:mainframe: n. Term originally referring to the cabinet
containing the central processor unit or `main frame' of a
room-filling {Stone Age} batch machine. After the emergence of
smaller `minicomputer' designs in the early 1970s, the
traditional {big iron} machines were described as `mainframe
computers' and eventually just as mainframes. The term carries the
connotation of a machine designed for batch rather than interactive
use, though possibly with an interactive timesharing operating
system retrofitted onto it; it is especially used of machines built
by IBM, Unisys, and the other great {dinosaur}s surviving from
computing's {Stone Age}.
It has been common wisdom among hackers since the late 1980s that
the mainframe architectural tradition is essentially dead (outside
of the tiny market for {number-crunching} supercomputers (see
{cray})), having been swamped by the recent huge advances in IC
technology and low-cost personal computing. As of 1993, corporate
America is just beginning to figure this out --- the wave of
failures, takeovers, and mergers among traditional mainframe makers
have certainly provided sufficient omens (see {dinosaurs
mating}).
-- The AI Hackers Dictionary
containing the central processor unit or `main frame' of a
room-filling {Stone Age} batch machine. After the emergence of
smaller `minicomputer' designs in the early 1970s, the
traditional {big iron} machines were described as `mainframe
computers' and eventually just as mainframes. The term carries the
connotation of a machine designed for batch rather than interactive
use, though possibly with an interactive timesharing operating
system retrofitted onto it; it is especially used of machines built
by IBM, Unisys, and the other great {dinosaur}s surviving from
computing's {Stone Age}.
It has been common wisdom among hackers since the late 1980s that
the mainframe architectural tradition is essentially dead (outside
of the tiny market for {number-crunching} supercomputers (see
{cray})), having been swamped by the recent huge advances in IC
technology and low-cost personal computing. As of 1993, corporate
America is just beginning to figure this out --- the wave of
failures, takeovers, and mergers among traditional mainframe makers
have certainly provided sufficient omens (see {dinosaurs
mating}).
-- The AI Hackers Dictionary
Related:
- mainframe n.
Term originally referring to the cabinet
containing the central processor unit or `main frame' of a
room-filling Stone Age batch machine.
After the emergence of smaller `minicomputer' designs in the early 1970s, the traditional big iron machines were described as `mainframe computers' and eventually just as mainframes.... - dinosaur: n. 1. Any hardware requiring raised flooring and special
power.
Used especially of old minis and mainframes, in contrast with newer microprocessor-based machines.... - iron: n. Hardware, especially older and larger hardware of
{mainframe} class with big metal cabinets housing relatively
low-density electronics (but the term is also used of modern
supercomputers).
Often in the phrase {big iron}. Oppose {silicon}.... - Iron Age: n. In the history of computing, 1961--1971 --- the
formative era of commercial {mainframe} technology, when
ferrite-core {dinosaur}s ruled the earth.
The Iron Age began, ironically enough, with the delivery of the first minicomputer (the PDP-1) and ended with the introduction of the first commercial microprocessor (the Intel 4004) in 1971.... - GCOS:: /jee'kohs/ n. A {quick-and-dirty} {clone} of
System/360 DOS that emerged from GE around 1970
originally called GECOS (the General Electric Comprehensive Operating System).... - killer micro n.
[popularized by Eugene Brooks] A
microprocessor-based machine that infringes on mini, mainframe, or
supercomputer performance turf.
Often heard in "No one will survive the attack of the killer micros!... - dinosaur n.
1. Any hardware requiring raised flooring and
special power.
Used especially of old minis and mainframes, in contrast with newer microprocessor-based machines.... - DEC: n. Digital Equipment Corporation. Before the {killer
micro} revolution of the late 1980s, hackerdom was closely
symbiotic with DEC's pioneering timesharing machines.
The first of the group of cultures described by this lexicon nucleated around the PDP-1 (see {TMRC}.... - GCOS /jee'kohs/ n.
A quick-and-dirty clone
of System/360 DOS that emerged from GE around 1970
originally called GECOS (the General Electric Comprehensive Operating System)....
