge of the installation thought it was too much trouble to run A/C duct work to the raised floor and had an A/C vent pouring cold air out from the ceiling . . . directly over the CPU cabinet!  Needless to say it didn’t work well. There was rain in the machine room.
> 
> The 5500/6700 was probably the finest system design I have ever encountered. Even Organick said, ’it appears they got everything right.’ Seeing how elegant designs could be was a life changing experience. Organick’s book describes what they did, but I would like to know how they did it. How a group in 1964 (when the 5500 was done) could do something so radically different than anything else being done and get so much right.
> 
> John
> 
> *The new CSL is where my house was! ;-)
> 
>> On Feb 6, 2020, at 10:26, Steve Crocker <steve at shinkuro.com> wrote:
>>
>> What caused the B6700 to be moved to UCSD?
>>
>> On Thu, Feb 6, 2020 at 10:22 AM John Day via Internet-history <internet-history at elists.isoc.org <mailto:internet-history at elists.isoc.org>> wrote:
>> I am pretty sure Illinois never had two hosts connected at the same time. I am guessing this was more reserving names.
>>
>> il-67 was probably a placeholder for the Burroughs 6700 but it was not put on the Net while it was at Illinois. Later it was connected when the machine was moved to UCSD.
>> There was a PDP-11 connected. Later we might have had both a PDP-11/20 and a PDP-11/45 connected but I doubt it. 
>> For a while, there was a VDH to Purdue, but they eventually got their own IMP.
>>
>> I will have to do some checking.
>>
>> John
>>
>>> On Feb 6, 2020, at 09:48, Lars Brinkhoff <lars at nocrew.org <mailto:lars at nocrew.org>> wrote:
>>>
>>> Craig Partridge wrote:
>>>> ISI had three IMPs. SRI had three IMPs. SAC had two IMPs. ARPA had
>>>> two. Those are additions to your list of Stanford, MIT, UCLA and BBN.
>>>
>>> Not quite.  They had multiple hosts on one IMP.
>>>
>>> Here are some more.  Excluding those with just an additional TIP.
>>>
>>> cmu-10alt  116
>>> cmu-cc     016
>>>
>>> ll-67      012
>>> ll-tsp     212
>>> ll-tx2     112
>>>
>>> parc-maxc  040
>>> parc-vts   140
>>>
>>> rand-csg   107
>>> rand-rcc   007
>>
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>