Tom Lyon ✅

UNIX Greybeard; sun!pugs; Student of History; Technology Storyteller; Programmer since 1967.
Founder - Ipsilon Networks(→ Nokia), Netillion(→ ⏚), Nuova Systems(→ Cisco), DriveScale(→ Twitter)

#fedi22 #ComputerHistory #SunMicrosystems #UNIX

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npub1a04ckenax68c6kysuf9draj8yhakc0pt386smmtnawq6tkq4zacq92tf0n

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aka_pugs_at_mastodon.social@mostr.pub

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nprofile1qqswh6utve7ndrudtzgwyjk37erjt7mv8s4cnagda4e7hqd9mq23wuqpz4mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujumt0wd68ytnsw43qzxrhwden5te0wfjkccte9ehx7umhdpjhyefwvdhk6e8qxg6

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Last Notes

2024-10-02 13:23:38

OTD 1989: SunLink Channel Gateway released. #SunMicrosystems #Mainframe
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/113/238/042/921/047/513/original/bebd0da6dbd41018.jpg

2024-09-23 13:51:18

TIL: "SPARCclassic X" - 1993 X Terminal from #SunMicrosystems based on cost-reduced SPARCstation LX "Lunchbox" chassis. https://web.archive.org/web/20160304093905/http://www.taborcommunications.com/archives/1245.html #Suntember
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/113/187/188/701/145/114/original/9652e28966a1dd25.jpg

2024-09-16 16:34:15

Who remembers Network the dog? #SunMicrosystems #Suntember
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/113/148/195/485/877/056/original/ba4ce410f583bfb9.jpg

2024-09-14 13:39:45

Sun Labs - The First Five Years (1991-1996): https://dogemicrosystems.ca/pub/Sun/Unsorted/Sun%20Labs%20-%20The%20First%20Five%20Years%20-%20The%20First%20Fifty%20Technical%20Reports%20A%20Commemorative%20Issue.pdf #Suntember #SunMicrosystems
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/113/136/183/169/667/897/original/8bb83f77907ad476.png

2024-09-13 14:18:45

Stock price history of #SunMicrosystems, 1990-2010. $2 - $250 is quite a range. But what bubble? https://companiesmarketcap.com/sun-microsystems/stock-price-history/ #Suntember
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/113/130/674/564/721/797/original/72f57fffd034e40f.png

2024-09-12 00:23:12

- reply

@npub1gfd…7gg6 FORTRAN did it first, but it comes straight from math notation for sums (big sigma) and products (big pi). Do people really not realize this?

2024-09-09 16:59:52

OTD 1985: #SunMicrosystems announces the Sun-3 workstation family. True 32 bit computing based on Motorola MC68020. My personal favorite was the 3/160, and my home machine for many years. I wrote *so* many drivers for this machine. #Suntember
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/113/108/656/240/828/852/original/8c2667513d2d63cf.jpeg

2024-09-09 14:04:23

OTD 1941: Dennis Ritchie is born. #UNIX
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/113/107/969/860/527/645/original/017998d696585199.jpg

2024-09-08 14:39:40

OTD 1999: #SunMicrosystems announces the Sun Ray 1. #Suntember http://www.cnn.com/TECH/computing/9909/09/sunray.ent.idg/index.html
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/113/102/446/449/323/868/original/c9c587051a2248ec.jpg

2024-09-07 13:49:58

2002: #SunMicrosystems 20th Anniversary Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBYNH6BLfAg #Suntember

2024-09-06 02:54:17

R.I.P., Les Earnest - computing pioneer and curmudgeonly trouble maker (in a good way) https://web.stanford.edu/~learnest/

2024-09-03 13:09:56

OS Hype Wars from 1990 - "UNIX/SVr4 & OS/2 Technical Comparison" https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Y7RTlDt2T1vpcwHe63Fdw83HS3h8M9Sw/view?usp=sharing #SunMicrosystems #Suntember #UNIX
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/113/073/782/214/426/762/original/9c48662d15898e39.png

2024-09-02 14:12:47

OTD 1982: #SunMicrosystems joins #USENET. https://www.krsaborio.net/bsd/research/1982/0908.htm #Suntember
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/113/068/365/806/014/678/original/6da33aba10aae52f.png

2024-08-29 00:33:36

48 years ago yesterday.
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/113/042/495/597/038/959/original/529bbebf5ad238a1.jpg

2024-08-28 16:31:38

OTD 1963: Famous IBM 'Janitor' memo about the CDC 6600. #ComputerHistory
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/113/040/599/604/946/059/original/3e4289892607319f.jpeg

2024-08-19 21:22:31

Brian Kernighan recognized for groundbreaking work on computer programming languages https://www.cs.princeton.edu/news/brian-kernighan-recognized-groundbreaking-work-computer-programming-languages

2024-08-10 03:24:09

I had the luck and pleasure of working at some really, really, great large companies in my career - Bell Labs(summer), Amdahl, Sun Microsystems, Nokia -- and even Twittter was pretty great before the fall. I also worked at Cisco.

