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Now Hear This—Prepare For The "To Be Or To Do" Moment
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lynn...@gmail.com
Dec 6, 2017, 9:49:22 AM12/6/17
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Now Hear This—Prepare For The "To Be Or To Do" Moment
https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/2017-12/now-hear-this%E2%80%94prepare-be-or-do-moment
I was blamed for online computer conferencing on the internal network (larger than the arpanet/internet from just about the beginning until sometime mid-80s) in the late 70s and early 80s. Folklore is that when the corporate executive committee was told about online computer conferencing (and the internal network), 5of6 wanted to fire me. Possibly affecting that was one of my hobbies was doing enhanced operating systems for internal datacenters .... including HONE (worldwide online sales and marketing systems). From IBMJARGON:
Tandem Memos - n. Something constructive but hard to control; a fresh of breath air (sic). That's another Tandem Memos. A phrase to worry middle management. It refers to the computer-based conference (widely distributed in 1981) in which many technical personnel expressed dissatisfaction with the tools available to them at that time, and also constructively criticised the way products were are developed. The memos are required reading for anyone with a serious interest in quality products. If you have not seen the memos, try reading the November 1981 Datamation summary.
A little later, I met John Boyd and sponsored his briefings at IBM.
another "To Be or To Do" version:
There are two career paths in front of you, and you have to choose which path you will follow. One path leads to promotions, titles, and positions of distinction.... The other path leads to doing things that are truly significant for the Air Force, but the rewards will quite often be a kick in the stomach because you may have to cross swords with the party line on occasion. You can't go down both paths, you have to choose. Do you want to be a man of distinction or do you want to do things that really influence the shape of the Air Force? "To be or to do?, that is the question. Colonel John R. Boyd, USAF 1927-1997
From the dedication of Boyd Hall, United States Air Force Weapons School, Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada. 17 September 1999
John Boyd, January 23, 1927 - March 9, 1997, tribute in USNI Proceedings,
http://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/1997-07/genghis-john
for those w/o membership ... it is here at wayback machine
http://web.archive.org/web/20011224132049/http://www.infowar.com/iwftp/cspinney/c199.txt
Datamation put a slightly different spin on "Tandem Memos", Emmett, R. 1981, "VNET or gripenet?" Datamation, Vol. 27, No. 12 (November), pp.48-58. Lots of online citations but web search doesn't turn up copy. They garbled it with the "gripenet" bit ... however, end of the article (pg58):
There is a rumor that Wheeler may leave IBM and join his former colleagues on the outside as consultant. "Right now he's pure gold whatever way you slice him up," says one source. "IBM needs him and the outside companies would probably pay anything to get him." However you look at this ug of war, it can only be good news for IBM's VM users.
"An enormous shop window is opening for them." said one observer. "And what they'll discover in that window is a very powerful tool to control their own destinies--and not have IBM do it."
... snip ...
When still undergraduate, I was one of 1st half dozen employees hired into Boeing hdqtrs to help form Boeing Computer Services (consolidate all dataprocessing into independent business unit to better monetize the investment) ... had mid-level title and could park in hdqtrs lot at Boeing field. There was lots of politics, the CFO running the effort, at the time only had 360/30 for doing payroll ... and had to contend with the head of Renton datacenter. I thought that Renton may have had the largest operation at the time with something between $200M-$300M (60s dollars) in IBM 360s. When I started, 360/65s were arriving in Renton faster than they could be installed, constant boxes staged in the hallways around the machine room.
Later I would sponsor Boyd's briefings at IBM. He would say that he was vocal about the sensors on the trail wouldn't work ... so possibly as punishment, they put him in charge of "spook base" (about the time I was at Boeing) ... he would say it had the largest air conditioned bldg. in that part of the world. One of Boyd's biographies says that "spook base" was $2.5B "windfall" for IBM (again 60s dollars, ten times Boeing Renton). "Spook Base" reference gone 404, but still lives on at the wayback machine
http://web.archive.org/web/20030212092342/http://home.att.net/~c.jeppeson/igloo_white.html
Boeing also had plan to replicate Renton up at the new 747 plant at Paine field ... there was disaster scenario where Mt. Rainer heats up and a resulting mud slide takes out the Renton datacenter (the cost to Boeing being w/o the datacenter for week would be more than the cost of the datacenter).
