Path: csiph.com!news.mixmin.net!eternal-september.org!feeder.eternal-september.org!mx02.eternal-september.org!.POSTED!not-for-mail From: Anne & Lynn Wheeler Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers,comp.sys.raspberry-pi Subject: Re: Is it a lost cause? Date: Tue, 14 Jun 2016 10:20:16 -0700 Organization: Wheeler&Wheeler Lines: 36 Message-ID: <87mvmnit67.fsf@garlic.com> References: <20160613210220.7d9874b5@maxa-pc.cpe.bvcom.net> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Injection-Info: mx02.eternal-september.org; posting-host="6a701f7a2f120c3c3ec794af16136f6c"; logging-data="16327"; mail-complaints-to="abuse@eternal-september.org"; posting-account="U2FsdGVkX1+qRBUXjzN7BtXmw4FcywnpbhDHnepjlq4=" User-Agent: Gnus/5.13 (Gnus v5.13) Emacs/24.5 (gnu/linux) Cancel-Lock: sha1:np0023x9Bo0eKaGnHCM5Rr3ayzM= sha1:XC1ELTxetpW8tYzXa6xd5pr8ffE= Xref: csiph.com alt.folklore.computers:165101 comp.sys.raspberry-pi:11830 Martin Gregorie writes: > How does 'sophomore' map onto a traditional British/NZ degree system, > at least as I knew it? AQ BSc is/was usually three years with an MSc > adding another year and the PhD taking a few years more after that. > > I learnt Algol 60 before being exposed to assembler and found that > useful since, by the time I learnt my first assembly language, I > already understood the principles of conditional branches, loops and > how to structure a program as a set of functions. spring soph yr got a 2hr intro to fortran class (1st exposure to computers). that summer I was hired to do re-implementation of 1401 MPIO for 360/30. The univ had 709 with 1401 as unit record front-end for 709 (709 ran tape-to-tape, with tapes manually transferred between 709 and 1401, MPIO was 1401 program that card reader -> tape and tape -> printer/punch). The univ was sold a 360/67 replacement, as interim transition, the 1401 was replaced with 360/30. The 360/30 had 1401 hardware emulation mode ... so could run 1401 MPIO directly. I was hired to implement in 1401 MPIO in native 360 assembler, got to design and implement my own monitor, device drivers, interrupt handler, error recovery, storage management, console interface, etc. Univ. shutdown normal operations at 8am sat until 8am monday ... and I would have the whole datacenter to myself for 48hrs straight. Monitor evanutally was slightly over box (2000) cards ... with conditional assembly for stand-alone mode and running under os/360 with open/close, get/put i/o (stand-alone version took 30mins to assemble, os/360 mode took over hr to assemble, os/360 I/O DCB macros took approx 5mins each to assemble under early OS/360 PCP releases on 360/30). I got other tasks when school started in the fall, and continued to have 48hr dedicated weekend time (although making monday classes was little hard after 48hrs w/o sleep). The following year, I was hired fulltime responsible for IBM production operating system. -- virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970