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From: RS Wood <rswood@therandymon.com>
Newsgroups: comp.misc
Subject: What have we learned from the PDP-11?
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https://dave.cheney.net/2017/12/04/what-have-we-learned-from-the-pdp-11



The paper I have chosen tonight is a retrospective on a computer
design. It is one of a series of papers by Gordon Bell, and various
co-authors, spanning the design, growth, and eventual replacement of
the companies iconic line of PDP-11 mini computers.

    C. G. Bell, R. Cady, H. McFarland, B. Delagi, J. O=E2=80=99Laughlin, R.
Noonan and W. Wulf, =E2=80=9CA New Architecture for Mini-Computers =E2=80=
=93 The DEC
PDP- 11,=E2=80=9D Proceedings of the Sprint Joint Computer Conference, pp.
657-675, AFIPS Press, 1970.

    C. G. Bell, W. D. Strecker, =E2=80=9CComputer What Have We Learned from=
 the
PDP-11,=E2=80=9D The 3rd Annual Symposium on Computer Architecture Conferen=
ce
Proceedings, pp. l-14, 1976.

    W. D. Strecker, =E2=80=9CVAX-11/780: A Virtual Address Extension to the=
 DEC
PDP-11 Family,=E2=80=9D Proceedings of the National Computer Conference, pp.
967-980, AFIPS Press, 1978.

    C. G. Bell, W. D. Strecker, =E2=80=9CRetrospective: what have we learned
from the PDP-11=E2=80=94what we have learned from VAX and Alpha=E2=80=9D, P=
roceedings
of the 25th Annual International Symposium on Computer Architecture,
pp. 6-10, 1998.

This year represents the 60th anniversary of the founding of the
company that produced the PDP-11. It is also 40 years since this paper
was written, so I thought it would be entertaining to review Bell=E2=80=99s
retrospective through the lens of our own 20/20 hindsight.