cmc posts
http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/subnetwork.html#cmc
internal network posts
http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/subnetwork.html#internalnet
Boyd posts
http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/subboyd.html
https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/2017-12/now-hear-this%E2%80%94prepare-be-or-do-moment
I was blamed for online computer conferencing on the internal network (larger than the arpanet/internet from just about the beginning until sometime mid-80s) in the late 70s and early 80s. Folklore is that when the corporate executive committee was told about online computer conferencing (and the internal network), 5of6 wanted to fire me. Possibly affecting that was one of my hobbies was doing enhanced operating systems for internal datacenters .... including HONE (worldwide online sales and marketing systems). From IBMJARGON:
Tandem Memos - n. Something constructive but hard to control; a fresh of breath air (sic). That's another Tandem Memos. A phrase to worry middle management. It refers to the computer-based conference (widely distributed in 1981) in which many technical personnel expressed dissatisfaction with the tools available to them at that time, and also constructively criticised the way products were are developed. The memos are required reading for anyone with a serious interest in quality products. If you have not seen the memos, try reading the November 1981 Datamation summary.
A little later, I met John Boyd and sponsored his briefings at IBM.
another "To Be or To Do" version:
There are two career paths in front of you, and you have to choose which path you will follow. One path leads to promotions, titles, and positions of distinction.... The other path leads to doing things that are truly significant for the Air Force, but the rewards will quite often be a kick in the stomach because you may have to cross swords with the party line on occasion. You can't go down both paths, you have to choose. Do you want to be a man of distinction or do you want to do things that really influence the shape of the Air Force? "To be or to do?, that is the question. Colonel John R. Boyd, USAF 1927-1997
From the dedication of Boyd Hall, United States Air Force Weapons School, Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada. 17 September 1999
John Boyd, January 23, 1927 - March 9, 1997, tribute in USNI Proceedings,
http://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/1997-07/genghis-john
for those w/o membership ... it is here at wayback machine
http://web.archive.org/web/20011224132049/http://www.infowar.com/iwftp/cspinney/c199.txt
Datamation put a slightly different spin on "Tandem Memos", Emmett, R. 1981, "VNET or gripenet?" Datamation, Vol. 27, No. 12 (November), pp.48-58. Lots of online citations but web search doesn't turn up copy. They garbled it with the "gripenet" bit ... however, end of the article (pg58):
There is a rumor that Wheeler may leave IBM and join his former colleagues on the outside as consultant. "Right now he's pure gold whatever way you slice him up," says one source. "IBM needs him and the outside companies would probably pay anything to get him." However you look at this ug of war, it can only be good news for IBM's VM users.
"An enormous shop window is opening for them." said one observer. "And what they'll discover in that window is a very powerful tool to control their own destinies--and not have IBM do it."
... snip ...
When still undergraduate, I was one of 1st half dozen employees hired into Boeing hdqtrs to help form Boeing Computer Services (consolidate all dataprocessing into independent business unit to better monetize the investment) ... had mid-level title and could park in hdqtrs lot at Boeing field. There was lots of politics, the CFO running the effort, at the time only had 360/30 for doing payroll ... and had to contend with the head of Renton datacenter. I thought that Renton may have had the largest operation at the time with something between $200M-$300M (60s dollars) in IBM 360s. When I started, 360/65s were arriving in Renton faster than they could be installed, constant boxes staged in the hallways around the machine room.
Later I would sponsor Boyd's briefings at IBM. He would say that he was vocal about the sensors on the trail wouldn't work ... so possibly as punishment, they put him in charge of "spook base" (about the time I was at Boeing) ... he would say it had the largest air conditioned bldg. in that part of the world. One of Boyd's biographies says that "spook base" was $2.5B "windfall" for IBM (again 60s dollars, ten times Boeing Renton). "Spook Base" reference gone 404, but still lives on at the wayback machine
http://web.archive.org/web/20030212092342/http://home.att.net/~c.jeppeson/igloo_white.html
Boeing also had plan to replicate Renton up at the new 747 plant at Paine field ... there was disaster scenario where Mt. Rainer heats up and a resulting mud slide takes out the Renton datacenter (the cost to Boeing being w/o the datacenter for week would be more than the cost of the datacenter).
cmc posts
http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/subnetwork.html#cmc
internal network posts
http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/subnetwork.html#internalnet
Boyd posts
http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/subboyd.html
menti...@gmail.com
Dec 10, 2017, 8:17:05 PM12/10/17
to
Lynn Wheeler
Dec 11, 2017, 11:18:41 AM12/11/17
to
While I was at Boeing, they also moved the 360-67 two-processor SMP from Boeing Huntsville to Seattle.
