Re: LISP microcode for an 11/730? Was Re: Modifying microcode

[Steven M Jones via cctalk]

On 06/15/2018 08:28, Steven M Jones via cctalk wrote:
 

> I wasn't able to find a reference to back it up, but ...


Sorry for the delay - that was stuck in my Outbox over a two week 
business trip...

LISP microcode for an 11/730? Was Re: Modifying microcode

[Steven M Jones via cctalk]

On 06/02/2018 11:08, Robert Armstrong via cctalk wrote:


   I've heard a persistent rumor over the years that the WPS/8 and PDP-8 
software group at DEC had modified the 730's microcode to support a PDP-8 
emulation [...]


I wasn't able to find a reference to back it up, but if we're sharing 
faintly remembered rumors -- I recall hearing that some grad students 
had developed alternate microcode for the 11/730 to re-purpose it as a 
LISP machine.


I use the lowercase "M" on purpose, I don't recall that it emulated the 
various 36-bit machines known as LISP Machines specifically. Just that 
it was a native LISP execution environment of some kind.


That's all I've got. Not even an institution, though I have a very 
tenuous notion that UMass Amherst might have been mentioned...


--S.