IBM mainframes were the same way... installing the OS required a compile process. If you're interested in experiencing the joy of setting up OS/360 first hand,

IBM mainframes were the same way... installing the OS required a compile process. If you're interested in experiencing the joy of setting up OS/360 first hand, it's more possible than you might think. Here are instructions for building OS/360 on the Hercules emulator: http://www.conmicro.com/hercos360/ http://www.conmicro.com/hercos360/ None of the steps in the process is all that involved, but some of the mechanics are very different. 60's vintage OS/360 on an IBM mainframe is very unlike the Unix model that most people are used to these days.