The following message is a courtesy copy of an article that has been posted to bit.listserv.ibm-main,alt.folklore.computers as well.
[EMAIL PROTECTED] (Thompson, Steve) writes: > First, the driver of the train is the Operating System. Since no one > writes a seriously competing O/S to IBM (that I'm currently aware of) > for the 390 architecture or Z, IBM is still firmly in the driver's seat. > [Don't start with Linux, it just doesn't stack up against VM, VSE, TPF, > or z/OS] > > Which is why the "undocumented" instructions were licensed to AMDAHL > under what was then called TIDA (Technical Information Disclosure > Agreement). > > AND, in the EU, as I recall, IBM had to disclose their interfaces at an > office (location I can't remember) where competing companies with an > office in the EU could view those documents. > > And so IBM was still driving the train, because all those PCMs had to > make their hardware such that it behaved as IBM's SCPs (System Control > Programs, or Operating Systems) expected. > > And in AMDAHL's case, there was COMET maintenance (I think that's how it > was spelled) that was put on "MVS" so that it would not have a problem > with AMDAHL's CPUIDs, and certain instruction speeds. > > But in any case, the PCMs had come up with certain ways of doing things > that IBM needed to license from them, and obviously vice versa. > > Unlike the USofA, the EU may take a very dim view of IBM's current > behaviors, and we may be right back where we were, which may allow > certain companies to move their HQs to the EU. And then, PCMs may be > making z/ARCH machines to compete with IBM again. > > But it is my contention that the new PCMs will be bottom to mid-level > competitors. It will be a bit difficult to get to the top end where > AMDAHL, HDS, and the others were in the mid-90s. unrelated past posts in this thread: http://www.garlic.com/2007g.html#50 IBM to the PCM market http://www.garlic.com/2007g.html#51 IBM to the PCM market however, a recent post in totally different thread http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2007g.html#54 The Perfect Computer - 36 bits? mentioning all the dynamic adaptive code that I had done in the resource manager ... originally for cp67 ... but was dropped in the initial morph of cp67 to vm370 ... which opened up the opportunity that allowed me to ship it as a completely separate kernel (add-on) product. In any case, the (base) vm370 product had table of processor cpuids ... however I was able to eliminate that table with the dynamic adaptive code in the resource manager. Another recent post mentioning the resource manager and dynamic adaptive code http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2007g.html#44 1960s: IBM mgmt mistrust of SLT for ICs? one of the issues for the resource manager ... was with the litigation leading up to the 23jun69 unbundling announcement ... numerous past posts: http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/subtopic.html#unbundle the case was made that charging for software applied to application software, but that kernel software should still be free (since it was required for operation of the hardware). later, somewhat as circumstances were changing ... the release of my resource manager was selected to be the (initial) guinea pig for charging for kernel software. part of the reason that Amdahl was able to (initially) move into the highend (in the mid to late 70s) was that the company had taken a side-trip into Future System project (which was going to replace all 370s ... and be as radically different from 370 ... as 360 had been different from the machines that had gone before it). Misc. past posts mentioning FS http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/subtopic.html#futuresys When FS was canceled ... there was quite a bit of scrambling to repopulate the 370 product pipeline. some recent posts also mentioning the period: http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2007g.html#13 The Perfect Computer - 36 bits? http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2007g.html#17 The Perfect Computer - 36 bits? i've even claimed that scrambling was at least partially responsible for POK being able to convince corporate to kill off vm370 product and move all the vm370 development people to POK to work on mvs/xa (additional resources required to meet the schedule after FS was killed). Endicott did manage to pickup part of the mission and "save" a very small number of the original development people (from going to pok) to continue to work on vm370. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: GET IBM-MAIN INFO Search the archives at http://bama.ua.edu/archives/ibm-main.html