2024-08-05 15:09:13

https://hackaday.com/2024/08/04/apollo-computer-the-forgotten-workstations/
#apollocomputer

2024-08-03 02:33:30

"The History of Solaris" #SunMicrosystems hype featuring Jonathan "Ponytail" Schwartz. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9US9o-QKQA

2024-07-31 21:45:42

I think this means you should register your kid as soon as they're born.
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/883/291/641/659/502/original/bddc9e8024d850ad.jpg

2024-07-25 16:36:00

OTD 1977: First completed #UNIX port, to the Interdata 7/32, enters production. http://bitsavers.informatik.uni-stuttgart.de/bits/Interdata/32bit/unix/univWollongong_v6/miller.pdf

2024-07-10 00:46:14

#UNIX turns 55 this year. 5 years already since the 2 big celebrations. I missed the one at Bell Labs, but got the shirt! Second picture is me with Princeton's IBM 360/91 console - during the 50th anniversary UNIX event at the Living Computer Museum - which, most sadly, is no more.
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/759/430/008/617/394/original/47d98c93da5ed8f4.jpg
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/759/430/792/728/713/original/95893d7b2a7686bc.jpg

2024-07-08 19:56:14

Y'all should put down your podcasts and go listen to Firesign Theater albums. A priceless part of our cultural heritage. Especially for retro-tech-curious.
"If you push something hard enough, it will fall over." - Phud's first law of opposition.
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/752/627/298/509/519/original/3297310f116a32fa.jpg

2024-07-05 16:17:39

OTD 1987: #SunMicrosystems announces the first #SPARC system.
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/734/781/468/006/930/original/0d93909aa9701cc5.png

2024-07-05 16:14:42

OTD 1993: "On the Internet, nobody knows you're a dog" https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_the_Internet,_nobody_knows_you%27re_a_dog

2024-07-02 16:44:12

"X Window System At 40" by David Rosenthal. Great history of X11 and NeWS. https://blog.dshr.org/2024/07/x-window-system-at-40.html #SunMicrosystems

2024-07-01 14:20:43

OTD 1956: Burroughs enters the computer business by buying the ElectroData corporation of southern California. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ElectroData_Corporation
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/711/671/968/118/363/original/bfef861ddd5a39a3.jpg

2024-07-01 04:45:40

Sometime in the late '60s or early '70s, there was a naming shift from "Computation Center" to "Data Center". This is what the data looked like when data began to be of obvious value. #9TrackTape #ComputerHistory Picture from Claudio Vincenzi on FB.
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/709/406/367/290/179/original/2f6164cda9b645ee.jpg

2024-06-30 20:53:53

OTD 1970: The IBM System/370 and the IBM 3330 disk drive are announced. #ComputerHistory
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/707/555/242/047/174/original/a454ffc8ac9d6f2b.jpg
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/707/556/339/025/999/original/a0493a0037e80556.jpg

2024-06-17 21:42:27

https://blocksandfiles.com/2024/06/17/eminent-sun-alumnus-says-nfs-must-die/

2024-06-15 16:56:28

TIL: The author of the PDP-8 Lunar Lander program, a high schooler, was someone I knew later when he was getting his PhD at Princeton. https://technologizer.com/2009/07/19/lunar-lander/index.html

2024-06-13 19:19:04

Captain Crunch would be proud.
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/610/922/066/759/789/original/2e5eb7f757a26ea1.png

2024-06-13 15:45:34

OTD 1985: 2 papers of note from #SunMicrosystems at the Portland Summer #USENIX conference:
"Design and Implementation of the Sun Network Filesystem": https://www.cs.cornell.edu/courses/cs6411/2018sp/papers/nfs.pdf (I am cited) #NFS
"All The Chips That Fit": https://www.researchgate.net/publication/340934575_All_the_Chips_that_Fit (I am co-author)
Full Proceedings: https://archive.org/details/1985-proceedings-summer-portland

2024-06-09 17:53:05

Slides available from my "NFS Must Die!" talk at @npub1kgr…juu7: https://nluug.nl/bestanden/presentaties/2024-05-21-tom-lyon-why-nfs-must-die-and-how-to-get-beyond-file-sharing-in-the-cloud.pdf #nluug #NFS

2024-06-01 18:50:45

OTD 1975: #Amdahl ships the 470V/6 IBM mainframe clone. https://www.ithistory.org/db/hardware/amdahl-corporation/amdahl-470v6

2024-05-21 11:18:38

C. Gordon Bell died May 17th. A giant in computing. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gordon_Bell

2024-05-18 00:47:54

ARPAnet 1969 - Napkin from SRI/PARC/IEEE event today.
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/459/334/269/756/456/original/8bca34a1086847a0.jpg

2023-09-15 19:15:14

- reply

"Temporary" since 1982. https://www.iana.org/assignments/protocol-numbers/protocol-numbers.xhtml
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/111/070/760/478/326/508/original/c05219ca0b89c421.png