4 ms·

AFAIK what is sold today by Unisys are essentially preconfigured emulators running on what is otherwise normal Xeon servers.

by dfox 4y ago

pjmlp 4y ago
Naturally Unisys ClearPath MCP isn't running the same hardware as Burrough Large Systems from 1961. They don't need emulators, as Burroughs was one of the first bytecode based OSes, but I am not sure how it looks in detail.
- skissane 4y ago
  > They don't need emulators, as Burroughs was one of the first bytecode based OSes, but I am not sure how it looks in detail. Do you have a source for that claim? I don't think that's true.
  - pjmlp 4y ago
    That Burroughs was one of the first bytecode based OSes? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burroughs_Large_Systems https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burroughs_Large_Systems And thanks for making having another look into it, as it clearly points out there are emulators and native implementations (MCP CMOS), "These machines were the Libra 100 through the Libra 500, With the Libra 590 being announced in 2005. Later Libras, including the 590, also incorporate Intel Xeon processors and can run the Burroughs large systems architecture in emulation as well as on the MCP CMOS processors. It is unclear if Unisys will continue development of new MCP CMOS ASICs. "
    - skissane 4y ago
      > That Burroughs was one of the first bytecode based OSes? > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burroughs_Large_Systems https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burroughs_Large_Systems I don't know how you get that from that article, because I can't see the word "bytecode" anywhere in it. What text in that article do you think supports your contention? > And thanks for making having another look into it, as it clearly points out there are emulators and native implementations (MCP CMOS), The same article contains this sentence: "Unisys stopped producing the hardware in the early 2010s, and the operating system is now run under emulation" So there was proprietary hardware, up to about 10 years ago, but nowadays it is all standard x86-64 servers running their software emulator
      - kjs3 4y ago
        We run Clearpath at $DAYJOB. I haven't cracked open one of them to look myself, but the folks running them have told me they're pretty much bog standard, high-end x86-64 servers running a Unisys VM. No proprietary hardware.
      - fsckboy 4y ago
        > I don't know how you get that from that article, because I can't see the word "bytecode" anywhere in it. What text in that article do you think supports your contention? not sure if you're hung up on the word "byte", but it says the architecture is a stack machine and that's what p-code/bytecode interpreters emulate, so whether it's byte codes or word codes, it's essentially the same thing

AFAIK what is sold today by Unisys are essentially preconfigured emulators running on what is otherwise normal Xeon servers.

by dfox 4y ago

AFAIK what is sold today by Unisys are essentially preconfigured emulators running on what is otherwise normal Xeon servers.

pjmlp 4y ago

Naturally Unisys ClearPath MCP isn't running the same hardware as Burrough Large Systems from 1961. They don't need emulators, as Burroughs was one of the first bytecode based OSes, but I am not sure how it looks in detail.

skissane 4y ago
> They don't need emulators, as Burroughs was one of the first bytecode based OSes, but I am not sure how it looks in detail. Do you have a source for that claim? I don't think that's true.
- pjmlp 4y ago
  That Burroughs was one of the first bytecode based OSes? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burroughs_Large_Systems https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burroughs_Large_Systems And thanks for making having another look into it, as it clearly points out there are emulators and native implementations (MCP CMOS), "These machines were the Libra 100 through the Libra 500, With the Libra 590 being announced in 2005. Later Libras, including the 590, also incorporate Intel Xeon processors and can run the Burroughs large systems architecture in emulation as well as on the MCP CMOS processors. It is unclear if Unisys will continue development of new MCP CMOS ASICs. "
  - skissane 4y ago
    > That Burroughs was one of the first bytecode based OSes? > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burroughs_Large_Systems https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burroughs_Large_Systems I don't know how you get that from that article, because I can't see the word "bytecode" anywhere in it. What text in that article do you think supports your contention? > And thanks for making having another look into it, as it clearly points out there are emulators and native implementations (MCP CMOS), The same article contains this sentence: "Unisys stopped producing the hardware in the early 2010s, and the operating system is now run under emulation" So there was proprietary hardware, up to about 10 years ago, but nowadays it is all standard x86-64 servers running their software emulator
    - kjs3 4y ago
      We run Clearpath at $DAYJOB. I haven't cracked open one of them to look myself, but the folks running them have told me they're pretty much bog standard, high-end x86-64 servers running a Unisys VM. No proprietary hardware.
    - fsckboy 4y ago
      > I don't know how you get that from that article, because I can't see the word "bytecode" anywhere in it. What text in that article do you think supports your contention? not sure if you're hung up on the word "byte", but it says the architecture is a stack machine and that's what p-code/bytecode interpreters emulate, so whether it's byte codes or word codes, it's essentially the same thing