The machine had been originally installed to run TSS/360 supporting several 2250 displays doing design work. When TSS/360 didn't reach maturity, the partitioned the machine into two single processors both running OS/360 MVT. They encountered the problem the problem with MVT storage management problem that was especially exacerbated by long running applications (like 2250 design applications) leading to increasing storage fragmentation & exhaustion.
As a result they did some simple modifications to MVT release 13 to support virtual memory. There was single virtual address space the same size as the real machine size ... and no paging. The sole purpose was countermeasure to MVT storage fragmentation ... where storage addresses could be reorganized into contiguous areas.
While I was at Boeing, they also moved the 360-67 two-processor SMP that had been at Boeing Huntsville to Seattle.
The machine had been originally installed to run TSS/360 supporting several 2250 displays doing design work. When TSS/360 didn't reach maturity, the partitioned the machine into two single processors both running OS/360 MVT. They encountered the problem the problem with MVT storage management problem that was especially exacerbated by long running applications (like 2250 design applications) leading to increasing storage fragmentation & exhaustion.
As a result they did some simple modifications to MVT release 13 to support virtual memory. There was single virtual address space the same size as the real machine size ... and no paging. The sole purpose was countermeasure to MVT storage fragmentation ... where storage addresses could be reorganized into contiguous areas. This is similar to the later justification to move all 370s to virtual memory motivated by the horrible MVT storage management problems ... discussed in this old post
http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011d.html#73
360/67 functional characteristics
http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/ibm/360/funcChar/GA27-2719-2_360-67_funcChar.pdf
TSS documentation
http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/ibm/360/tss/
MVT storage management problems also contributes to CICS implementation where it attempts to obtain all is resources (and open all its files) at startup ... and then does its own resource management ... relying as little as possible on MVT. past posts mentioning CICS (and/or BDAM)
http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/submain.html#cics
The machine had been originally installed to run TSS/360 supporting several 2250 displays doing design work. When TSS/360 didn't reach maturity, the partitioned the machine into two single processors both running OS/360 MVT. They encountered the problem the problem with MVT storage management problem that was especially exacerbated by long running applications (like 2250 design applications) leading to increasing storage fragmentation & exhaustion.
As a result they did some simple modifications to MVT release 13 to support virtual memory. There was single virtual address space the same size as the real machine size ... and no paging. The sole purpose was countermeasure to MVT storage fragmentation ... where storage addresses could be reorganized into contiguous areas.
While I was at Boeing, they also moved the 360-67 two-processor SMP that had been at Boeing Huntsville to Seattle.
The machine had been originally installed to run TSS/360 supporting several 2250 displays doing design work. When TSS/360 didn't reach maturity, the partitioned the machine into two single processors both running OS/360 MVT. They encountered the problem the problem with MVT storage management problem that was especially exacerbated by long running applications (like 2250 design applications) leading to increasing storage fragmentation & exhaustion.
As a result they did some simple modifications to MVT release 13 to support virtual memory. There was single virtual address space the same size as the real machine size ... and no paging. The sole purpose was countermeasure to MVT storage fragmentation ... where storage addresses could be reorganized into contiguous areas. This is similar to the later justification to move all 370s to virtual memory motivated by the horrible MVT storage management problems ... discussed in this old post
http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2011d.html#73
360/67 functional characteristics
http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/ibm/360/funcChar/GA27-2719-2_360-67_funcChar.pdf
TSS documentation
http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/ibm/360/tss/
MVT storage management problems also contributes to CICS implementation where it attempts to obtain all is resources (and open all its files) at startup ... and then does its own resource management ... relying as little as possible on MVT. past posts mentioning CICS (and/or BDAM)
http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/submain.html#cics
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